Top Law Schools

Non URM, 3.87, 165. Not applying this cycle, don't graduate until next year.

Vanderbilt is the #1, but have been considering Ohio St, Indiana, BU, BC, maybe Cornell.

Yes, I plan to retake and see what I can get.

Those schools are pretty spread out geographically. What are your career goals?

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cavalier1138 wrote:Those schools are pretty spread out geographically. What are your career goals?

Yeah, I'm from the Midwest, but wanting out of it. Career goals I have always wanted to do in house counsel work or big law. However, I recognize that my wants may change by graduation.

zeglo wrote:I had a very similar profile but retook for a good improvement. Anyway, BU would be good IMO due to probably getting a lot of money.

Yeah, I plan on retaking. RC gave me some troubles.

Is scholarship a primary concern or are you looking to get into the best school possible?

hangold wrote:Is scholarship a primary concern or are you looking to get into the best school possible?

A little bit of both. Of course I want to be in a good school that will provide me the best future. However, I recognize that I don't want a ton of debt.

soxfan19 wrote:

hangold wrote:Is scholarship a primary concern or are you looking to get into the best school possible?

A little bit of both. Of course I want to be in a good school that will provide me the best future. However, I recognize that I don't want a ton of debt.

If your goal is big law, you should retake, even if it means taking an additional year off. With a GPA that high, you will have a chance at Harvard if you score a 170+. Top 20 schools will also throw scholarship money at you. Remember there are only a limited number of big law positions and firms place immense weight on the "prestige" of the school. If you go to Vanderbilt, you will be rolling the dice and hoping you finish in the top 20%.

For improving on RC, I recommend redoing passages over and over again. Once you've dissected a passage enough, the structure and how to answer questions in other passages will become apparent.

marcusme wrote:

soxfan19 wrote:

hangold wrote:Is scholarship a primary concern or are you looking to get into the best school possible?

A little bit of both. Of course I want to be in a good school that will provide me the best future. However, I recognize that I don't want a ton of debt.

If your goal is big law, you should retake, even if it means taking an additional year off. With a GPA that high, you will have a chance at Harvard if you score a 170+. Top 20 schools will also throw scholarship money at you. Remember there are only a limited number of big law positions and firms place immense weight on the "prestige" of the school. If you go to Vanderbilt, you will be rolling the dice and hoping you finish in the top 20%.

The way I have my schedule set up I plan to go full out on studying after this semester ends. I want to give myself the opportunity to be able to take the LSAT in February, June, September and December if they were needed. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm graduating next fall (Dec 17') so I still have a lot of time and will be applying in next year's cycle.

RamTitan wrote:For improving on RC, I recommend redoing passages over and over again. Once you've dissected a passage enough, the structure and how to answer questions in other passages will become apparent.

Yeah, that's going to be my plan of attack. I just struggled to get through the dense material in a timely manner while getting what I needed out of it.

soxfan19 wrote:

marcusme wrote:

soxfan19 wrote:

hangold wrote:Is scholarship a primary concern or are you looking to get into the best school possible?

A little bit of both. Of course I want to be in a good school that will provide me the best future. However, I recognize that I don't want a ton of debt.

If your goal is big law, you should retake, even if it means taking an additional year off. With a GPA that high, you will have a chance at Harvard if you score a 170+. Top 20 schools will also throw scholarship money at you. Remember there are only a limited number of big law positions and firms place immense weight on the "prestige" of the school. If you go to Vanderbilt, you will be rolling the dice and hoping you finish in the top 20%.

The way I have my schedule set up I plan to go full out on studying after this semester ends. I want to give myself the opportunity to be able to take the LSAT in February, June, September and December if they were needed. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm graduating next fall (Dec 17') so I still have a lot of time and will be applying in next year's cycle.

I would aim for the top 14, especially if you want big law. You would probably get into Cornell, Georgetown, or NW with your current stats, but improving your LSAT score 5+ points would open the door to many of the top 10. Vanderbilt and BU/BC should be your backups. They're excellent schools, but top 14 schools have far better employment opportunities. And when big law starting salary is 180k, the debt doesn't appear so daunting.

marcusme wrote:

soxfan19 wrote:

marcusme wrote:

soxfan19 wrote:

hangold wrote:Is scholarship a primary concern or are you looking to get into the best school possible?

A little bit of both. Of course I want to be in a good school that will provide me the best future. However, I recognize that I don't want a ton of debt.

If your goal is big law, you should retake, even if it means taking an additional year off. With a GPA that high, you will have a chance at Harvard if you score a 170+. Top 20 schools will also throw scholarship money at you. Remember there are only a limited number of big law positions and firms place immense weight on the "prestige" of the school. If you go to Vanderbilt, you will be rolling the dice and hoping you finish in the top 20%.

The way I have my schedule set up I plan to go full out on studying after this semester ends. I want to give myself the opportunity to be able to take the LSAT in February, June, September and December if they were needed. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm graduating next fall (Dec 17') so I still have a lot of time and will be applying in next year's cycle.

I would aim for the top 14, especially if you want big law. You would probably get into Cornell, Georgetown, or NW with your current stats, but improving your LSAT score 5+ points would open the door to many of the top 10. Vanderbilt and BU/BC should be your backups. They're excellent schools, but top 14 schools have far better employment opportunities. And when big law starting salary is 180k, the debt doesn't appear so daunting.

Well, if I get that +5 or so and get to the 170-172 range, where could I be looking at with scholarship money? Of course the 180k starting salary is great, but like you said limited jobs and I have to actually get one first

soxfan19 wrote:

marcusme wrote:

soxfan19 wrote:

marcusme wrote:

soxfan19 wrote:

hangold wrote:Is scholarship a primary concern or are you looking to get into the best school possible?

A little bit of both. Of course I want to be in a good school that will provide me the best future. However, I recognize that I don't want a ton of debt.

If your goal is big law, you should retake, even if it means taking an additional year off. With a GPA that high, you will have a chance at Harvard if you score a 170+. Top 20 schools will also throw scholarship money at you. Remember there are only a limited number of big law positions and firms place immense weight on the "prestige" of the school. If you go to Vanderbilt, you will be rolling the dice and hoping you finish in the top 20%.

The way I have my schedule set up I plan to go full out on studying after this semester ends. I want to give myself the opportunity to be able to take the LSAT in February, June, September and December if they were needed. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm graduating next fall (Dec 17') so I still have a lot of time and will be applying in next year's cycle.

I would aim for the top 14, especially if you want big law. You would probably get into Cornell, Georgetown, or NW with your current stats, but improving your LSAT score 5+ points would open the door to many of the top 10. Vanderbilt and BU/BC should be your backups. They're excellent schools, but top 14 schools have far better employment opportunities. And when big law starting salary is 180k, the debt doesn't appear so daunting.

Well, if I get that +5 or so and get to the 170-172 range, where could I be looking at with scholarship money? Of course the 180k starting salary is great, but like you said limited jobs and I have to actually get one first

I would say you would be looking at 2/3rd to full scholarship from a high ranked tier 1 school (not T14), and then maybe 1/4th to half scholarship from the lower T14s. If you want to go to a decent school for free, go to WUSTL. If you want the better employment prospects, go to the T14.