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I live here in Houston currently and for a multitude of reasons I don't see myself wanting to leave for law school.

I only have 1 LSAT score on record and I am pondering retaking in February (though I'd have to sign up for late registration). My question is, do I have a shot of getting in with these numbers as they are or not? I'd absolutely love to not have to retake.

Edit: I'm not a graduate of UH undergrad. Don't mean to confuse any people. Moved here after graduating from Texas A&M in May.

Are you independently wealthy/have wealthy parents willing to foot the cost of law school at sticker?

When you're talking about regional schools like UH, your goal shouldn't just be "get in", your goal should be "get in with a big scholarship." You MAY not need to retake for admisison, but you'll absolutely need to retake to make it a wise investment.

You have a shot of getting in. According to Law School Numbers, you are slightly below UH's LSAT median and well below their GPA median - so it is a small shot. However, TheSpanishMan is right, so make sure to sincerely consider his post before moving forward.

TheSpanishMain wrote:Are you independently wealthy/have wealthy parents willing to foot the cost of law school at sticker?

When you're talking about regional schools like UH, your goal shouldn't just be "get in", your goal should be "get in with a big scholarship." You MAY not need to retake for admisison, but you'll absolutely need to retake to make it a wise investment.

However, Houston isn't superbly expensive.

Attax wrote:

TheSpanishMain wrote:Are you independently wealthy/have wealthy parents willing to foot the cost of law school at sticker?

When you're talking about regional schools like UH, your goal shouldn't just be "get in", your goal should be "get in with a big scholarship." You MAY not need to retake for admisison, but you'll absolutely need to retake to make it a wise investment.

However, Houston isn't superbly expensive.

30K tuition+18K cost of living if you take out all loans would put someone between 160-170K in debt. Considering UT probably isn't even worth 100K, 160K for UH would be a superbly expensive mistake.

su·perb (s-pûrb)
adj.
1. Of unusually high quality; excellent: a superb wine; superb skill.
2. Majestic; imposing: The cheetah is a superb animal.
3. Rich; luxurious.

I have a few contacts at UH law and people have been admitted recently with worse numbers than yours, so I think you'll be okay admission wise.

That being said, and what you'll have repeated to you no matter how you frame it, is that you should retake for $$$. Another 5-6 points and you could be looking at a full ride. Besides, a Feb retake won't kill you, or hurt you, and will only help if you score higher. Don't be lazy and regret the decision not to retake for the next 30 years.

Good luck.

Nucky wrote:I have a few contacts at UH law and people have been admitted recently with worse numbers than yours, so I think you'll be okay admission wise.

That being said, and what you'll have repeated to you no matter how you frame it, is that you should retake for $$$. Another 5-6 points and you could be looking at a full ride. Besides, a Feb retake won't kill you, or hurt you, and will only help if you score higher. Don't be lazy and regret the decision not to retake for the next 30 years.

Good luck.

To be fair, I don't know that they really give full rides period, and especially not to below median GPAs. But point taken.

Nucky wrote:Another 5-6 points and you could be looking at a full ride.

Half scholly at best

Its really unlikely youll get into uhlc with a 3.0 and a below median LSAT

Half scholly at best

As a Texan, I was really surprised, although I probably shouldn't be, at how little the school gives out for scholarships.

jrd93 wrote:

Half scholly at best

As a Texan, I was really surprised, although I probably shouldn't be, at how little the school gives out for scholarships.

Public university and theoretically cheaper tuition.

So, suppose I end up retaking, the test is on February 8th and the application deadline for UH is on February 15th. How does this work? I need to send in my application as-is before the deadline, but how do they account for the new score that arrives in March?


Furthermore, does the fact that I'm taking the February LSAT give me a disadvantage with regards to the time in which they review my application? Does the fact that I am applying so late and making them wait on another LSAT score work against me in any way?

faithplusone01 wrote:So, suppose I end up retaking, the test is on February 8th and the application deadline for UH is on February 15th. How does this work? I need to send in my application as-is before the deadline, but how do they account for the new score that arrives in March?


Furthermore, does the fact that I'm taking the February LSAT give me a disadvantage with regards to the time in which they review my application? Does the fact that I am applying so late and making them wait on another LSAT score work against me in any way?

You can let them know that you're retaking and want them to wait to consider you until after the new score comes in

You can also wait until next cycle, no rush

Everything that everyone above said is true.

To frame it a little bit differently to make the "retake" perspective the more obvious choice:

Scenario 1: You apply now, or even apply with February scores. Considering how little time you have to study, you might go up 5 or 7 points. You get in, but don't end up getting a significant scholarship (remembering too that you'll be one of the last to be accepted, if indeed you are; it's hard for a school to justify giving a scholarship to an obviously desperate-to-get-in student).

Scenario 2: You wait to apply for the 2014-2015 cycle. You spend the next five to seven months studying hard, and bring your score up above 169. You have all of your shit together, and because most schools operate on rolling admissions anyways, your application is one of the first to sit down on a desk. You have a much better chance of getting GOOD scholarship money.

Let's say it's half -- I don't know precisely what that is, but I imagine for Houston it's between 60k and 75k.

What that translates into is that in 2014, on top of whatever money you make working at whatever job you have, you earned 75k -- and all you had to do was exercise patience and study hard.


To me, this set of reasoning seems to be the only logical thing in ANYONE's case considering ANY school, in particular a regional which has a much smaller chance of allowing you to pay down what will otherwise be a CRIPPLINGLY FUCKING HUGE loan.

Put yet another way, that 75k in scholarships -- if you so choose to wait -- is equal to around $700-$800/MONTH in student loans. If you graduate from Houston and manage to secure a job making 65k/year (better be in the top 25% of your class), that $800 reduces your after tax take home from about 3600/month down to around 2800/month, meaning your law degree is paying you not a whole fucking lot more than Public School teachers in Houston are making.

Speculative, but probable. Get paid 75k for retaking a fun test and being patient.