Top Law Schools

Hi all.

After deciding to take a gap year in order to study more for the LSAT after a disappointing performance last year in September (164), I received my November 2019 LSAT score back today (168) which I am much more satisfied with. (Thank you by the way, had I not discovered this forum I likely would have gone on to apply last year and ended up regretting my decision knowing I could do better on the LSAT.)

Anyway, pairing this with my undergrad GPA (3.91), it looks like I have a good shot at Northwestern and down, even applying this late in the cycle.

My question is in regards to what kind of decisionmaking process you all would recommend for selecting a school. At this point my preferences are: Texas Biglaw or clerkship>any big law or clerkship>Texas non-biglaw>All other non-biglaw.

Through a parent in the armed forces who is a Texas resident, I qualify for the Hazelwood Act which would theoretically pay for all of my tuition if I went to UTexas law, which it seems like I should be a lock for based on mylsn/lawschoolnumbers.

Do you all think it would be worth it to attend a school like Cornell for 50% tuition for a 15ish percent difference in chances of attaining biglaw or a clerkship? Before I got my score today, UT was a reach school for me that I was sure I would attend given the financial advantages going there entailed and I'm sure this question may seem like a no-brainer given my geographical preferences, but after scoring much better than I had anticipated, I think I am having trouble maintaining an objective perspective towards this type of decision and thus any input would be especially appreciated.

Thank You

P.S:((I know toplawschools wisdom dictates retaking to 170, but I don't think I can stand to retake the LSAT after spending a whole year for the purpose of studying the LSAT))

Apply to some T13 schools (I think you can probably target NYU on down). Based on MyLSN, you have a shot at some pretty decent scholarship offers in the lower T13. And after you have your acceptances/scholarships in hand, you'll be in a better position to make a real decision.

Is Cornell at 50% off worth it over a full ride at UT? Probably not. But I also don't think that's what you'll be looking at. Get your apps in ASAP.

From a friend who went to UT - if you want texas big law, it's an excellent option. If you get it for free, seems like a no brainer. Worst case, you come out with no/little debt and the best/close to best school for market you're interested in. You may be able to leverage other scholarship offers to get a bit of a stipend from UT as well, which would be gravy.

Apply to others, but from what I heard, you have a better shot at texas big law from UT than Cornell or even higher ranked schools. Maybe H/Y/S would be better, but since that's not an option and given $$$$, UT seems great.

Anon-non-anon wrote:From a friend who went to UT - if you want texas big law, it's an excellent option. If you get it for free, seems like a no brainer. Worst case, you come out with no/little debt and the best/close to best school for market you're interested in. You may be able to leverage other scholarship offers to get a bit of a stipend from UT as well, which would be gravy.

Apply to others, but from what I heard, you have a better shot at texas big law from UT than Cornell or even higher ranked schools. Maybe H/Y/S would be better, but since that's not an option and given $$$$, UT seems great.

Agree that for TX BigLaw, UT > Cornell, which places almost exclusively in NYC. But, thing is, OP sounds like they're also willing to consider non-TX BigLaw. In fact, they rank "any big law or clerkship" above "TX non-biglaw", indicating they're not TX or bust. They'd prefer BigLaw over staying in TX, if that's what it came down to.

If OP was TX or bust, absolutely UT over Cornell, but OP's more BigLaw or bust than TX or bust, so I think Cornell would make a lot of sense. Cornell's most recent BigLaw placement numbers were 75%, vs. UT at 57%. That's a big difference. You're at some significant risk if you wind up with 1L grades around median at UT, whereas you're pretty damn safe at median at Cornell.