3.65 / 157 Veteran Forum

[Mav5]

So I really slacked off when it came to studying for the LSAT and didn't do as well as I would like...

I am an 8 years Navy Veteran with a BA in Business Admin w/minor in Criminal Justice (weird, I know)...
3.65 GPA / 157 LSAT

I am not trying for a super stretch with my goals and I am keeping them realistic as I can.

My Goal schools

1) University of Washington ( currently living in the area and would like to stay and practice in the Seattle area)
2) Florida State (From Florida so I wouldn't mind going back for school and work)
3) Florida

How feasible is this? I've noticed that my LSAT is below the bottom 25 to these schools (They are all about 160). Will my military soft give me a good shot at one of these or should I take some time off and re do the LSAT? I will be deployed out of country for the most of the year and unable to take anything but this upcoming June LSAT if I decide to retake so I don't have a super long time to prepare for it.

Thanks for any in sight.

[Clearly]

you need to retake the LSAT and give it the attention it deserves. It is by a wide margin the most important part of your application, and its not even that hard once you know what you're doing. Sit out the cycle, study like crazy, get a good score, and you'll be looking at full rides to better schools than these.

What do you plan on doing for a living? How much do you expect your salary to be?

[NotASpecialSnowflake]

Make time to seriously study for the LSAT. It sounds like you've got a lot on your plate, but the LSAT deserves serious consideration if you want to go to law school. I'd suggest starting to study now for the Sept/Oct. Try the LSAT trainer and the powerscore bibles.

[OhBoyOhBortles]

Definitely have to retake here. It will be worth the time you put in.

[MT Cicero]

.

1. You should come over to the vets forum and say hi: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2&t=170257

2. Please consider retaking at this point. I think June's a bit tight, but most deployed locations have places where you can take the LSAT. You on the boat?

3. If you still have your G.I. Bill, the Yellow Ribbon Program makes it so that law school is essentially free. And you get a living stipend on top of that. This means you are only bound by where you can gain admission. That's a huge advantage that many on these threads would love to have.

4. That GPA could gain you entry into every school not named Yale or Stanford. Harvard and Chicago are likely big reaches as well, but roast the LSAT and you never know. This site is replete with people who have gained 10-15 points on their LSAT, but they put in the time. Even if you did nothing but drill for 2 hours a day, 5 days a week during your deployment and put off law school for another cycle (if your deployment provides you no ability to take the LSAT), it would likely pay huge dividends.

"But Cicero, I don't want/need biglaw and am content to practice in region X." Sounds good. A T14 school is generally a great way to better ensure that outcome. Plus, it provides you insurance if your intended geographical preference were to change. This is exactly what I'm doing. Strong ties + military + T14 = outstanding shot at getting where you want.

Most people will raise other objections as well (can't wait another year...just done with the LSAT...family situation necessitates starting now). I have responses to those too. Feel free to PM me and I can give you the lowdown on the route I took (deployment, family, old guy, etc.).

[KingsleyZissou]

You really need to retake. Deployment is a perfect time to start to get some baseline studying in. Take a couple months after you're back to really drill some practice tests, and then take the exam.

I studied through deployment work ups and INSURV (if you're surface Navy, you'll know how big of a deal that is; if you're not, just disregard).

I would be happy to share any study tips or good resources if you PM me.

[Mav5]

Wow everyone thanks for the thoughts. Ive decided to jump into some hard core studying and will make a plan to attempt the June exam ONLY if I can get my PT's in the upper 160's. If not I will use deployment to study and delay law school for a year and work on my LSAT.

[MT Cicero]

Wow everyone thanks for the thoughts. Ive decided to jump into some hard core studying and will make a plan to attempt the June exam ONLY if I can get my PT's in the upper 160's. If not I will use deployment to study and delay law school for a year and work on my LSAT.

Yeah, I shouldn't have been too quick to discount June. I took it only once with around 8 weeks of study time, but I focused like crazy for 3 hours a night/5 hours on weekends (family & time-demanding military job as well).

So, with prior LSAT experience and heavy focus, you can bump yours up significantly in 6 weeks. I did a truncated version of pithypike's guide on this site, so I'd recommend it. Good luck!

[Mav5]

Wow everyone thanks for the thoughts. Ive decided to jump into some hard core studying and will make a plan to attempt the June exam ONLY if I can get my PT's in the upper 160's. If not I will use deployment to study and delay law school for a year and work on my LSAT.

Yeah, I shouldn't have been too quick to discount June. I took it only once with around 8 weeks of study time, but I focused like crazy for 3 hours a night/5 hours on weekends (family & time-demanding military job as well).

So, with prior LSAT experience and heavy focus, you can bump yours up significantly in 6 weeks. I did a truncated version of pithypike's guide on this site, so I'd recommend it. Good luck!

I did terrible on the logic games but I heard thats the easiest to master so I picked up the power score trilogy today and I will be diving into it tonight. Thanks for the motivation. It is tough being active duty especially now gearing for a deployment to the sandbox.

[NotASpecialSnowflake]

Great choice on retaking. For logic games, I strongly suggest powerscore's logic games bible. I hated logic games when I started, but by the end of my prep, they were my best section.

[navykev]

Wow everyone thanks for the thoughts. Ive decided to jump into some hard core studying and will make a plan to attempt the June exam ONLY if I can get my PT's in the upper 160's. If not I will use deployment to study and delay law school for a year and work on my LSAT.

Yeah, I shouldn't have been too quick to discount June. I took it only once with around 8 weeks of study time, but I focused like crazy for 3 hours a night/5 hours on weekends (family & time-demanding military job as well).

So, with prior LSAT experience and heavy focus, you can bump yours up significantly in 6 weeks. I did a truncated version of pithypike's guide on this site, so I'd recommend it. Good luck!

I did terrible on the logic games but I heard thats the easiest to master so I picked up the power score trilogy today and I will be diving into it tonight. Thanks for the motivation. It is tough being active duty especially now gearing for a deployment to the sandbox.

Go to Youtube and watch the 7Sage videos - they have one for every logic game. Powerscore + 7Sage ='s great LG score

[Broncos15]

My Goal schools

1) University of Washington ( currently living in the area and would like to stay and practice in the Seattle area)
2) Florida State (From Florida so I wouldn't mind going back for school and work)
3) Florida

OP yes you can get into those schools,......military boost is real. And besides the apps for those schools are dropping ra[dily.

So I don't think the real question is if you can get in...but whether it is a smart career move . ( if I got into one of those schools, I would retake for a better scholarship)

With a retake even Harvard and Chicago are in play IMO due to military boost.

Thanks for the service

[Mav5]

My Goal schools

1) University of Washington ( currently living in the area and would like to stay and practice in the Seattle area)
2) Florida State (From Florida so I wouldn't mind going back for school and work)
3) Florida

OP yes you can get into those schools,......military boost is real. And besides the apps for those schools are dropping ra[dily.

So I don't think the real question is if you can get in...but whether it is a smart career move . ( if I got into one of those schools, I would retake for a better scholarship)

With a retake even Harvard and Chicago are in play IMO due to military boost.

Thanks for the service

Thanks for the info... I never thought about Seeing myself at somewhere like Harvard but what you said is pretty motivating and it makes me think "Why not me?". Ive started studying since my initial post and im already vastly improving my logic games just by learning diagramming so i guesss anythings possible.

[usn26]

Yeah, I think you'd have a shot at all of those, but you'd be doing yourself a disservice not to focus on the LSAT and aim a little higher. Nothing's out of reach depending on how well you can tackle that.

[strugglebus]

I did terrible on the logic games but I heard thats the easiest to master so I picked up the power score trilogy today and I will be diving into it tonight. Thanks for the motivation. It is tough being active duty especially now gearing for a deployment to the sandbox.

I had tons of trouble finishing logic games in time when I first started. It can definitely be learned. Good luck!