Top Law Schools

3.42 (basically woke the f*ck up in senior year) and 178 LSAT. Berkeley undergrad.
Glowing recs from teaching assistants and a V10 partner. I work as a paralegal in biglaw (fairly prestigious, but not V10) PS on 20th century philosophy (figured this would be a bit out of the norm for most law school applicants?) and its importance to my thought process. Apps to every school in the T14 + UCLA as safety.

So, what dat smell like?

Competitive for CCN on down. Out at HYS. Splitter cycles can be unpredictable but you should get one of CLS/NYU if not both. Georgetown and Cornell probably locks. This is all assuming you're applying early next cycle. Oh yeah out at Boalt. Expect to get decent money somewhere, though hard to predict where....

Congrats on the great score!

gfd973 wrote:3.42 (basically woke the f*ck up in senior year) and 178 LSAT. Berkeley undergrad.
Glowing recs from teaching assistants and a V10 partner. I work as a paralegal in biglaw (fairly prestigious, but not V10) PS on 20th century philosophy (figured this would be a bit out of the norm for most law school applicants?) and its importance to my thought process. Apps to every school in the T14 + UCLA as safety.

So, what dat smell like?

no.

ChampagnePapi wrote: This is all assuming you're applying early next cycle.

My apps are ready to go for non-Feb 1 schools. If I apply this late??

gfd973 wrote:

ChampagnePapi wrote: This is all assuming you're applying early next cycle.

My apps are ready to go for non-Feb 1 schools. If I apply this late??

Don't do it brah!

gfd973 wrote:

ChampagnePapi wrote: This is all assuming you're applying early next cycle.

My apps are ready to go for non-Feb 1 schools. If I apply this late??

do it next year.

Crowing wrote:

gfd973 wrote:

ChampagnePapi wrote: This is all assuming you're applying early next cycle.

My apps are ready to go for non-Feb 1 schools. If I apply this late??

do it next year.

I get that applying early in the process betters my chances significantly. But the bottom line is that I'm fed up with my job, want to get back to using my brain. By applying now does it really just make it a crapshoot? Separately, what happens if I apply now, and if I don't get into the schools I want, apply again in the fall?

gfd973 wrote:

Crowing wrote:

gfd973 wrote:

ChampagnePapi wrote: This is all assuming you're applying early next cycle.

My apps are ready to go for non-Feb 1 schools. If I apply this late??

do it next year.

I get that applying early in the process betters my chances significantly. But the bottom line is that I'm fed up with my job, want to get back to using my brain. By applying now does it really just make it a crapshoot? Separately, what happens if I apply now, and if I don't get into the schools I want, apply again in the fall?

I think applying early is especially important for splitters. When a school has already admitted 80% of their class, they just have that many fewer spots for people below one of their medians.

You could apply now and see where you get in, sure, but unless you get into your top choice, it will be a waste of money.

Pm'd

I don't think it hurts to apply now and see your results - as long as you are open to re-applying.

stillwater wrote:

gfd973 wrote:3.42 (basically woke the f*ck up in senior year) and 178 LSAT. Berkeley undergrad.
Glowing recs from teaching assistants and a V10 partner. I work as a paralegal in biglaw (fairly prestigious, but not V10) PS on 20th century philosophy (figured this would be a bit out of the norm for most law school applicants?) and its importance to my thought process. Apps to every school in the T14 + UCLA as safety.

So, what dat smell like?

no.

"Dat smell like" you probably bombed your writing sample.

sry to hijack.

but how early is early again? Would taking the Oct LSAT still qualify as early assuming apps are in except LSAT score?

Enjoy your choice of CCN at sticker.

armedwithamind wrote:Enjoy your choice of CCN at sticker.

? Not necessarily. He may not get huge schollies but he will probably get money from one of them, most likely N.

ChampagnePapi wrote:

armedwithamind wrote:Enjoy your choice of CCN at sticker.

? Not necessarily. He may not get huge schollies but he will probably get money from one of them, most likely N.

I wouldn't count on it.

Tiago Splitter wrote:

ChampagnePapi wrote:

armedwithamind wrote:Enjoy your choice of CCN at sticker.

? Not necessarily. He may not get huge schollies but he will probably get money from one of them, most likely N.

I wouldn't count on it.

LSN has him getting money from whichever 3 he gets into.
Also may not be an awful idea to throw an app to Harvard.

http://myLSN.info/fl93r

John_rizzy_rawls wrote:

Tiago Splitter wrote:

ChampagnePapi wrote:

armedwithamind wrote:Enjoy your choice of CCN at sticker.

? Not necessarily. He may not get huge schollies but he will probably get money from one of them, most likely N.

I wouldn't count on it.

LSN has him getting money from whichever 3 he gets into - http://myLSN.info/eorh2l

I don't know how that site figures money awards but I assure you that the average sub-3.5 admit to CLS is not getting $62,500. Looking back over the years it seems mylsn.info only takes into account the people who actually received awards, making the $$$ numbers look too optimistic.

NYU in particular seems to have a hard money floor at 3.5. See Splitter, Tiago.

Tiago Splitter wrote:

ChampagnePapi wrote:

armedwithamind wrote:Enjoy your choice of CCN at sticker.

? Not necessarily. He may not get huge schollies but he will probably get money from one of them, most likely N.

I wouldn't count on it.

Couldn't agree more. Probably should have softened my language a little. Splitter cycles are so unpredictable. I think TLS can be too quick to jumping to optimistic predictions for high LSAT scorers

gfd973 wrote:3.42 (basically woke the f*ck up in senior year) and 178 LSAT. Berkeley undergrad.
Glowing recs from teaching assistants and a V10 partner. I work as a paralegal in biglaw (fairly prestigious, but not V10) PS on 20th century philosophy (figured this would be a bit out of the norm for most law school applicants?) and its importance to my thought process. Apps to every school in the T14 + UCLA as safety.

So, what dat smell like?

Any chance I can read your PS?

Haha my PS was about 20th century philosophy.

Anyway if you feel like you aren't using your brain as a big law paralegal, why would you want to go to a law school like CLS or NYU that will likely land you back in a big law firm doing paralegal-esque work (at least for the first few years)? Or do you have different goals?

somewhatwayward wrote:Haha my PS was about 20th century philosophy.

Anyway if you feel like you aren't using your brain as a big law paralegal, why would you want to go to a law school like CLS or NYU that will likely land you back in a big law firm doing paralegal-esque work (at least for the first few years)? Or do you have different goals?

I wrote about Derrida's discussion of Levi-Strauss and the Nambikwara. Curious what you wrote about

My interests are actually in banking regulation and financial services reform, specifically through the lens of enforcement and appellate practice. I think it's probably necessary to work in a V20 firm for a couple of years just for the pedigree (Sidley, Gibson, K&E) and then I'll transition to government, public interest or academia.

gfd973 wrote:
I wrote about Derrida's discussion of Levi-Strauss and the Nambikwara.

what dat smell like?

stillwater wrote:

gfd973 wrote:
I wrote about Derrida's discussion of Levi-Strauss and the Nambikwara.

what dat smell like?

Pretty awful, I'd imagine.

gfd973 wrote:3.42 (basically woke the f*ck up in senior year) and 178 LSAT. Berkeley undergrad.
Glowing recs from teaching assistants and a V10 partner. I work as a paralegal in biglaw (fairly prestigious, but not V10) PS on 20th century philosophy (figured this would be a bit out of the norm for most law school applicants?) and its importance to my thought process. Apps to every school in the T14 + UCLA as safety.

So, what dat smell like?

I would definitely app this cycle, and just be open to waiting if you don't get a deal you want. Schools will be clamoring for your LSAT, and one may want it badly enough to give you a big discount. There are probably 10-100 reverse splitters for each applicant like you (177+ everywhere), and pairing you together is equivalent to two median students.

You probably won't know until June or July, but applying now with the intention to wait if you don't get an offer you like is probably your best bet.

I think you're in at Berkeley if you can be convincing enough and want to stay there for law school due to home-field advantage, and I also think you've got a chance at H. The only schools I think are beyond your reach are YS.

If you don't get H though, I'd heavily consider whichever T14 throws the most money at you, or wait a year.

cahwc12 wrote:

gfd973 wrote:3.42 (basically woke the f*ck up in senior year) and 178 LSAT. Berkeley undergrad.
Glowing recs from teaching assistants and a V10 partner. I work as a paralegal in biglaw (fairly prestigious, but not V10) PS on 20th century philosophy (figured this would be a bit out of the norm for most law school applicants?) and its importance to my thought process. Apps to every school in the T14 + UCLA as safety.

So, what dat smell like?

I would definitely app this cycle, and just be open to waiting if you don't get a deal you want. Schools will be clamoring for your LSAT, and one may want it badly enough to give you a big discount. There are probably 10-100 reverse splitters for each applicant like you (177+ everywhere), and pairing you together is equivalent to two median students.

You probably won't know until June or July, but applying now with the intention to wait if you don't get an offer you like is probably your best bet.

I think you're in at Berkeley if you can be convincing enough and want to stay there for law school due to home-field advantage, and I also think you've got a chance at H. The only schools I think are beyond your reach are YS.

If you don't get H though, I'd heavily consider whichever T14 throws the most money at you, or wait a year.

Is there any evidence that Boalt gives preference to B undergrads? I've heard the opposite is true. He has no outstanding softs and is probably out at Boalt.