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Hey guys, I would appreciate any insight/suggestions. I graduated from Penn States Schreyer's Honors College in 2012 with three majors. Since then I have been working in a variety of positions. I left Penn State with a 3.75 GPA. I recently got my LSAT score and it was 163. My PT's had been averaging 160 with a highest ever of 165 so I am pretty pleased with the result. I will be applying to attend law school in fall of 2015 and I will have very good recommendations.

I pretty much plan on PA being my home base for the most of the rest of my life, so I was planning on applying to the PA schools (Temple, PSU, Drexel, Villanova, Widener) and seeing how the money situation ended up and trying to negotiate as much scholarship as possible at the best school possible. I expected to get more like a 160 on my LSAT. I am very debt averse and am more concerned with not being chained to debt after graduating than on landing BigLaw jobs (that is not necessarily my interest, although the option wouldn't hurt!). Anyway, although not a HUGE difference, I am thinking that my numbers may warrant me applying to a few "reaches" as well. I am mostly interested in the PA/NY/NJ/DC area, although not ruling out anywhere to be honest.

According to lawschoolpredictor.com (which I'm not sure I should trust, trust you guys more hence this post),

My reach schools include: Vanderbilt, U of Cal Berkeley, UVA, USC
My target schools include: Northwestern, GWU, Notre Dame, U of Wash, University of Minnesota, Washington U in St. Louis, Emory, ASU, Wash & Lee, Boston U
My safety schools include: American, FSU, Temple, Tulane, Georgia State, Lewis & Clark

No chance at PENN ED right? Cornell?

I am very realistic about my prospects and do not expect any miracles but also don't want to miss out by not applying somewhere better (because of misinformation/selling myself short) where I might actually have a decent chance.

All suggestions appreciated and thanks for taking the time to read!

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First, you should probably retake. You have time to do so and still apply in fall 2015, and even a few more points will make it extremely likely you can go to any of the PA schools you mentioned for free, and getting into the high 160s or hitting 170 may make some of the other schools you mentioned possible, though idk how I would feel about paying full price at Penn.

I go to law school in PA and plan on staying in the state as well. Being able to say that you are not interested in Biglaw is one thing when its not an option and you don't need to work there to pay off your debt, but if you have any interest in working in that environment (which is ok) you must retake. Students at Drexel and Widener are not getting big law in any number worth noting, and at the other PA schools its not a significantly better situation. So, if you do end up going to one of those schools, you need to be completely realistic about what your prospects are (very meh) and keep your debt as close to 0 as possible. If you do both those things, and are ok with staying in PA (specifically the region of the state you are either from or going to law school in) than you might be alright.

Finally, almost all the schools you listed, and especially those which I think you have a realistic shot of getting into, are regional schools that may make sense for someone who is from the region to go to, but I don't think it will be too easy to come pack to PA or NJ from, say, ASU, but I could be wrong on this.

Feel free to PM me, but like the other poster here said, a retake will open up a lot of options that are, frankly, better. If you have any inkling that you'd like to pursue something outside working in a small firm or local government setting (and these are considered good outcomes), you owe it to yourself to try and do better on the LSAT.