165/3.75 Forum

[cam1992]

- LSAT: 165 (three takes...(1) 165, (2) 162, (3) 164...does my downward trend matter)
- GPA: 3.75 LSAC 3.83 undergrad institution
- Undergrad university typically considered within top 10/15 undergrad programs
- Double major in International Relations and Comparative Literature (Spanish and Portuguese)
- 1 Rec. should be outstanding, the other should just be good
- Pretty confident about my essay
- 1 year of work experience split between campaign work and legislative work
- Decent EC's and summer internships at law firms and serving as a research assistant for a lawyer writing a book

Schools: UVA, Duke, Northwestern, Georgetown, UT, Vandy, GW, Wash U, Tulane, SMU


Just submitted my applications and I am (as I am sure almost everyone on this forum is) extremely nervous. Would appreciate any feedback. Thanks!

[cavalier1138]

Basically no to slightly-above-no chances at Vanderbilt and up. Decent chances everywhere else.

What are your career goals?

[cam1992]

Currently working on the Hill and I would like to continue with political/policy work post graduation. Just curious, is my LSAT the killer? All my stats are at least above the 25% range (except for Duke LSAT ), so do I really have that low of a chance? Bummer.

Also, I have a question regarding the admissions stats: are they the stats for the admitted class or the entering class? Would it be possible the admitted stats are somewhat lower because they do not reflect scholarships? Just wondering. Thanks for the help...good to have a community who is going through the same thing

[cavalier1138]

The admissions stats are for the entering class. And yes, your LSAT is the killer. According to MyLSN, a 1-2 point increase dramatically increases your chances at most of your schools

That said, it doesn't sound like you should be looking at law school at all. If your career goals are to work in policy, you should be looking for an MPP program or a job. Law degrees have very little use in policy positions after the advent of MPP programs.

[Thomas Hagan, ESQ.]

Basically no to slightly-above-no chances at Vanderbilt and up. Decent chances everywhere else.

What are your career goals?

Huh? Doesn't OP have above median gpa for Vandy? And between 25 and median LSAT?
I'm not saying OP will get admitted for sure, but his/chances are DEFINITELY a lot better than "no to slightly-above-no" chance IMO

[trebekismyhero]

If you want to stay in policy, just keep working on the hill and get an MPP or if you get a JD, go at night at GW/Gtown. Going full time to law school away from DC will not help you get back to working on policy. Trust me, I was in your shoes.

[cavalier1138]

Basically no to slightly-above-no chances at Vanderbilt and up. Decent chances everywhere else.

What are your career goals?

Huh? Doesn't OP have above median gpa for Vandy? And between 25 and median LSAT?
I'm not saying OP will get admitted for sure, but his/chances are DEFINITELY a lot better than "no to slightly-above-no" chance IMO

I'm just going by the numbers. Vanderbilt shows less than a 50/50 shot on MyLSN, and every other school was around 20% if there was any chance at all. Those chances practically double if they go up a point on the LSAT.

[hoy456]

Basically no to slightly-above-no chances at Vanderbilt and up. Decent chances everywhere else.

What are your career goals?

Huh? Doesn't OP have above median gpa for Vandy? And between 25 and median LSAT?
I'm not saying OP will get admitted for sure, but his/chances are DEFINITELY a lot better than "no to slightly-above-no" chance IMO

I'm just going by the numbers. Vanderbilt shows less than a 50/50 shot on MyLSN, and every other school was around 20% if there was any chance at all. Those chances practically double if they go up a point on the LSAT.

Isn't it wild that 90 seconds of erroneous decisionmaking determines the course of a lifetime?

[cam1992]

If you want to stay in policy, just keep working on the hill and get an MPP or if you get a JD, go at night at GW/Gtown. Going full time to law school away from DC will not help you get back to working on policy. Trust me, I was in your shoes.

I have thought about a MPP; however, I do not see myself staying in DC or in politics long term. At least as I envision my future now, I would like to stay in DC for 4-5 years and then transition into the private sector or maybe academia in a location closer to my family. Also, I am not married to the idea of working on the Hill, I would just like to work in policy for a couple of years. Lots of thought, observations throughout previous internships, and fairly extensive undergraduate research in constitutional and comparative law have shaped my decision to apply to law school.

[trebekismyhero]

If you want to stay in policy, just keep working on the hill and get an MPP or if you get a JD, go at night at GW/Gtown. Going full time to law school away from DC will not help you get back to working on policy. Trust me, I was in your shoes.

I have thought about a MPP; however, I do not see myself staying in DC or in politics long term. At least as I envision my future now, I would like to stay in DC for 4-5 years and then transition into the private sector or maybe academia in a location closer to my family. Also, I am not married to the idea of working on the Hill, I would just like to work in policy for a couple of years. Lots of thought, observations throughout previous internships, and fairly extensive undergraduate research in constitutional and comparative law have shaped my decision to apply to law school.

If you go to any of these schools you will not be doing anything with constitutional or comparative law, just understand that. I used to do policy, now I do generic corporate big law and I am cool with it. But don't expect academia or things like that from schools not named Yale

[cam1992]

If you want to stay in policy, just keep working on the hill and get an MPP or if you get a JD, go at night at GW/Gtown. Going full time to law school away from DC will not help you get back to working on policy. Trust me, I was in your shoes.

I have thought about a MPP; however, I do not see myself staying in DC or in politics long term. At least as I envision my future now, I would like to stay in DC for 4-5 years and then transition into the private sector or maybe academia in a location closer to my family. Also, I am not married to the idea of working on the Hill, I would just like to work in policy for a couple of years. Lots of thought, observations throughout previous internships, and fairly extensive undergraduate research in constitutional and comparative law have shaped my decision to apply to law school.

If you go to any of these schools you will not be doing anything with constitutional or comparative law, just understand that. I used to do policy, now I do generic corporate big law and I am cool with it. But don't expect academia or things like that from schools not named Yale

Thanks for the reply! Not too interested in pursuing constitutional or comparative law...thats just what most of my undergrad research focused on. I was just trying to give an example of how I concluded that law school is the right choice for me. And academia was the wrong word choice...I should have said writing. Corporate law sounds good to me. I've watched my parents throughout their corporate law careers and they are both really happy. I feel like it gets a bad rep, but I know plenty of corporate lawyers who love their jobs.

[cavalier1138]

Thanks for the reply! Not too interested in pursuing constitutional or comparative law...thats just what most of my undergrad research focused on. I was just trying to give an example of how I concluded that law school is the right choice for me. And academia was the wrong word choice...I should have said writing. Corporate law sounds good to me. I've watched my parents throughout their corporate law careers and they are both really happy. I feel like it gets a bad rep, but I know plenty of corporate lawyers who love their jobs.

Ok, but just to be clear: you've now gone from saying that you want a career in policy to saying that you want to be in academia, to saying you want a career in corporate law within the space of a few posts. It seems like you need to be clearer with yourself about what you really want after school.

[cam1992]

Thought I would update this in case any future applicants stumble upon it.

Out of my main schools I was accepted to UT (Texas resident) and Vanderbilt and waitlisted at Northwestern and UVA (legitimately shocked by this one). I chose UT and could not be more excited to be a longhorn! Best of luck to any future students.