The odds are likely not in my favor.
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 2:01 am
Hello everyone,
I am currently planning to apply to law schools in September of 2014 (class of 2018). I would first like to give some background information before giving my raw numbers. I am 24 years old and a veteran of the Marine Corps. I left active duty in May of 2012 and am currently a senior at John Carroll University graduating this May. I have taken 17 or 18 credit hours every semester since leaving active duty to graduate as quickly as possible to get move towards law school. While on active duty I was essentially a paralegal and that is when I made the decision practicing law was a desirable career for me. When I first left active duty I went to a local community college and graduated with an associates degree in December 2012. My John Carroll GPA only includes my classes taken there so it really only reflects my performance in upper level classes.
While in school I have had some major life events happen that I may or may not include in my applications depending on feedback given here, I am also unsure where I should include these in my application. These events include planning (and financing ourselves) a wedding, the birth of our first child and during one semester my father had major surgery. I include these in the description because I wonder how they will be viewed by law schools or if they should even be mentioned.
When I graduate I will still have almost 3 full years of GI Bill benefits remaining so the schools I intend on applying to will participate in the Yellow Ribbon program to finance the education and minimal (if any) loans will have to be taken out. This was another reason I went to the community college initially and paid for tuition out of pocket. My intention all along was to get a bachelors using as little of my GI Bill as possible so I could use it for law school. However, I am reconsidering my decision because I am having doubts I will have much of a chance to get into a desirable school since I think the law schools will focus on my GPA at John Carroll. Also to note while considering feedback is that John Carroll (for those that do not know) is a small Jesuit University in Cleveland. It generally has a strong reputation in the Midwest and Pittsburgh areas but is hardly known on a national level.
Now I have not taken an official LSAT (I am taking it this June) but my first attempt at a practice test I scored a 156 before doing any LSAT prep. I think with some studying and possibly taking a LSAT prep class as well (recommendations on a course would be helpful as well) I could score at least a 160. I think a 165+ is not out of the question but I do realize the odds are slim.
My GPA at John Carroll is a 3.1 currently and at the community college a 3.8. I think my adjusted GPA will be somewhere in the 3.3-3.5 range. When I graduate 70 of my 128 credits will have come from John Carroll.
I am undecided of which reach schools would best fit my specific scenario but I have a list of schools that do participate in Yellow Ribbon so I intend on applying to at least 2 and at most 4 programs. This list includes Stanford, Michigan, Fordham, Harvard, Chicago, NYU, Georgetown and GWU. I would like to know which ones of these (if any) I would have even the slightest chance of being admitted to.
The other schools I intend on applying to are Univ of Pittsburgh, Case Western Reserve, Cleveland State, Univ of Colorado, Pepperdine, Univ of Cincinnati, Univ of San Diego and DePaul. I would like to narrow this list down to 6 to 8 schools. I consider Cleveland State to be a pretty safe school but I am not even sure of that. Thanks in advance everyone.
I am currently planning to apply to law schools in September of 2014 (class of 2018). I would first like to give some background information before giving my raw numbers. I am 24 years old and a veteran of the Marine Corps. I left active duty in May of 2012 and am currently a senior at John Carroll University graduating this May. I have taken 17 or 18 credit hours every semester since leaving active duty to graduate as quickly as possible to get move towards law school. While on active duty I was essentially a paralegal and that is when I made the decision practicing law was a desirable career for me. When I first left active duty I went to a local community college and graduated with an associates degree in December 2012. My John Carroll GPA only includes my classes taken there so it really only reflects my performance in upper level classes.
While in school I have had some major life events happen that I may or may not include in my applications depending on feedback given here, I am also unsure where I should include these in my application. These events include planning (and financing ourselves) a wedding, the birth of our first child and during one semester my father had major surgery. I include these in the description because I wonder how they will be viewed by law schools or if they should even be mentioned.
When I graduate I will still have almost 3 full years of GI Bill benefits remaining so the schools I intend on applying to will participate in the Yellow Ribbon program to finance the education and minimal (if any) loans will have to be taken out. This was another reason I went to the community college initially and paid for tuition out of pocket. My intention all along was to get a bachelors using as little of my GI Bill as possible so I could use it for law school. However, I am reconsidering my decision because I am having doubts I will have much of a chance to get into a desirable school since I think the law schools will focus on my GPA at John Carroll. Also to note while considering feedback is that John Carroll (for those that do not know) is a small Jesuit University in Cleveland. It generally has a strong reputation in the Midwest and Pittsburgh areas but is hardly known on a national level.
Now I have not taken an official LSAT (I am taking it this June) but my first attempt at a practice test I scored a 156 before doing any LSAT prep. I think with some studying and possibly taking a LSAT prep class as well (recommendations on a course would be helpful as well) I could score at least a 160. I think a 165+ is not out of the question but I do realize the odds are slim.
My GPA at John Carroll is a 3.1 currently and at the community college a 3.8. I think my adjusted GPA will be somewhere in the 3.3-3.5 range. When I graduate 70 of my 128 credits will have come from John Carroll.
I am undecided of which reach schools would best fit my specific scenario but I have a list of schools that do participate in Yellow Ribbon so I intend on applying to at least 2 and at most 4 programs. This list includes Stanford, Michigan, Fordham, Harvard, Chicago, NYU, Georgetown and GWU. I would like to know which ones of these (if any) I would have even the slightest chance of being admitted to.
The other schools I intend on applying to are Univ of Pittsburgh, Case Western Reserve, Cleveland State, Univ of Colorado, Pepperdine, Univ of Cincinnati, Univ of San Diego and DePaul. I would like to narrow this list down to 6 to 8 schools. I consider Cleveland State to be a pretty safe school but I am not even sure of that. Thanks in advance everyone.