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Hello,

My stats are 3.84/168 with several years of work experience working on political campaigns. Career goals are not set in stone and may change in law school, but I am interested in working in civil rights. I don't have one particular region that I prefer over others. One route that interests me is fed clerkship >> DOJ honors. Alternatively, I would like to work at an organization like the NAACP, Innocence Project, or Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, etc. I think my stats are good enough to get into a lower-tier T13 but I am concerned about graduating with a lot of debt, especially since I don't want to work in Big Law. Do you think I have a decent chance at getting some money at some of the T13 schools? With my goals, is it a better decision to try to get a full scholarship somewhere like WUSTL or a regional school over T13? Should I consider doing ED somewhere like Northwestern or Berkely to get guaranteed money? Thanks for all your help!

PettPett5 wrote:Hello,

My stats are 3.84/168 with several years of work experience working on political campaigns. Career goals are not set in stone and may change in law school, but I am interested in working in civil rights. I don't have one particular region that I prefer over others. One route that interests me is fed clerkship >> DOJ honors. Alternatively, I would like to work at an organization like the NAACP, Innocence Project, or Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, etc. I think my stats are good enough to get into a lower-tier T13 but I am concerned about graduating with a lot of debt, especially since I don't want to work in Big Law. Do you think I have a decent chance at getting some money at some of the T13 schools? With my goals, is it a better decision to try to get a full scholarship somewhere like WUSTL or a regional school over T13? Should I consider doing ED somewhere like Northwestern or Berkely to get guaranteed money? Thanks for all your help!

MyLSN actually predicts a decent cycle.



Apply broadly from 4-13. You could include WUSTL, but you're reducing you chances of getting a job with the top tier of public interest orgs.

If you really want to lower your debt burden, the best way to do it is increase your numbers. Assuming you've graduated college, given your several years' work experience, that means a higher LSAT. Even then though, you're likely to find that you open more doors rather than increase scholarships at most schools. Full rides are always hard to come by.

Best bet would be to score 173+ and hope for acceptance to H so you can take advantage of their LRAP program. But it's a still a fairly big jump from 168 to 173.

I hope you're aware that substantive civil-rights law is incredibly hard to get, especially if a particular President gets re-elected. You could go to Yale and miss out on it. You could get a job at the DOJ and miss out on the kind of work you are probably envisioning. Not saying this to be a downer but you should look into more realistic outcomes in the same vein (e.g. public defense) and make sure you'd really be okay doing that kind of work before you commit to law school.

To answer your other question, modest scholarships in the T13 are not out of the question, but you'd be much better off with just 2 more points on the LSAT. Taking that WUSTL full ride would be an excellent idea if you're okay with public defense but would make getting an ACLU fellowship even tougher than it already is.