Should I still apply? Top 14

LSATStudent780

First off, I appreciate any advise and help that you guys are able to provide. I am very stressed at this point because my main goal was to get into the Top 14 law schools. I just graduated with Bachelors this May at the age of 19 with a 3.66 GPA in Criminal Justice and Psychology. I am worried that my GPA isn't good enough for law school, but hopefully with a great LSAT score and a unique personal statement sharing my experiences and graduating so early, I might be able to still get in. Only problem is, I am still scoring around 152-155. I am especially struggling with SA and NA for logical reasoning. I did do some games, but I never got time to foolproof every single game, so I am worried. I have just done the games in the CC and the games on PT as well. I feel like there are people who have foolproofed over 100 games for so long! I am no where close to that. My first test score before the CC was 144. Then, on the other two tests I took after that, I got 150-155. I feel like I should be aiming for the 170, but can I even get that by September? Is that too unrealistic? I am worried about taking the test in November and applying later on because of my GPA. I really want to go to the Top 14 though, so I don't know if I should just sit this cycle out, practice until June 2019, then go to Law School 2020. I just don't want it that I wait out another year and end up looking bad on applications that "hey what did you even do for two years after graduation?" Plus, I don't know if I should just go to a lower ranking school, but I don't want to. I was really set on the Top 14 and I am looking for any advice. I know that some schools including Columbia, Washington-St Louis, GeorgeTown, and others are accepting the GRE. Should I just take the GRE instead of LSAT and see what happens? I am just so overwhelmed right now.

eRetaker

You should sit out a cycle or two to get some work experience. Many T14 law schools prefer to see candidates with maturity from holding a full time job such as Northwestern which explicitly asks for some work experience (makes them more employable during OCI). Furthermore jumping to 170 by September isn't impossible but very unlikely given your current status. I suggest you study for a later test date. You are clearly a hard worker and self-driven so don't sell your application short by rushing it through now.

LivingThatLSATdream

Take a deep breath! You have your bachelor's degree at the young age of 19, with a 3.66 GPA which is great! Your uGPA is fine for law school. You will have no problem getting into a T14 school, if that is your goal, as long as you do well on the LSAT. It makes no sense for you to rush the process. I would advise against taking the September exam and probably the November exam as well. Take your time to really understand the LSAT. Don't put a date on it. Maybe you'll be comfortable to test in January/February. Maybe not till June 2019 or even Sept 2019. It's not something you should rush. Start working in your undergraduate field or do something that interests you for the next two years.

What school you should go to and whether or not you should go to a lower ranked school is a different topic altogether. That will depend on your career goals. And then your LSAT score. And then scholarship opportunities after acceptances. Getting into X school shouldn't be your focus, unless you have a dang good reason for a very specific school. Just a general T14 notion shouldn't be the end game.

I would advise against the GRE, unless for some specific reason you believe you would be able to score in the 90th (arbitrary number really) percentile or higher and you don't think you'll be able to get to that point on the LSAT. If for some reason the LSAT just isn't something you ever feel confident with (it is a very learnable test), then compare your LSAT PT percentiles with your GRE percentile. If there is a drastic difference then don't sit for an official LSAT exam. As soon as you do, that score is reported. Another reason to postpone and not take the September LSAT. I think only 20 schools or less accept the GRE and very few students have been accepted to law schools with the GRE score.

You got time. So take a deep breath and try not to stress out too much!

arman_65

First off, take a breath. You’re 19 years old who has just graduated with a T-14 acceptable gpa. Congrats on graduating at such an early age.

Now on to Business. You should definitely aim for T-14 if you want to. However I would recommend sitting this Cycle out for 2 reasons: first, Having a year more for LSAT will substantially help you achieve a high score, given that you use the time wisely. Secondly, at such a young age, you should spend this year growing, working, building your resume, enjoying life. You are way ahead of most people so relax a bit and please don’t rush and haphazardly apply this cycle because you’ve got way more potential than what you can put in in a month!!