Top Law Schools

Hello everyone!

I am a long-time lurker on TLS. I am finally posting, hoping to get some sound advice. I previously went through the application process last year. However, I was disheartened by the outcome. I took the December LSAT in 2013. Unfortunately, I ended up with a 152 (I took a 4 month long Blueprint course and did all my required assignments). I ended up sending my applications in late January to early February. This was my fate:

1. GW - Waitlisted
2. University of Washington - Waitlisted
3. University of Miami - Waitlisted
4. Wake Forest - Waitlisted
5. W&M - Waitlisted
6. FSU - Waitlisted
7. Emory - Denied
8. USC - Denied

I am now re-applying, hoping for a better outcome. A little about myself - I graduated from a top 30 school with a 3.63 gpa this past May (always on the dean's list, heavily involved on campus, was an RA). I have always worked a full time job in order to help pay for college. I am Cuban, so hopefully URM counts a bit. I am currently working at a fortune 100 company, writing contracts and such making $52k a year. My downfall is the LSAT. I retook the lsat in June of this year, after taking another course (this time from kaplan) AND personal tutoring every week for 3 months. To no avail... I ended up with the same unfortunate score. I have written an addendum to each school explaning that I have a history of poor standardized testing (SAT/ACT, same thing).

What would you suggest I do? These are the schools I am planning on applying to (DONE are the apps that have been sent already):
1. GW ED
2. UF - done
3. FSU -done
4. UM
5. MSU - done
6. American - done
7. Boston University - done
8. BC
9. Penn State - done
10. UNC - Chapell Hill
11. Ohio State
12. Colorado

Do I have a better chance now that I have applied very early in the cycle? GW is my dream school. Thank YOU <3

I would suggest not going to law school. Sounds like you have a nice job. Even if you get into any of those schools it will be at sticker, which is absurd.

Sorry, I am new to the whole posting thing on forums.

I didn't mean to send you my question on PM. If I were to attend UF or FSU (in-state = $20k yearly) tuition, would the debt be completely detrimental? I am from Miami, so going to a school in FL is ideal for family and SO. My parents are going to take care of the COL (housing, food, etc.)

Winston1984 wrote:I would suggest not going to law school. Sounds like you have a nice job. Even if you get into any of those schools it will be at sticker, which is absurd.

If you can't substantially increase your LSAT, you should not go to law school. Good thing is you have a nice job so you can spend as long as you need retaking, if you really must be a lawyer.

Enjoy your current job. GW at full bore is just a terrible choice.

I was planning on applying GW part-time ED. I applied ED full time last year and got wait listed. I heard PT was easier? Also GW offers full scholarship if accepted under ED!

flawschoolkid wrote:Enjoy your current job. GW at full bore is just a terrible choice.

Enjoy your job; you're going to be significantly worse off four years from now if you go to any of those law schools.

legallyrose wrote:I was planning on applying GW part-time ED. I applied ED full time last year and got wait listed. I heard PT was easier? Also GW offers full scholarship if accepted under ED!

flawschoolkid wrote:Enjoy your current job. GW at full bore is just a terrible choice.

That's why you're not going to get accepted ED. Really, you need to retake again (if you must be a lawyer), and if you want to work in FL long term, then no school but one of UMiami/FSU/UF on a big scholarship make sense.

But even then, it's going to be a hard path with marginal and elusive rewards. You'd be lucky to graduate in three years w/ a job that pays as much as you make now.

ED at GW goes to kids with above 75% scores. I had 3.8/166 and didn't get a full ride.

Schools going to shit anyway.

legallyrose wrote:Sorry, I am new to the whole posting thing on forums.

I didn't mean to send you my question on PM. If I were to attend UF or FSU (in-state = $20k yearly) tuition, would the debt be completely detrimental? I am from Miami, so going to a school in FL is ideal for family and SO. My parents are going to take care of the COL (housing, food, etc.)

Winston1984 wrote:I would suggest not going to law school. Sounds like you have a nice job. Even if you get into any of those schools it will be at sticker, which is absurd.

$60k is the absolute max I would take out for UF/FSU (assuming this includes interest). I really think you should think twice about law school. What do you do now? What is it that you want to do? Your salary is really solid for someone (I'm assuming) recently out of college.

Winston1984 wrote:

legallyrose wrote:Sorry, I am new to the whole posting thing on forums.

I didn't mean to send you my question on PM. If I were to attend UF or FSU (in-state = $20k yearly) tuition, would the debt be completely detrimental? I am from Miami, so going to a school in FL is ideal for family and SO. My parents are going to take care of the COL (housing, food, etc.)

Winston1984 wrote:I would suggest not going to law school. Sounds like you have a nice job. Even if you get into any of those schools it will be at sticker, which is absurd.

$60k is the absolute max I would take out for UF/FSU (assuming this includes interest). I really think you should think twice about law school. What do you do now? What is it that you want to do? Your salary is really solid for someone (I'm assuming) recently out of college.

Yes, I just graduated in May. I am working my current job because I did not get into a school I wanted to last year. I had to relocate for it, and it was not through family or friends. However, I have always wanted to be an attorney. Thank you for your input

After a quick scan of this thread: Don't count on URM status because of your Cuban heritage. Some schools may view you as an URM, while others won't.

An LSAT score of 152 is an early warning sign that law school may not be the best career path for you (especially since you earned the same low score twice after completing well established LSAT prep courses).

P.S. Nevertheless, you are likely to be admitted to MSU, Penn State & American, in my opinion. Also UM if that is University of Miami.

I'm not trying to pile on but from another thread the OP says she wants International Human Rights law...

This is really, really not a good idea. A 50K job is a great outcome. Stick with that and build a career there, IMO.