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rynehambright88228

Joined: Apr 2025
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rynehambright88228

Monday, Jan 15 2018

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I really, really appreciate. A lot of great information with encouragement which is a hard thing to find. I just tend to do better when I have defined goals instead of broad (i.e. instead of do well on the LSAT, get a 165 plus) and this was the info I needed to be able to set some for myself.

Also great rule of them to know for most schools I need to be in 75th percentile to see scholarship money. Gives me a set range to aim for.

Thanks again everybody and I'm glad to be a part of the community. And if anyone else has anything to add please do!

Admissions · Realistic Expectations

rynehambright88228

Saturday, Jan 13 2018

@ said:

If you really want to stay in the Nashville area and you don’t want loans, It might be best to aim for a high 160s/low 170s and choose a school on the region. T14 schools can cost a pretty penny even with a high score but you have a greater chance of going to school anywhere. But since you’re wanting to stay in the South and loans are your main concern, I’d say aim for Vandy maybe or Emory I would imagine those would have strong names in the Southeast region. Also ... welcome to 7Sage! You’re gonna love it :-)

PS I grew up in North Alabama only a couple hours from Nashville love that city :)

Thanks Tringo! Yeah I moved here in 2009 and the city has just exploded. It's kind of insane. And part of the reason why I want to stay. Vandy seems to probably be my ceiling in terms of what I'm aiming for, while schools like Belmont, UT, and Emory could also be in the mix. Thanks for the help!

Admissions · Realistic Expectations

rynehambright88228

Saturday, Jan 13 2018

@ said:

"lesser ranked school" is very very broad. I think you need to conduct more research, and then come back and ask questions. Right now people are going to give you very broad answers.

Questions I'd like to see you answer:

Are you willing to leave Nashville?

Why are you going to law school? Do you know what kind of work you'd like to get into after law school?

Are you willing to go a tier 2 school? Go look at ABA employment data for ranked and unranked schools. This might help you come to a decision.

Do you want to be a full time or part time program?

Yeah at this point, I'm fine with very broad answers. I know the more you can know the better, but just like with my experience with undergrad a lot of the things you don't know until you see them.

But to answer your questions....

Questions I'd like to see you answer:

Are you willing to leave Nashville? - Yes, but only if it meant scholarship $$$. Some schools that would be close to where I grew up and/or not too far from Nashville (or here): Vanderbilt, Duke, Belmont (which is where I went to undergrad, but their program is new and I don't know how risky that is), UT Knoxville, UNC.

Why are you going to law school? Do you know what kind of work you'd like to get into after law school? - I wish I knew exactly what kind of law I'd be interested in practicing but I really just have more general ideas. At my undergrad I took an IP class that I LOVED, along with a basic contract class, so maybe entertainment law. Would also be interested to learn more about some public interest programs.

Are you willing to go a tier 2 school? Go look at ABA employment data for ranked and unranked schools. This might help you come to a decision. - Okay, this I will look into.

Do you want to be a full time or part time program? - Definitely full time. We do have one part time here in town, Nashville School of Law, but you're only able to practice in the state of TN. I don't know what you have to do to transfer but I do know it's a stipulation.

Admissions · Realistic Expectations

rynehambright88228

Saturday, Jan 13 2018

@ said:

Welcome @ :)

Yes, there is a pretty big difference in going to a T14 vs lesser ranked schools: In price, in opportunities, and in ... just about everything. However, that difference is much bigger as you drop past the T20/T30.

If you're in Nashville, Vanderbilt is a great law school if you want to live and practice in the area. An LSAT score in the high 160s is when significant scholarship money would start coming from them.

In the T14, each school is a bit different with respect to what score you'll need. After all, we are talking about 14 different schools! Be that as it may, I think a 170 is a safe place to aim to start getting good scholarship offers for the T14. Once you start heading into the T6 territory, 173+ seems to be the magic number. In general, being at or above a school's 75%tile LSAT score is a good place to aim if you're looking for a nice chunk of change.

Thanks Alex, this is awesome and just what I'm looking for. I have a friend who went to Vandy and he had, I believe a 167, and had an almost full ride.

Another thing I've been wondering is should I go to school where I want to live? A coworker just passed the bar a month or so ago and she's had a really tough time landing interviews here in Nashville because she went to school in VA. Is that a variable most people consider? Or is it more beneficial to go to a better school and potentially move back? I know that's a personal opinion of course but it's something I've definitely wondered about.

Admissions

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Saturday, Jan 13 2018

rynehambright88228

Realistic Expectations

Hey gang.

I'm trying to set a baseline for myself and there seems to be A LOT of knowledge here so I feel like I can get some good feedback.

I'm attempting the LSAT for the third time at 29 (the last two times I took it was straight out of undergrad at 22 and then again 2 years ago). Both times, I went in completely unprepared and paid the price for it, scoring the in the mid to high 140's both times. As has been the case since I was young, I'm an excellent student and average standardized test taker. I know I'll have to put in a lot of hard work but I feel confident I can get into the 160's.

My undergrad GPA was a 3.76, which seems fairly competitive for some of the schools stats I've looked at. My main question...what is a realistic score to start seeing scholarship money. I have literally no interest in going to law school by taking out more loans. I went to a private undergrad in Nashville that I'm still paying for. I expect I will have to take out loans to live off of, but I would absolutely base my decision of where to go based on how much scholarship money I'm offered.

So what scores does that start happening at? I know T-14 are different, and that's another thing I'm confused on. How big of a difference is it to go to a T-14 vs. a lesser ranked school. I'm from the southeast (Currently in Nashville) and I would actually like to stay in the area but I guess I don't even know where and what programs I should be looking into.

Basically, I'm just trying to find a target to aim for.

I'm also not on a time crunch. Maybe at my age I SHOULD be, but right now my goal is to take the June test. If I'm not PT'ing high enough consistently, I will wait until October since I've missed this cycle anyway.

Anything you guys have or know would be much appreciated!