174/3.19 URM with WE Forum

[cronos2546]

Hello,

I took the LSAT in February and would like to apply this fall for admission in the fall of 2015. I am of puerto rican descent. My undergraduate degree was in accounting, and I have worked for an oil and gas company in Houston for the past year. Before that, I worked for a Big 4 public accounting firm for a year. I have had my CPA for about two months. I went to a state school and graduated debt free and would like to go to a "more prestigious" law school. I am in Texas, but not averse to travel. Is there a way to make it to HYS? I'm not crazy about NYC but if the opportunities are greater there, I would be happy to make my way there for a bit.

[northwood]

Hello,

I took the LSAT in February and would like to apply this fall for admission in the fall of 2015. I am of puerto rican descent. My undergraduate degree was in accounting, and I have worked for an oil and gas company in Houston for the past year. Before that, I worked for a Big 4 public accounting firm for a year. I have had my CPA for about a year and a half. I went to a state school and graduated debt free and would like to go to a "more prestigious" law school. I am in Texas, but not averse to travel. Is there a way to make it to HYS? I'm not crazy about NYC but if the opportunities are greater there, I would be happy to make my way there for a bit.

I think you have a good shot at being admitted to most of the T14. Apply to them all, including HYS. Be sure to send an application to Northwestern, as they love splitters and people with some work experience. Also send UT an application as well. Ask for fee waivers, and DO NOT ED anywhere. Work on your personal statements, and send the applications out the first day possible.

[cronos2546]

Hello,

I took the LSAT in February and would like to apply this fall for admission in the fall of 2015. I am of puerto rican descent. My undergraduate degree was in accounting, and I have worked for an oil and gas company in Houston for the past year. Before that, I worked for a Big 4 public accounting firm for a year. I have had my CPA for about a year and a half. I went to a state school and graduated debt free and would like to go to a "more prestigious" law school. I am in Texas, but not averse to travel. Is there a way to make it to HYS? I'm not crazy about NYC but if the opportunities are greater there, I would be happy to make my way there for a bit.

I think you have a good shot at being admitted to most of the T14. Apply to them all, including HYS. Be sure to send an application to Northwestern, as they love splitters and people with some work experience. Also send UT an application as well. Ask for fee waivers, and DO NOT ED anywhere. Work on your personal statements, and send the applications out the first day possible.

Is there any place I should push towards during the process? I'm a bit finance-sensitive and would like to maximize scholarships/ect.

Also, which schools feed well into tax or transaction work? I've worked with tax lawyers here in Texas, but they are a real smattering of southern schools.

Also thanks for your time!

[northwood]

Where do you want to work when you are done with law school? In addition to HYS, I would send an application to the strongest T14 in the region you want to work ( if its Texas, I would strongly apply to UT). I would also consider sending an application to the best non T14 in that region, as well. While the top of the T14 ( higher ranked schools) may be more difficult to get a scholarship, your URM status makes it difficult for me to say what your scholarship could range to be. SO my advice would be to apply to those schools, and the top schools in your market.

As for concentrations, don't worry about that. Law schools are basically the same, they teach you the theory behind the law. If you want to go into a particular area, you should aim to get practical experience there ( best done through a summer internship or working during your 2L and 3L years or a clinic- but don't base a decision as to what school to go to solely on clinic options).

Check out lawschool predictor. com and see where your best options are. But I think you should be able to get a substantial scholarship to a decent law school, and will have some nice options to choose from.


Once you get a scholarship offer, you can begin to negotiate with other schools. be sure to do this.