Chance for 164/3.7 Forum

[dadinwa]

Hi all,

I am new here and I am trying to get some grasp of my chances based on previous chance posts. Most posts are some combination of either High LSAT/High GPA, High LSAT/Low GPA, Low LSAT/High GPA (splitters) which are nothing like mine. I can't find any posts or that fits my combination (164/3.7).

I am graduating senior at a prestigious public university in the west coast. 164 LSAT was my first attempt but I do not intend on taking additional tests for I fear that I may underperform. My soft isn't too dramatic. Based on the reads I know T14 is unattainable but other schools from T20~T30, in my opinion, are pretty competitive with my scores. BU is my ED and waiting for its decision. ASU, which I thought I had somewhat of a chance, rejected me last week (my first rejection and it is a big downer). And as a result, I am starting to get nervous about other schools as I await decisions from ND, USC, Emory, BC, UC-Irvine, among others.

Any insights would be very much appreciated.

[crazywafflez]

I'd head over to mylsn and input your numbers- I've heard this cycle will be rough for a lot of folks; big increase in applications. I would not ED to BU unless they are giving scholarships with their ED and you are set on being in Boston. Going 200k+ in debt for a 30% chance at paying it off (unless you are absolutely set on public interest) will be extremely tough. I would not go to a trap school like USC, Emory, etc. These schools don't place that much better than UCD or UCI, and they cost an insane amount. If things were equal and I knew I wanted to be in SoCal or Atlanta, then sure, I'd take them. If you want to practice in Atlanta, Emory or UGA (and I'd take UGA) should be your go tos. If you want to practice in California, Pepperdine will serve you better than Emory, and I think yuo'd get a decent package there. You are competitive for the upper end of the T1. There's no real difference here between Emory, GW, ASU, Indiana, or OSU. They all basically just place in their state/region. USC is a cut above the rest as far as biglaw placement. If you want to be in Cali, ASU is a worse choice than UCI. If you want to practice in AZ, UofA and ASU are both good options. Please, do not pay sticker for ND or Emory just because of the names. I think you should retake and reapply. The T1 schools are not worth going to unless you are gonna keep your debt below 70k. (There may be some slight wiggle room on this, but not much). Nobody in law thinks Emory is more prestigious than Indiana- they don't cross. The T1 are just schools that're good for their states/regions. Please retake and reapply- barring that, go to where ever you get in that is the cheapest/where you want to practice. Again, there is no T20-30, BU and BC are interchangeable, nobody in California cares that this year ASU was ranked 28th and UCD was ranked 38th. Please, do not go hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt for any of these schools; there's a chance that you don't win the bet, and spend years paying off crushing debt.

[dadinwa]

@crazywafflez Thanks for the thorough reply! I really appreciate the very practical and realistic advice. Hopefully the cycle goes well but I'll think about retaking just in case!