Top Law Schools

I'm new here and I apologize if this has been answered before, but I'm wondering what kind of schools I should expect to get into. My GPA is currently a 3.15 but my practice LSAT scores are north of 170 and I usually excel at testing. I was a jack-off my first two years of college, but I really pulled it together my junior year with 3.8's both semesters, and I don't plan on slowing down. I'm the vice president of my fraternity, a member of student government, a school Senator (made up of students, faculty, and administration), a regular political columnist for my school paper, and I have some quality, if unrelated, part-time work experience.

Oddly enough, when I was looking for undergrad I was in a similar situation...average to poor GPA and outstanding SAT scores...and it ended up screwing me over. Am I facing the same thing for law school? Does anyone have a similar experience?

Most will tell you to come back when you have a real LSAT score. Assuming you get a 170 (which is a big assumption), you have a shot at a top-14 school (not a great shot, though)

http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com

170+ will give you a shot at T14. 172+ and a good application and I think you'd have a >50% shot.

Edit: I mean >50% of getting into at least one, not >50% at each one.

With a 170, Cornell is very likely.

creditedresponse1 wrote:With a 170, Cornell is very likely.

With a 170, Cooley is even more likely.

Would I theoretically get some money from any of these school projections (which are a bit higher than I expected I might add) or would I be better served going to a lower school (top 50 or top 25 versus top 14) since I might get more scholarship money.

And just to clarify, I could theoretically get into Duke with those kind of scores? I'm far more interested in working in North Carolina or Florida then New York.

biv0ns wrote:Would I theoretically get some money from any of these school projections (which are a bit higher than I expected I might add) or would I be better served going to a lower school (top 50 or top 25 versus top 14) since I might get more scholarship money.

Yes, you could theoretically get some money from T14 with a high enough LSAT. I did with 3.1/174. It's worth a shot. Again, check out http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com People's scholarship offers are listed in their profiles along with admissions results.

The better school/more $$ decision really depends on what kind of work you want after graduation, and what region you want to live in. I wouldn't worry about the ranking/money tradeoff until you have offers. Apply to enough schools that your options next spring are somewhat open in this regard.

Come back when you have an LSAT score.

cameronfraser88 wrote:Come back when you have an LSAT score.

agreed. I was 170+ multiple times on proctored practice tests, and i 165'd the real thing.