170/3.5 Forum

[irving80]

Hey all, I got my transcripts sent in and my LSAC GPA got bumped up to a 3.5 so I'm super happy for that especially because I had a 2.0 freshman year and 3.8+ my remaining 3 years. My Sept. LSAT is 170, and I was wondering what schools should I apply to for reach, target, safety?? I'm getting mixed results on myLSN and the LSAC calculator...

[irving80]

Oh BTW, I'm non-URM

[SeewhathappensLarry]

I'd say in at Georgetown, Michigan, UVa. Maybe Cornell, Northwestern, Duke. There really is no such thing as safety schools for law school.

Ultimately it won't matter in terms of acceptances but I would recommend taking a couple years off and working. I can't tell you how much perspective it brings to everything, not to mention interesting things to talk about in interviews. I promise no one gives a shit about college activities and such.

[Clemenceau]

Blanket the t14 with the exception of HYS (CC are probably huge reaches, but knock yourself out if you want). Outside of that, you have to ask yourself where you want to practice. Apply to the best schools in those regions. Schools like WashU, Vanderbilt, and UTexas might also be worth an application.

[personofinterest]

LSAC calculator is useless. Mylsn is great, but you should note that schools change a bit year to year, which you can see on mylsn. I found mylsn to be very accurate for me, and LSAC was way off.

ETA: apply to all T14 if you can afford it, as well as other schools like ucla/vandy/Texas/washu if you would be happy working in each corresponding region.

[irving80]

I'd say in at Georgetown, Michigan, UVa. Maybe Cornell, Northwestern, Duke. There really is no such thing as safety schools for law school.

Ultimately it won't matter in terms of acceptances but I would recommend taking a couple years off and working. I can't tell you how much perspective it brings to everything, not to mention interesting things to talk about in interviews. I promise no one gives a shit about college activities and such.

Hey Larry, sorry if I sound ignorant but what do you mean when there are no such things as safety schools for law school purposes?? Also, will the type of work experience matter? I'm already 2 years out of college and hope that my not-so-interesting work experience isn't gonna hold me back lol

[irving80]

Blanket the t14 with the exception of HYS (CC are probably huge reaches, but knock yourself out if you want). Outside of that, you have to ask yourself where you want to practice. Apply to the best schools in those regions. Schools like WashU, Vanderbilt, and UTexas might also be worth an application.

LSAC calculator is useless. Mylsn is great, but you should note that schools change a bit year to year, which you can see on mylsn. I found mylsn to be very accurate for me, and LSAC was way off.

ETA: apply to all T14 if you can afford it, as well as other schools like ucla/vandy/Texas/washu if you would be happy working in each corresponding region.

Hey Clemenceau and person of interest, thanks for your guys' inputs! I will blanket the entire T14 and hope for the best lol. As for the region, I really want to practice in California since my whole family is here, so is it not worth applying to schools like Texas, Vandy, or other schools not in Cali and not in T14? I'm assuming those schools just don't provide the mobility after graduation, right?

[Clemenceau]

Blanket the t14 with the exception of HYS (CC are probably huge reaches, but knock yourself out if you want). Outside of that, you have to ask yourself where you want to practice. Apply to the best schools in those regions. Schools like WashU, Vanderbilt, and UTexas might also be worth an application.

LSAC calculator is useless. Mylsn is great, but you should note that schools change a bit year to year, which you can see on mylsn. I found mylsn to be very accurate for me, and LSAC was way off.

ETA: apply to all T14 if you can afford it, as well as other schools like ucla/vandy/Texas/washu if you would be happy working in each corresponding region.

Hey Clemenceau and person of interest, thanks for your guys' inputs! I will blanket the entire T14 and hope for the best lol. As for the region, I really want to practice in California since my whole family is here, so is it not worth applying to schools like Texas, Vandy, or other schools not in Cali and not in T14? I'm assuming those schools just don't provide the mobility after graduation, right?

To be perfectly honest, I don't know much about those schools' placement in CA. It's probably not great. However, if UCLA and USC would negotiate scholarships with TX/Vandy/WashU, then it could totally be worth applying. I never applied to CA schools and never considered working there, so I'm probably not your best source of info. Never hurts to apply broadly, though (except your wallet).

[personofinterest]

Blanket the t14 with the exception of HYS (CC are probably huge reaches, but knock yourself out if you want). Outside of that, you have to ask yourself where you want to practice. Apply to the best schools in those regions. Schools like WashU, Vanderbilt, and UTexas might also be worth an application.

LSAC calculator is useless. Mylsn is great, but you should note that schools change a bit year to year, which you can see on mylsn. I found mylsn to be very accurate for me, and LSAC was way off.

ETA: apply to all T14 if you can afford it, as well as other schools like ucla/vandy/Texas/washu if you would be happy working in each corresponding region.

Hey Clemenceau and person of interest, thanks for your guys' inputs! I will blanket the entire T14 and hope for the best lol. As for the region, I really want to practice in California since my whole family is here, so is it not worth applying to schools like Texas, Vandy, or other schools not in Cali and not in T14? I'm assuming those schools just don't provide the mobility after graduation, right?

To be perfectly honest, I don't know much about those schools' placement in CA. It's probably not great. However, if UCLA and USC would negotiate scholarships with TX/Vandy/WashU, then it could totally be worth applying. I never applied to CA schools and never considered working there, so I'm probably not your best source of info. Never hurts to apply broadly, though (except your wallet).

I would amend my advice to say you should apply to TX/Vandy/WashU/UCLA/USC because negotiating scholarships is for real. Also, the top 5 (see http://mylsn.info/83mz1l/) may not be worth your time and effort. You can save money by emailing admissions to ask for a fee waiver. They will usually give you one. Search TLS for more on this.

[irving80]

Blanket the t14 with the exception of HYS (CC are probably huge reaches, but knock yourself out if you want). Outside of that, you have to ask yourself where you want to practice. Apply to the best schools in those regions. Schools like WashU, Vanderbilt, and UTexas might also be worth an application.

LSAC calculator is useless. Mylsn is great, but you should note that schools change a bit year to year, which you can see on mylsn. I found mylsn to be very accurate for me, and LSAC was way off.

ETA: apply to all T14 if you can afford it, as well as other schools like ucla/vandy/Texas/washu if you would be happy working in each corresponding region.

Hey Clemenceau and person of interest, thanks for your guys' inputs! I will blanket the entire T14 and hope for the best lol. As for the region, I really want to practice in California since my whole family is here, so is it not worth applying to schools like Texas, Vandy, or other schools not in Cali and not in T14? I'm assuming those schools just don't provide the mobility after graduation, right?

To be perfectly honest, I don't know much about those schools' placement in CA. It's probably not great. However, if UCLA and USC would negotiate scholarships with TX/Vandy/WashU, then it could totally be worth applying. I never applied to CA schools and never considered working there, so I'm probably not your best source of info. Never hurts to apply broadly, though (except your wallet).

I would amend my advice to say you should apply to TX/Vandy/WashU/UCLA/USC because negotiating scholarships is for real. Also, the top 5 (see http://mylsn.info/83mz1l/) may not be worth your time and effort. You can save money by emailing admissions to ask for a fee waiver. They will usually give you one. Search TLS for more on this.

Hey guys, thanks so much for the valuable input! I never considered the part about negotiating scholarships and I think that's a very good point!

[SeewhathappensLarry]

I'd say in at Georgetown, Michigan, UVa. Maybe Cornell, Northwestern, Duke. There really is no such thing as safety schools for law school.

Ultimately it won't matter in terms of acceptances but I would recommend taking a couple years off and working. I can't tell you how much perspective it brings to everything, not to mention interesting things to talk about in interviews. I promise no one gives a shit about college activities and such.

Hey Larry, sorry if I sound ignorant but what do you mean when there are no such things as safety schools for law school purposes?? Also, will the type of work experience matter? I'm already 2 years out of college and hope that my not-so-interesting work experience isn't gonna hold me back lol

You don't sound ignorant--honestly applying to law schools is completely different than applying to colleges. There are so many good colleges that it makes sense to divide your options into target, safeties, and reach schools. In all likelihood, going to, say, Ohio State is probably not that different than going to like Ohio U.

Law school is a different beast, because there are a few very good law schools that have good career prospects and place students across the country. Then there are a bunch of really, really, shitty, borderline criminal law schools that give you very little hope at becoming a lawyer, or at least a highly-paid lawyer.

The general advice on TLS, and I think it is right, is to first decide where you want to practice. The T14 can largely place anywhere across the country, although there is still a regional element to some of those schools as well. I see you want to practice in CA, so you should apply to Berkeley, Stanford (long shot) UCLA, and USC, as well as the rest of the T14. I would also apply to schools just under the T14 and outside of CA, particularly for negotiation purposes, such as Vandy, Wash U, UT, etc. But to finally answer your question, there is no safety school for you. Sure, you could easily get into like Chapman but that will not get you anywhere. The difference between a Chapman and a Berkeley is huge.

Also, what is your work experience? I think you can spin almost any job into a compelling and interesting story in interviews, unless it's like grocery bagging or something.

[irving80]

I'd say in at Georgetown, Michigan, UVa. Maybe Cornell, Northwestern, Duke. There really is no such thing as safety schools for law school.

Ultimately it won't matter in terms of acceptances but I would recommend taking a couple years off and working. I can't tell you how much perspective it brings to everything, not to mention interesting things to talk about in interviews. I promise no one gives a shit about college activities and such.

Hey Larry, sorry if I sound ignorant but what do you mean when there are no such things as safety schools for law school purposes?? Also, will the type of work experience matter? I'm already 2 years out of college and hope that my not-so-interesting work experience isn't gonna hold me back lol

You don't sound ignorant--honestly applying to law schools is completely different than applying to colleges. There are so many good colleges that it makes sense to divide your options into target, safeties, and reach schools. In all likelihood, going to, say, Ohio State is probably not that different than going to like Ohio U.

Law school is a different beast, because there are a few very good law schools that have good career prospects and place students across the country. Then there are a bunch of really, really, shitty, borderline criminal law schools that give you very little hope at becoming a lawyer, or at least a highly-paid lawyer.

The general advice on TLS, and I think it is right, is to first decide where you want to practice. The T14 can largely place anywhere across the country, although there is still a regional element to some of those schools as well. I see you want to practice in CA, so you should apply to Berkeley, Stanford (long shot) UCLA, and USC, as well as the rest of the T14. I would also apply to schools just under the T14 and outside of CA, particularly for negotiation purposes, such as Vandy, Wash U, UT, etc. But to finally answer your question, there is no safety school for you. Sure, you could easily get into like Chapman but that will not get you anywhere. The difference between a Chapman and a Berkeley is huge.

Also, what is your work experience? I think you can spin almost any job into a compelling and interesting story in interviews, unless it's like grocery bagging or something.

Hey Larry, thank you so much for your input! You raise a really great point. So I guess instead of organizing my school list into target, reach, and safety schools, it's best to just prioritize getting into T14 first and then the top regional schools within CA like UCLA and USC and others like WUSTL, Vandy, UT for scholarship purposes, right? Haha I really appreciate your advice! As for my work experience, I hope you don't mind if I PM you with the details so that I retain some anonymity on this forum, lol