Doublecheck/Help me find "sweet spot?" (3.16/170) Forum

[batfox]

For whatever reason it didn't occur to me to use the majority of resources available for this process, so I'm playing a bit of catch-up and would really appreciate advice. I checked the flowchart and this didn't seem too out of hand.

*Apologies in advance if I'm being an idiot or fouling this process up terribly*

~profile~

- 3.16 from a non-ivy top tier ugrad, don't explicitly mention in any gpa addendum but the meat of my personal statement is an abusive relationship/sexual assault that drastically affected me while at college. I think it's wiser to leave that connection unstated.
- 170 lsat
- non URM, white LGBT
- graduated several years ago, basic work since, some government experience

~ goals ~

- I'm looking to incur as little debt as possible while obtaining the strongest degree I can. That's not to say I don't have preferences relative to location (mostly mid-atlantic and southeast) or areas of law, but I'm pretty flexible altogether. In the face of prohibitive choices I'll due my due diligence at that time.

- The "sweet spot" I mention is one where the two factors I've mentioned most neatly intersect for me. I know there are schools that would take me for free but leave me floundering with a degree. Similarly, I know that if admitted T14 I'd have the opposite situation (and of course I'll throw a few applications that way to see).

~ applications ~

- I've applied to the following schools for various reasons. Some of these may be a waste. What I'm looking for is feedback on schools I should consider applying to that I may have overlooked. I'll note any relevant info.

- AZ St.
- Buffalo (local) (admitted with $7,000 offer. A little less than I expected.)
- Case Western
- Cornell (local)
- George Mason
- Minnesota
- Penn State
- Pittsburgh (local-ish)
- Syracuse (local-ish)
- Alabama
- Miami (admitted with full tuition)
- Richmond (ties to school, not alum)
- UCLA
- WUSTL (admitted, waiting on scholarship info [I hope!])

- I'm considering applying to Wake, Vanderbilt, UT, Northwestern, Michigan, UNC, Notre Dame, Penn.



If you made it this far, bless you :p. I'd appreciate any input you might have.

[cavalier1138]

You need to be more specific about your goals. What do you want to do with the "strongest degree" you can get?

[batfox]

Ideally I'd like to establish myself in a smaller or midsize city in a smaller firm. I'm drawn toward estate planning, family law, sports law, and tax law, but will note that these preferences are mostly grounded in theory rather than experiential knowledge (hence a desire to allow for flexibility within my school choice).