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I graduated UCR in 2014 and am shooting to gain admittance into USC, but am trying to cast a wider net in applying to a lot of schools. With the latest LSAT score this February 2016 scoring 142 I am confused as to what to do now. I have applied to Pepperdine, USC, Southwestern, UC Hastings, and UOP Law.

I've been contemplating on taking the September 2016 exam but don't know what to do with this Fall 2016 cycle?

I work full time as an invoicing clerk and have a strong resume filled with extracurricular activities, externships as well as internships dating 2010 to present. I also graduated with Deans Honors and Chancellors Honors

Any advice is much heeded and needed at this point. I am contemplating on figuring out my schedule in June and am quitting my job at that point if need be.

Don't quit your job and do not move forward with your 142.

You have to retake the LSAT regardless of what sort of goals you have in terms of employment post law school. What are your goals?

I wanted to become an entertainment lawyer or some aspect of private law. I know there are a myriad of different employments under this sector of law but I wanted to do something that pertains to contract law if that means anything. I really am aiming for USC as being my target school.

do nothing related to law school except study for the LSAT. with a 142 you will doom yourself to a very difficult life at a TTT with mountains of debt

Yeah, to reiterate, any offer you receive should be burned. What did you do to study for the LSAT? I advise that you check out these forums for guidance/next steps. If you studied (3 months+) and made a good-faith effort, then your score is concerning. The LSAT is learnable, but if there is a serious constraint (limited English proficiency), then it may not be your test.

ashleyhong wrote:I wanted to become an entertainment lawyer or some aspect of private law. I know there are a myriad of different employments under this sector of law but I wanted to do something that pertains to contract law if that means anything. I really am aiming for USC as being my target school.

I'm nice, so I am hoping I can get this out before the TLS fury comes. You absolutely have to do a lot more to research and understand the ways in which legal employment is segmented. Aspiring to do entertainment law (which is far less about a body of law to master than it is to serve the needs of a particular clientele) is something that we would call a "unicorn" goal, in that those jobs are so rare that there is no defined pathway in which to achieve them. Generally, it is a very poor idea to set this as a goal for law school because the odds overwhelmingly (think 99.99%) are in favor of you not achieving them.

Here are some initial choices to help you get started:

Do you want to enter private practice, where you represent individuals and companies in which you have a profit motive, Public Interest practice where you represent clients in the pursuit of some sort of societal goal like ending discrimination or protecting the rights of women, or government practice where you represent the state in some capacity?

If you want to enter private practice, what sort of firm do you want to work for? Keep in mind that only the largest firms (BigLaw) pay anything like the high salaries you might be expecting that lawyers make.

You can study effectively while keeping your job. It just takes a lot of discipline and effort. As other people have mentioned, you should not attend ANY law school this year. You should plan to retake the LSAT and apply again next cycle.

Out of curiosity, is english not your first language? If it isn't, I would highly recommend trying to improve your language ability while you study for the LSAT. It will help improve your score and will aid you in your pursuit of becoming a lawyer.

fliptrip gave some good info and asked some good questions. Answer those before continuing.

Once you're done answering those questions to yourself (and to us, if you want our advice), read on. I have some info for you about law school admissions.

First and foremost, 99.99% of the time the only things that matter to your application success are your LSAC GPA and your LSAT score. Unless you're an astronaut or a convicted murderer, the rest of your life story has very limited effect on your application package.

Let's take a look. 3.6 GPA and 142 LSAT, and you're interested in USC among other schools. According to the data, you have a 0% chance of making USC. In fact, you have a 0% chance of making it to any of the top 100 schools, including Pepperdine and Hastings. This is important. Outside the top 100, you're taking a massive risk of not getting a decent job, even if you graduate in the top 25% of your class. Furthermore, you will be graduating with 6 figures of debt that must be paid off.

If, however, you study hard and get a 15 point boost on your LSAT (to ~157), you have a 3 in 4 chance of making Hastings and Pepperdine (still not USC). Let's say that you study really hard and get a 20 point boost. Now you're getting into Hastings and Pepperdine, and likely with a significant (tens of thousands of dollars) scholarship. Don't go to law school this cycle. Study hard, study effectively, and get an LSAT score that complements your GPA. Any school that accepts you this cycle isn't worth going to, even for free.

Yeah, just to reiterate what has already been said here. You decide what you want to do. At the very least decide on what type and size of law you want to do (i.e. private BigLaw Chi/NYC VS. State clerkships VS. SCOTUS clerkship VS. hanging out a shingle) it does not matter what. Just make a priority list of what you want do. If your main goal is Big Law or Scotus then you really gotta retake until you have a more than 50% of even getting into T14. If something like the state-level or mid-size private practice realm is for you, then you gotta decide on geography. THEN, you still gotta retake until you are within reaching distance of T-14 so you can get into a T1/T2 regional flagship with $$$$ where you can get access to small and mid law in whatever state you choose to live in for the future (this is why choosing where you want to be matters).

To summarize, based on what you want to do you need to either retake until you can find your way into T14 somehow, or at least until you are getting significant scholly at a regional school (we are talking in-state tuition waiver and half off tuition or more OR 75% off tuition minimum). Thats just the fact of the matter. If you really do not know what you want to do and are open to anything (not advised as a strategy), then just retake until you get as high a score as possible. 165+ = apply to T14 and hope for the best. 159-165 - apply to regional flagship and look for scholly $$$.