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Grey Warden

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LSATStudent780

I would still look into Cornell or the higher law schools personally because they may have a better chance at Big Law than WashU. I understand the debt can be scary, but it may be worth it in the long run. If that is not an option, I would definitely retake and reapply early in the cycle because you might get better scholarships if you are early!

Leah M B

If you really want to do biglaw and can wait another year, you'd likely be better off re-applying. I'm in the exact same boat as you - I applied everywhere basically right at the deadlines and ended up mostly on waitlists with WashU being my best financial option. But being a little concerned about the portability of a degree from WashU and logistics involved with wanting to not end up in the midwest after school, I decided to re-apply earlier next year. I'm retaking too because I felt like there's room for me to improve and with the cap on retakes now being lifted, there's little risk to trying again. So, retaking would be up to you I think. If you think you can keep studying and raise your score, there's little downside to that (unless maybe if you've already taken it 4+ times or so and it starts getting into the territory of being a lot of retakes).

Jonah Chadwick Griego

All depends on how well you can perform on test day. Seems you're in the 1 in the hand 2 in the bush situation. How much do you like WashU?

TheMikey

Full tuition at WUSTL is a great outcome. However, if you personally think you can do better on the LSAT and raise your score then I say go for it. 170 is great but only you know if you can do better. Big law is possible from WUSTL but from the people i have spoken to, they all say you have to be above median for it which obviously is never guaranteed.

Do you like WUSTL? I think with a full tuition scholarship it can be worth it but you have to go in knowing that big law is not guaranteed.

Anecdotal, but I know someone who someone who goes to WUSTL with a full ride + stipend, ended up doing well and got big law. However, she says she regrets not going to a T14 because it would've made things a lot easier. So yeah, it's possible and WUSTL has good BL numbers but you need the grades.

Best of luck!!

Seeking Perfection

If Big Law is the goal, I think you should aim higher in the rankings than WUSTL. That said, be very nice to them since they could be among your best offers next cycle too. Let them down easy maybe by making up some reasonable excuse for why you don't want to do law school this year.

I imagine the risk of not getting Big Law is a harsher one for international students since smaller law firms which should be your fall back may not have the resources to go through the bureaucracy of hiring an international student. That's just a guess though.

What is your fallback plan if you don't get Big Law? If there isn't a good one then getting into the Top 13 and preferably higher (The Top 6 have really good Big Law numbers) is pretty critical. If you had a guarantee of good employment legal or otherwise from someone then no debt at Wash U starts to look even more appealing. Most of us are somewhere between those two poles. For example, I don't really have legal connections, but I'll probably have a fair shot at a job in a small or median size firm in Michigan if I miss Big Law because I have lived there all my life and so they trust me to be a worthwhile investment and stay in the area rather than leaving at my first chance. Others may have someone promising them an offer which would be stronger still. But as an international student you might have a harder time finding some small law firm, convincing them you will stay in the area without preexisting ties, and convincing them it's worth filling out any needed paperwork and such if you miss Big Law.

LastLSAT

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