Top Law Schools

Hi! I am considering applying to law schools next year and would like some opinions on my target schools and chances. Any advice would be appreciated as I do not have any friend who is familiar with law school application.

I am an Asian American male with a STEM major from UC Berkeley. I have 4.21 GPA, but my soft is quite weak, as I did not enjoy my college experience much. During semesters, I've worked as undergraduate lab instructors a few semesters and tutor for some upper div classes. I've spent two summers working at boutique law firms as an intern. Other than that, nothing much.

After graduation, I joined a startup company as a founding employee and have worked there for 2 years. I think I should try to leverage this work experience in my application as much as possible. I have really good relationship with the founders and CEO, and they are willing to write recommendation letters.

Still, I am worried that my soft may look weak compared to other applicants who have more leadership experience and more law-related activities. Will this matter much?

In terms of LSAT, I have not taken one yet. I took a practice test cold once my senior year and got little below 170. I am planning to spend some time next year, targeting mid-170's.

I am thinking about applying to a few schools - namely, Harvard, Stanford, UPenn, Columbia, and Chicago, as I am willing to spend another year working if I don't get into the schools I really want to attend.

Do you think my target schools are reasonable? Or should I try to cast a bigger net? I will truly appreciate any advice, and Merry Christmas!

If you get north of 170, all of those schools are target schools with the exception of Stanford. The big 3, HYS, are just the toughest to lockdown- although, I think mid 170s and you'll for sure be getting into 1 of them (or as close to for sure as I can guess). Personally, I'd go to Duke for free over H or S at sticker, but you'll need to do that when you get there. Get your score, you've got a great GPA. Best of luck.

There is probably no better law school outcome than Knight-Hennessy at SLS. Score in the mid-170s with GPA and you have a good shot.

Thanks a lot!
I remember reading that unlike other professional schools (MD, MBA), law schools do not put too much emphasis on your extracurricular/softs. Is that really the case? I believe I can work my way to get LSAT, but at this point, there is nothing much I can do to improve my softs... I am kinda regretting that I should have been more outgoing when I was in college

Most of admissions is your undergraduate GPA and LSAT.

With a decent LSAT of 170+ you are basically guaranteed to get into multiple T14 schools, and have several generous scholarships to pick from.