Top Law Schools

I'm not sure which part of the forum to put this in so I'll just leave it here.

Hi everyone. I looking for advice on how I should proceed in the future with law school. Right now I'm a junior in college but I have already done a lot of research on law school and also have already taken the LSAT. The reason I'm asking for advice is because I'm not sure if my background makes it a wise decision for me to go to law school. I know about the debt, unemployment, and sometimes bad working conditions that seem to be pervasive in the field of law. So I want to take as much care as possible to make the right decisions while I still have a decent amount of time left before deciding to throw my lot in with Law School.

I'll provide a brief summary of important factors

Major: Mathematics

GPA: my GPA will be a strike against me. I had a very bad start to college many years ago before dropping out and returning three years later and getting mostly As. With the way LSAC calculates GPA I'm looking at anywhere from 2.8-3.1

LSAT: I sat for the June 2014 LSAT and received a 172. This score is really causing me trouble because I know it's a good score but with my GPA I almost feel obligated to retake.

URM: Im African American on my maternal side and Puerto Rican on my paternal side.

Softs: I have no interesting Softs to write home about. I've worked 8 years for a non-profit for folks with developmental disabilities but I don't think that's much of a soft.

Age: I'm currently 27.

So with that bit of background, what advice can you guys offer up? What do you think my outlook should be? And if I do decide to pursue law school, what can and should I expect? Thanks so much in advance!

AA with a 172 LSAT? Enjoy HYS.

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MistakenGenius wrote:

EricHosmer wrote:AA with a 172 LSAT? Enjoy HYS.

Why post junk like this when you're brand new to the forum and have no proof to back up your statement? OP is very likely out at HYS because of the GPA (They have pretty hard floors even for URMs), that wouldn't change if he had a 180. That said, I do think you can enjoy some T14s. A higher LSAT probably isn't going to make a huge difference admissions wise, however, it might net you a bit more money. If you think you can score higher, I would personally retake.

How many AA applicants do you think there are per year with a 172? Isn't it like single digits? Even with the GPA, they're a valuable and rare asset in gaming USNews.

They have nothing to lose with a retake and the diff between a 172 and 180 is like 6 questions.

OP you could tutor and then retake.

What do you want to do with your law degree? Where do you want to be?

You might want to take a look at Northwestern ED since they offer a $150K scholarship.

Otherwise, you probably want to apply broadly for negotiating merit aid - Y/S are almost certainly out because of the GPA but you never know.

You still have your junior and senior years left to take classes and raise that GPA. Focus on school and keep getting straight As. This might also be a reason to take a gap year after law school, so that your senior year grades will be included on your transcript. You also can write an addendum about taking time off and coming back and getting a much better GPA.

I don't think a retake can provide that much benefit to you at this point but if you think you can do better you should do it. Might be a good thing to do during a gap year.

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There's no shame in striking out at HYS and "settling" for a T10 with $, or even $$. I'd apply broadly to the T14 and attend the cheapest COA.

No need to retake the LSAT with a current score of 172 accompanied by the most sought-after URM status. Apply to all Top 14 law schools which are of interest to you.

If anybody gets into hys with a 2.9 it's gonna be OP. Is it guaranteed? No. But nobody is guaranteed a spot at hys.

Either way, I'd say 172 is fine. If you have time to retake go for it.