Yeah, I agree with what some people are saying, if you want to postpone, postpone, but scoring in the 160s is still great and that will get you into a great school. If age is an issue for you I promise you that you are never too old to start a career in law or even go to law school. I am also 23 and I felt the same way at first. Until I went to one of the law school forums and met a man who was a 50+ former heart transplant surgeon looking to start a career in Health Law. At the end of the day you want to put your best foot forward. If you don't like where your score is and want to postpone, then continue to work to get it up. Even if that means taking another year off. I got a relatively average score on my September LSAT, applied with my score and have so far been admitted to a great school in the top 30, waitlisted at a top 10 and I'm still waiting for a few more responses. You never know what will happen. If your overall application is great then there is a strong chance to get into a great law school. If you go into a test worried you're not going to do well or that your score won't be enough then it'll hurt you. Confidence is key and doing your research or even gaining more experience in the time (if you decide to postpone) that you take off could help.

@radhikabhog113 said:

@keishabarnes95419 said:

FASFA is more important for scholarships from law schools because otherwise they won't be able to consider you without it. I did mine way back in October because I wanted to be considered as soon as they accepted me in this coming cycle. If i were you, I'd definitely do it now because for federal grants and loans, FASFA is important. There are deadlines for consideration through the school and at the federal level. The longer you wait the less likely you'll receive any money (merit or otherwise) before it's gone to other students.

I was not aware of this. So they won't offer anyone a scholarship no matter the basis, if they have not submitted a FAFSA?

They give out scholarships as long as they still have the funds to do so. The longer you wait the less like you are to receive them if they've already given out what they have. FAFSA has to process the applications and that takes a few weeks. Then once the schools receives your information, they offer according to what funds are left. If they have money left, then you may receive a scholarship, if they don't they you won't. Applying for a scholarship through the school is different then being offered merit or need-based scholarships. Students are automatically considered for merit and need-based but they need the FAFSA in order to determine the amount they can offer you and other students that they've extended offers to according to what they have set aside for those scholarships. The deadline is in June but I saw on Vanderbilt's priority deadline for need-based is feb 15th and you have to fill out another form on top of the FAFSA one for them to consider you for it. After that their page said that they will offer need-based according to availability. Schools do have individual deadlines, I'd check to be sure. Just because the normal deadline for filling out FAFSA is June, doesn't mean certain school's don't have their own specific deadlines for priority consideration.

@chenoabailey93611 said:

Michigan, because who doesn't want to go to Hogwarts?????

lolol True hahah Michigan is also my dream school, although Columbia used to be.

Yeah, I'd echo what Leah said about going to a non-T14 and still having a great career. Law firms will care more about what you've done while in law school to prepare you for their firm as well as your performance in school. I read a lot of articles on the ABA website and Above the Law, etc. and they also say that the only difference between a T14 and a non-T14 is really the name. Sometimes you may have to reach out to firms you want to work for by not going to a T14 school but that doesn't mean you couldn't end up at a BigLaw firm. Don't put so much importance on the rank because ranks do vary. UC Irvine is still a great school and yes, it's good that you've been waitlisted at UCLA but keep in mine that waitlist could keep you there all summer. Some get in off those waitlist but some don't. If anything, like Leah and another 7sager has advised, write a LOCI so that they know that you're still interested in attending. However, be prepared to accept UC Irvine's offer because if it comes down to it you could transfer if you really wanted to. I just don't want you to pass on the other offers you got, in the hopes that you'll get into UCLA. The others gave you scholarships and saving money in your first year wouldn't hurt. If you come off the waitlist you might not get the scholarship money if that's important to your decision to attend.

FASFA is more important for scholarships from law schools because otherwise they won't be able to consider you without it. I did mine way back in October because I wanted to be considered as soon as they accepted me in this coming cycle. If i were you, I'd definitely do it now because for federal grants and loans, FASFA is important. There are deadlines for consideration through the school and at the federal level. The longer you wait the less likely you'll receive any money (merit or otherwise) before it's gone to other students.

I mean I think having the high LSAT is going to be a factor but I've seen and read about people with high gpas(4.0s) and high lsats (180s) still not getting into Ivy's. A lot of times this is because their overall application, with significant attention to the personal statement, being the breaker. Yes, focus on the lsat and your gpa, but I would also work on making a great personal statement. Even signing up for an admission course that will help you brain storm and make critical assessments of what you have could be of benefit. I recommend even reading Ivy's guide to law school admissions. She gives great advice on personal and diversity statements. I'm not saying this to dishearten you by any means I just want you to really think about you whole application. Remember that they do care what your entire application looks like and just having a high lsat and high ugpa won't necessarily guarantee your admission.

Well I joined a facebook group because my undergrad university facebook group is how I met my best friend. They are super helpful when looking for roommates and an easy way of meeting current students. They normally give you updated information about the school sometimes, and is another great place to get immediate answers to any questions you might have. I say go for it! I'm still waiting for answers from a few other schools before I made a final decision, and joined the facebook group of the school I've been currently accepted into anyway. So, go for it. Once classes start you can always delete your facebook because by then you would have already made connections.

@pcainti665 I get it now so you're just saying that there wasn't an extenuating circumstance for the initial low GPA. Truthfully, I think you leaving and then going back to college after having life experience may play a positive role in your admissions applications. I still think you might be fine, have you spoken to any admissions councilors of T-14 schools? I think what you should do is probably try to. For instance, if haven't already, you should go to one of the LSAC Forums still going on that are near you. I really feel like talking to an admissions councilor there may benefit you. I was supposed to go to the one in New York City since it's relatively close to me, but I waited to late to take off work so now I'm going to the one in Nov for Boston. But, you could also speak to Anna Ivey who was formerly Dean of Admissions at The University of Chicago for like an hour and see how she could help you. Especially since 7sage's admissions programs are full. I think you really need someone who's been in an admissions councilor's shoes to look over the whole application and direct you even more. Never hurts to have additional help, because that's what I'm doing in the case that I don't do better (although I know I can) in Dec.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. We all go through it and I know how you feel because I constantly feel that way now too. But, you will learn your worth as a student by fighting that mentality. What was your major if you don't mind me asking? Because, many T-14 schools take into consideration your major if you have a low GPA. You might be counting yourself out earlier and faster than you think for no reason. I hope I'm not sounding too harsh, I just don't want you feeling like you won't be admitted to a T-14 school solely on your undergraduate GPA. Addendums also help explain low GPAs especially if there was extenuating circumstances. But also remember if you have to go to a good school that's in the top 25 or top 50 schools and have a kick butt first year (which I'm sure you'll have no problem with simply from hearing of your work ethic) then you could easily transfer to a T-14 school. Just keep these things in mind. A high GPA or high LSAT don't even ensure admission, they may put you in a good place but they don't guarantee admission.

They generally prefer 2 pages. I was reading a book by Anna Ivey, who was a former admissions officer for Chicago and she said they dread applications that land with a thud on their desk. She said to make sure your personal statement is as pristine as possible. It can be longer they just prefer shorter. Tell a story as opposed to one talking about everything you already listed in the résumé (which tends to run you into the longer pages).

You were one of the most encouraging people for me before I took the September test. You told me not to freak out so I am telling you now, if you feel in your bones you can do better, retake. You don't want to be saying you wish you had. The minute I got my 152 I put in to retake. But you can't count yourself out, remember that numbers may matter but as Anna Ivey said they don't matter as much as your application as a whole does. Even people with high scores don't get into those T14 schools I'm sure we're all reaching for. I say retake because I feel you can do better but that's only if you also feel that you can do better. I believe in you and say to continue doing a little work each day while really strengthening your PS and Résumé. I also suggest to everyone like you and I to really perfect our applications because we are going late into the cycle their will be more candidates and we want to be able to see our score and send every one of our applications off immediately! Whatever you decide I wish the best absolute best of luck and am a part of this community that will be supporting you.

Hi Arthur, I want you to know that you're not alone. I am in the exact same boat. My score was a 152 (which is better so you might think) but I was scoring in the high 150s by September raw and with blind review somewhere around the high 160s (169-170) in my PLSATs. The two hour study schedule you have isn't bad because you studied all the material. I think what we both should focus on going into the Dec LSAT is the questions that trip us up while also refreshing our minds on our strengths going into that test because we don't want to have spent more time refreshing then keeping up what we already know. Taking PLSATs and spending at least a full day, if possible, looking at every question for Blind review and taking the extra time to really understand the question stimulus and what the correct answer choice is I think would only benefit us both. I have two jobs right now so I know what you mean when you say that you have only about 2 hours of study time each day but even 2 hours is good. If we both spend two hours every day, by test day, we should be looking pretty good for the test. It really is going to about really locking down our

weakness and keeping up our strengths.

I've sulked for about a day (while at work lol) and now you, (and I), will get our heads back into the game and kill it in dec.

That is exactly what I did too.

lol I love doing logic games lmao its very masochistic especially because aside from the bar, I think many law school hopefuls would agree studying can certifiably melt your brain. But i love doing them. I practically do logic games all the time especially when I am not doing anything. My sister even told me one time, "You do those all the time, how about you study something you're not already good at." lmfao all i could think is just because I am good at these doesn't mean this test won't toss the Armageddon at me. I'm preparing myself for successs lol