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I'm trying to get into a top 20 law school but I have my eyes set on Georgetown. I didn't do as well on my lsat as I was doing in my practice sessions because I basically flipped out and had some major test anxiety. I have a 3.80 GPA and a 165 LSAT score. I have no idea how much softs help but I'm a published author in an international relations journal, military member, have had multiple internships, and will be graduating in 4 years with two majors and two minors in spite of taking time off for military duty. I'm applying for international law with a specialization in human rights law in conjunction with a Masters in Arab studies (And I already speak Arabic). Should I take the lsat again or should I go ahead and apply with that score?

You might get into the part time program, idk it's kind of a long shot
for g-town unless they really need the gpa. Good luck unicorn hunting.

spencer.414 wrote:I'm trying to get into a top 20 law school but I have my eyes set on Georgetown. I didn't do as well on my lsat as I was doing in my practice sessions because I basically flipped out and had some major test anxiety. I have a 3.80 GPA and a 165 LSAT score. I have no idea how much softs help but I'm a published author in an international relations journal, military member, have had multiple internships, and will be graduating in 4 years with two majors and two minors in spite of taking time off for military duty. I'm applying for international law with a specialization in human rights law in conjunction with a Masters in Arab studies (And I already speak Arabic). Should I take the lsat again or should I go ahead and apply with that score?

You have the GPA to get into Yale with a 175 or higher. Study and retake until you hit this point, because that's the only real chance of unicorn law worth staking your career on.

Do you think my chances would go up if i applied ED early in the cycle or should I just retake> I would have to wait until December to retake. I'm not sure if that would be cutting it close though.

Do not ED to Georgetown. Sticker price is $293,362 according to LST. When you ED you no longer have the ability to negotiate which you should always do.

Agreed with the above poster about not EDing. Know, however, that with your stats, ED is not likely to happen. Your GPA, while high, is below the 75th percentile and your LSAT is significantly below median. There isn't really anything the school would gain by admitting you as an ED.

Also, if you speak Arabic, do you really want to go to law school? Why not just apply to the State Department? Your GPA is certainly high enough to make the mark and your LSAT obviously will be irrelevant.

I really wanted to do international law and focus on gender relations in the Middle East and Africa. Learning Arabic seemed to be a logical option because I want to travel there as well and I'd like to be able to speak with people. I'm going to retake in December for a 170+ I don't want to teeter on the edge nervously I'd rather give myself some really good odds.

Why not retake in September so that you can still apply early in the cycle?

spencer.414 wrote:I really wanted to do international law and focus on gender relations in the Middle East and Africa. Learning Arabic seemed to be a logical option because I want to travel there as well and I'd like to be able to speak with people. I'm going to retake in December for a 170+ I don't want to teeter on the edge nervously I'd rather give myself some really good odds.

These jobs don't really exist in significant numbers. Who is going to pay you to do "international law" and "gender relations" in the Middle East/Africa?

Your numbers aren't bad, and with a retake going to law school could make a lot of sense for you, particularly if you're Post 9/11 eligible, but the number of legal jobs open to entry level grads that fit your description is close to zero. It sounds like you'd be better off focusing on international development, aid, public policy, etc.

Oh I'm aware that there aren't any entry level jobs that's more of a long term hopeful career. The reason I wanted to go to Georgetown is because they have this program:

http://www.law.georgetown.edu/academics ... D-MAAS.cfm

I haven't been able to find another that's quite like it.

I got into GT with 3.8/166 with $. It happens!

You mentioned military duty - does that mean you have all of/part of the GI bill?

I definitely think you have a shot. I have been on the G'town waitlist for a while now, and -at least this cycle - they seem to be looking for gpa...

You should absolutely retake. Study hard and get above a 175 like that poster said. Think about it. Are you going to settle for Georgetown just because you didn't want to study again?