A quick read (and a great site for those interested in solo/boutique practice):
Everyone Is Losing Interest In Law School on Lawyerist.
It seems our timing couldn't've been better, folks; for those who are applying in next year's cycle, it may be even better.
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31 comments
Word. The major consideration in needing to make a lot of money is needing to pay off a lot of debt. Oh, and that whole thing where people want to wear fancy suits with fancy shoes and drive fancy cars to big fancy homes. Those are the people who, IMO, are the most disappointed generally in life.
I plan to drive my Nissan Cube until it bites the dust and have no problem living in a modest apartment, even if I make the big bucks at some point. Throwing money at things is just a poor way to go about life.
If someone takes the LSAT twice and scores a 140 on the first try and a 180 on the second try, there is no way that NYU will view it as a 160. They'll offer that applicant an apartment in the West Village to come to their school.
@alexandergreene93842 This ... isn't exactly bad news. I welcome the competition.
I am still determined to go to law school because it is my dream to be a lawyer. Money is great, but life is more than money.
I still think every school that pretends they don't only care about the highest score is full of it. I think they just do that to scare some people into self-dinging.
I like stats like these: http://spiveyconsulting.com/blog/2014-2015-admissions-cycle-data-through-june-5th/
Especially the breakdown at the bottom where less than 2,500 people hit a 170+. 7Sagers FTW!
Actually, this is what I read today: The LSAC is reporting that "As of 01/22/16, there are 174,013 2016 applications submitted by 27,183 applicants for the 2016–2017 academic year. Applicants are up 2.4% and applications are up 0.5% from 2015–2016. Last year at this time, we had 48% of the preliminary final applicant count." Based on this preliminary data, one would predict that there will be around 56,631 applicants for 2016-17.
Mike Spivey corroborates this information on his blog posts. It seems to me there's a slight increase in interest in law/law school this year.
Prep for October, take it if you are ready or close to it. Keep studying until you get your score back. If it's good, you're done, if not, keep studying and take the December test. Plenty of people take Oct/Dec and apply with two scores. It doesn't matter if they are back to back or three years apart. Schools just care about your highest score since that's what they have to report. Except Yale, Yale doesn't like people who have to take it twice. But I don't like New Haven, so Yale can take their one score preferences and enjoy all that New Haven has to offer (that's about as nicely and diplomatically as I could word that).
@pritisharma565
@2543.hopkins lol first off, I love that meme. Secondly, I completely agree with you. Despite my insecurities, I love a good competition... Makes winning ( or in this case, getting in) all that more satisfying.
"Never let the fear of losing keep you from playing the game'
I forget who said that quote, but has always stuck with me.
Also, general question here, although I am quite behind on my studies, I am still planning to take the Oct LSAT. If I do not do as well as desired, I plan to follow up with the Dec exam. Would this be advisable, or should I simply invest my energies into the Dec LSAT? In short, would repeating the exam back to back like that look negatively on my application?
I love articles like these. Ever since I was a 10-year-old holding mock trials during lunch hour (yes, probably everyone hated me after a few days of that schtick), I've wanted to be a lawyer. With the right intentions and passions at hand, I am fully confident that law school and the eventual progression towards being an attorney is a fulfilling venture. Today, the initial path to the end goal is only easier.
I think we should all bookmark articles such as this purely for the sake of revisiting the reality of how great an opportunity we all have. Post-graduation may still be a different story down the road, but man do we have a chance to snag the best the law school realm has to offer.
Wohoooo! I haven't lost interest in one bit.
Ahh, it seems like one of the main criticisms of law school and the legal profession is that "there are no decent jobs" or that "you won't be paid enough" etc. I just want to do it because it's my passion, and the pay is secondary and even a bonus.
But aside from that, yes! Haha less competition >:).
@jyang72422
I saw that :/
I figure it's only going to go up from here.
There's fresh data from Mike Spivey's Twitter feed on this application cycle:
"As of 1/29/16 applicants up .9%, applications up .1% At this stage last year, we had 52% of the applicant count. More granular data soon!"
The granular data has been posted at http://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/2015-16-cycle-data-as-of/
The bad news is that there seems to be a real spike on applications on the higher end of the LSAT scores. Everything above 160 is up :(
I was very much interested in law from my school days and I have that passion now also. Now I am trying to get an admission in Cestar College at Toronto and eagerly waiting for the day to come. There are people like me who still have the passion towards law. One of my friend also joined in the same law school.
Ah yes, the Admissions equivalent of "Beware of Dog" signage in the absence of a dog ...
I feel like this comes up all the time. Some schools (NYU) DO average scores and others consider all scores (Texas), just to name 2 examples.
NYU: http://www.law.nyu.edu/jdadmissions/applicants/jdapplicationfaq#7
Yes, but they evaluate based on the average score in most cases. The Committee may take special circumstances into account. If a candidate can point out specific reasons why the Committee should consider an LSAT score aberrant, they should detail those reasons in an addendum to the personal statement.
Texas: https://www.utexas.edu/law/admissions/jd/faqs.php
Candidates with multiple LSAT scores will be evaluated using all reported scores. However, the Law School will no longer solely consider an applicant’s average score in the admissions review process.
@974 thanks for that, and agreed on the Yale commentary lol On the higher end I am aiming for Georgetown (perhaps super unlikely but hey, why not reach for the stars?) otherwise I'm looking towards UF for that wonderful in state tuition
@alexandergreene93842 - thanks for the pep talk! :) I'm unsure if my undergrad does A+ grades.
@974 - does being a ginger count as URM? We're an endangered species, you know...oh well. Back to studying.
@974
+1 re your assertion about URM status and high gpa. According to LSN, appplicants with a 165 and 3.9 usually get into almost all of the T14.
@alexandergreene93842 Dean Spivey has been predicting this all year and has said that this past year might be the bottoming out. However the 165+ and 170+ bands are down so far that it will likely take more time for those to rebound effectively. Just because next cycle may not be as good as last cycle doesn't mean it still won't be a historically great cycle. Additionally, there is no actual evidence of the bottoming out yet because you can't determine that until you're actually out of the bottom. Even if it bottomed out last year, it's not like the rebound will spike to a crazy all time high overnight, so this is much ado about nothing for the moment.
@alejoroarios925 there are more factors that will go into this than just your LSAT score. For example if you are a URM then your GPA would give you a shot at most of the T14 even with a 160. But of course, higher is always better!
I hate to be the messenger of bad news, but U.S. News published an article about an increase in applicants and test takers, which suggests that next cycle might be more competitive.
http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/law-admissions-lowdown/2015/02/09/law-admissions-trends-2015-applicants-should-know-about?int=a8e509
@jyang72422
@974
@2543.hopkins
@alejoroarios925
@pritisharma565
@alejoroarios925
Does your undergraduate school give out "A+" for classes? If so, your gpa will be a lot higher because LSAC recalculates your gpa and uses A+ as 4.33. With a 3.867, however, you will need a 167+ to get into the lower T14. 3.857+166+ED Georgetown could produce a good result as well, although it's not a sure thing. Keep studying hard and push your self to improve. You can do it. I went from (147)-(157-159)-(161-163)-169, and I still have three months to go. Nothing is impossible. There are plenty of people on 7sage who scored in the 140s on their diagnostic and they improved dramatically and will be competitive applicants for the most elite law schools in the country.