What are my chances of admission to a T14 given my factors? Forum

[urbane924]

First off, thank you in advance for your time and consideration. I'm basically just curious to see what you all would think of my chance of admission to T14 schools based on my factors I will list below. I will also list the schools I actually plan to apply to.

B.A. Political Science (Major Florida State University)
A.S. Criminal Justice (Smaller Local College)
3.4 GPA (4.0 GPA during undergrad at University but a 2.9 at smaller college for my associates)
170 LSAT (should I retake?)

RESUME WILL INCLUDE
-Graduated with Honors from Major Florida University
- Director of Operations for a small private investigation company
- Serve as a board member/part-owner on a small health & fitness start-up
- Founded a small local charity that donates school supplies to school kids in need
- Paid Internship on a major Mayoral Campaign
- Completed/published a research paper as part of my honors graduation requirement (won an award)
- First generation college student
- Orphan (not sure if these last 2 mean much but they will play a part in my narrative when writing my personal statements)

Disclaimer: I hate to use my hardships as excuses but I believe they are what led me to take my schooling seriously. Academics served as my outlet from the obstacles I faced in my young life so I feel it is important to mention them to give you all a full picture so you can give me complete advice. Plus, as I said, it will be included in my personal statement

My first 2 years of college while pursuing my associates at the smaller local college I worked 2 overnight jobs and eventually moved out on my own during this time to escape an abusive home (I am an orphan due to a deceased parent and an incarcerated parent). This definitely made schooling hard at the time which is why I only managed a 2.9 gpa. However, once I transferred to a bigger university I excelled and earned a perfect 4.0 while also a member of the honors college. I also began my entrepreneurial journey and landed an important role with an investigation company during this time. I plan to submit an addendum with my applications to hopefully encourage admissions to look at my later and more recent success. What do you all believe my chances are? Thanks again!

Law Schools Applying to:
1.) Yale
2.) Harvard
3.) Columbia
4.) NYU
5.) Georgetown
6.) George Washington U.
7.) Cornell
8.) Stanford
9.) Berkeley
10.) University of Florida
11.) Florida State University
12.) Florida International University

[The Lsat Airbender]

What are your goals, and where do you want to end up geographically? It's not clear to me why you'd apply to Cornell but not, say, Northwestern, or FIU but not UMiami. FSU and FIU should not be in serious consideration anyway; UF and Miami are your only decent options in Florida and even they aren't stellar (i.e., you should only go for free). GW doesn't make much sense either.

You should be applying to the entire T14, although you could probably pass on HYS and not lose too much sleep over it since your numbers make you an extreme longshot at those three.

[urbane924]

What are your goals, and where do you want to end up geographically? It's not clear to me why you'd apply to Cornell but not, say, Northwestern, or FIU but not UMiami. FSU and FIU should not be in serious consideration anyway; UF and Miami are your only decent options in Florida and even they aren't stellar (i.e., you should only go for free). GW doesn't make much sense either.

You should be applying to the entire T14, although you could probably pass on HYS and not lose too much sleep over it since your numbers make you an extreme longshot at those three.

Hey, thanks for taking the time to respond. As for goals, I'm looking to study within the legislative, public policy, constitutional law realm. Career wise I would look to work as policymaker perhaps or even as a US Attorney for the DOJ just to name a specific example. Since I am an orphan the state of Florida has given me a tuition waiver that is eligible for use at any public University in the State of Florida which is why I included the Florida schools at all. Plus, UF is ranked at #31 among top law schoosl and FSU at #49 I believe. FIU comes in at only #91 but they consistently lead the state in Bar Passage rates while consistently scoring 90% passage rates. I also happen to live 5 minutes from FIU so the Florida schools are my cheaper/safer options. UM is private so the tuition waiver would not be available. The waiver wouldn't be eligible for use at any of the other T14 schools I mentioned obviously but in my opinion the possible experience and opportunities of such schools would offset the costs.

[cavalier1138]

Hey, thanks for taking the time to respond. As for goals, I'm looking to study within the legislative, public policy, constitutional law realm. Career wise I would look to work as policymaker perhaps or even as a US Attorney for the DOJ just to name a specific example. Since I am an orphan the state of Florida has given me a tuition waiver that is eligible for use at any public University in the State of Florida which is why I included the Florida schools at all. Plus, UF is ranked at #31 among top law schoosl and FSU at #49 I believe. FIU comes in at only #91 but they consistently lead the state in Bar Passage rates while consistently scoring 90% passage rates. I also happen to live 5 minutes from FIU so the Florida schools are my cheaper/safer options. UM is private so the tuition waiver would not be available. The waiver wouldn't be eligible for use at any of the other T14 schools I mentioned obviously but in my opinion the possible experience and opportunities of such schools would offset the costs.

A few thoughts, in no particular order:

-DOJ/USAO is highly unlikely from FSU, and it's borderline impossible from FIU. Federal prosecution is highly competitive, and it usually requires a few years of biglaw/clerking experience before applying.

-Ignore bar passage rates. Your ability to pass the bar has nothing to do with where you go to school. You should be focusing on employment outcomes (https://www.lstreports.com).

-Don't compare relative USNWR rankings when you're looking at schools in the same tier. And as mentioned, you should be blanketing the T13 (or maybe leaving out HYS, since those aren't happening). There's no reason to ignore schools like Northwestern, UVA, etc. You're a splitter, and you need to spread out your apps to maximize your scholarship offers.

-If you want to work in policy, get an MPP. Or just apply for a job on the Hill. A JD is good for one thing: practicing law. If your primary career goal doesn't involve the practice of law, don't go to law school.

[Wubbles]

Hey, thanks for taking the time to respond. As for goals, I'm looking to study within the legislative, public policy, constitutional law realm. Career wise I would look to work as policymaker perhaps or even as a US Attorney for the DOJ just to name a specific example. Since I am an orphan the state of Florida has given me a tuition waiver that is eligible for use at any public University in the State of Florida which is why I included the Florida schools at all. Plus, UF is ranked at #31 among top law schoosl and FSU at #49 I believe. FIU comes in at only #91 but they consistently lead the state in Bar Passage rates while consistently scoring 90% passage rates. I also happen to live 5 minutes from FIU so the Florida schools are my cheaper/safer options. UM is private so the tuition waiver would not be available. The waiver wouldn't be eligible for use at any of the other T14 schools I mentioned obviously but in my opinion the possible experience and opportunities of such schools would offset the costs.

A few thoughts, in no particular order:

-DOJ/USAO is highly unlikely from FSU, and it's borderline impossible from FIU. Federal prosecution is highly competitive, and it usually requires a few years of biglaw/clerking experience before applying.

-Ignore bar passage rates. Your ability to pass the bar has nothing to do with where you go to school. You should be focusing on employment outcomes (https://www.lstreports.com).

-Don't compare relative USNWR rankings when you're looking at schools in the same tier. And as mentioned, you should be blanketing the T13 (or maybe leaving out HYS, since those aren't happening). There's no reason to ignore schools like Northwestern, UVA, etc. You're a splitter, and you need to spread out your apps to maximize your scholarship offers.

-If you want to work in policy, get an MPP. Or just apply for a job on the Hill. A JD is good for one thing: practicing law. If your primary career goal doesn't involve the practice of law, don't go to law school.

Yeah, OP should definitely be applying to UVA and Northwestern as they are the two most splitter friendly T14 schools