3.35/178 + 3 years of WE Forum

[supersplitter123]

I graduated with a 3.35 and a degree in finance (I also have about 3 years worth of credits in biology, because I switched majors junior year. Still graduated in 4 years if that makes any difference). I was fortunate enough to get a 178 on the LSAT.

I have 3 years of work experience (4 at the time of matriculation) at a large financial data firm (think Bloomberg, Thompson Reuters, etc) and am in an Assistant Vice President position here. Not much else to say about softs in college; I was in a fraternity and did volunteer work here and there. Decent LORs but nothing extremely special (one from the head of finance at my college and another from the managing director of my group).

I'd ideally like to do transactional work in Dallas (strong Texas ties here) but I'm not opposed to going to NYC/Chicago/West Coast. I've been looking at applying to Northwestern ED to get their scholarship, but I don't know if that's possible with my numbers. What would my chances at CCN look like? Is Harvard out of the question?

[gamerish]

Is there a particular reason you want to leave what sounds like a pretty banging job... for transactional work? Surely an AVP at that kind of firm has to have pretty decent exit options if all you're looking for is a change of pace.

As for your chances, I think you stand a pretty good chance at NU's ED if you applied for it. There are other threads with people in similar situations to you about the wisdom of doing so since, if you can stomach the risk, your LSAT and WE might actually net you the same money from NU if you apply RD, while still allowing yourself to consider other options. Your GPA isn't absolutely abysmal, it's not great, but you're in a better position than a lot splitters especially considering your WE.

Chicago is unlikely as they prefer high GPAs though I wouldn't be surprised if Columbia gave you a shot, though I wouldn't expect much in the way of money. NYU is less predicable than the other CCN schools for splitters, unless you're URM, but I wouldn't count on it. Harvard is very unlikely.

If you do actually want to be a lawyer, I'd just peddle the standard advice of blanketing the T14, sans YS (not applying to Chicago is also defensible if you really need the money, unless you get a waiver). If you're open to risk, I'd RD to NU. If you prefer to play it safe there are worse places to be than NU at 150k.

I have no idea how UT treats splitters but I'd apply there too if you want to stay in Texas and see what kind of $ they offer.

[supersplitter123]

My current job sounds a lot better than it is haha. It's a lot more operations focused project-work with a fair amount of client interaction mixed in, but I definitely don't want to continue on the operations side of things. I've done a ton of research between consulting and law and have spoken to people in both fields, and I'm more interested in working big law (fully understanding the long hours, tedious work as a junior, and the foreboding cries of current big law employees on TLS).

I think I'll go the RD route and blanket T-14 minus YS. Money is not really an issue for applications, and I can cover at least living costs and a little more wherever I go. I have no undergrad debt so I'm not super debt-averse either. Thanks for your help!

[Lexaholik]

You should obviously apply everywhere, but you'd need a monster scholarship offer / HYS to turn down UT. Northwestern, other T14s, etc. may seem great on the resume, and perhaps marginally more prestigious than UT (although unlikely in TX) but you lose out on connections and alumni base--factors that are severely underrated on TLS.

[supersplitter123]

How is UT's placement outside of Texas? While my goal is to live in Texas, I don't want to pigeonhole myself and not have other options.

[CanadianWolf]

If you are still considering consulting, have you taken the GMAT or GRE ?

[supersplitter123]

Yes I have, I scored a 770 on it.

[pancakes3]

bschool bro. for the love of god, bschool.

[supersplitter123]

Here was my thought process between the two:

1) While bschool will be great, I would primarily want consulting over ibanking (which is a whole different type of hell).
2) I don't see myself wanting to travel 4-5 days a week and living out of a hotel room. I have a pretty active social life, and while it'll also take a hit when working big law, I'll at least be able to reside in the same city and have the opportunity to see my friends and family from time to time.
3) The lucrative exit options you hear about aren't very prevalent in Dallas, which is ultimately where I'd like to stay (might be wrong on this).
4) Hours can be just as bad in associate-level consulting, and the work is tedious grunt work 90% of the time as well (I might sound like a naive 0L, but from what I've seen you're gonna have to pay your dues in all high finance/similar level professions).
5) From all the research I've done, I feel my skillset and temperament are better suited for law.

Of course, the massive price tag that comes with a law degree is daunting. Luckily my parents will cover my living costs and if I can finagle a scholarship, it will be perfect. I'm open to opinions though - why do you recommend bschool over law? Is it the usual TLS reasons?

[pkraft1]

I had a 3.35/173, and got in to NYU and Columbia with a medium amount of money. Chicago WL. I only had about a year of work experience, and not in finance. I'd say you have a great shot at CCN with money, and you should not ed Northwestern. While you'd get their big scholarship, you can get big scholarships from CCN with that LSAT too (maybe not quite as big, but you could get lucky and get a named scholarship).

[supersplitter123]

I had a 3.35/173, and got in to NYU and Columbia with a medium amount of money. Chicago WL. I only had about a year of work experience, and not in finance. I'd say you have a great shot at CCN with money, and you should not ed Northwestern. While you'd get their big scholarship, you can get big scholarships from CCN with that LSAT too (maybe not quite as big, but you could get lucky and get a named scholarship).

Damn that's awesome dude, congrats. I couldn't find a lot of data on scholarship prospects around our numbers. Where did you decide to go? And was that this cycle?

[pkraft1]

I had a 3.35/173, and got in to NYU and Columbia with a medium amount of money. Chicago WL. I only had about a year of work experience, and not in finance. I'd say you have a great shot at CCN with money, and you should not ed Northwestern. While you'd get their big scholarship, you can get big scholarships from CCN with that LSAT too (maybe not quite as big, but you could get lucky and get a named scholarship).

Damn that's awesome dude, congrats. I couldn't find a lot of data on scholarship prospects around our numbers. Where did you decide to go? And was that this cycle?

I decided on NYU, and this was last cycle.

[supersplitter123]

I had a 3.35/173, and got in to NYU and Columbia with a medium amount of money. Chicago WL. I only had about a year of work experience, and not in finance. I'd say you have a great shot at CCN with money, and you should not ed Northwestern. While you'd get their big scholarship, you can get big scholarships from CCN with that LSAT too (maybe not quite as big, but you could get lucky and get a named scholarship).

Damn that's awesome dude, congrats. I couldn't find a lot of data on scholarship prospects around our numbers. Where did you decide to go? And was that this cycle?

I decided on NYU, and this was last cycle.

That really helps my decision. Good luck at NYU!

[pancakes3]

there are gigs coming out of b-school, especially HBS/SBS/Wharton that aren't i-banking or consulting. PE is less of a unicorn than A3 clerking. Federal consulting pays a bit less but it's also less travel.

[supersplitter123]

there are gigs coming out of b-school, especially HBS/SBS/Wharton that aren't i-banking or consulting. PE is less of a unicorn than A3 clerking. Federal consulting pays a bit less but it's also less travel.

Agreed but I'm not interested in corp dev gigs or similar roles. PE is damn near impossible unless you worked in PE prior to b-school. Even then, the biggest complaints I've seen here are shitty partners and long hours. Anyone in banking/consulting/HF/PE will say the same thing. I think the difference is that people get work experience before going to b-school and are therefore a little more acclimated to what it's like in the real world. There are so many K-JDs in law - working 70 hours a week after 20 years of school, doing grunt work, etc. is not something they are accustomed to/realize what it is actually like. For example, that thread with the 4th year associate answering questions - the 2nd page has a guy complaining about not wanting to do some work with arbitrary timelinesm and wanting to get out of law. Not sure if he's K-JD or not, but that happens in my job too. It'll happen everywhere that pays you a ton of money.

Again, I say this as a 0L so I'll defer to opinions of people more knowledgeable than I am. That is a trend that I've noticed, however. Lawyers I've spoken to in big law firms who have previous work experience don't nearly have as many complaints.

[foxes]

I had a 179 with 3 yrs of we and a somewhat higher (but not high) gpa. I'd say no at hys, but you've got a shot at NYU and cls (anecdotally I got ok money from them). Chi/cal didn't take me (presumably bc of my gpa). UVA is a good bet, I personally know someone who was admitted there with almost your exact numbers/we and got decent money. I'd say mich/duke are too. Ut gave me a huge scholly, if you want to go to Dallas long term I'd take that but yes UT does not place particularly well in other regions.