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Tell Me What To Do With My Life!

devinstelterdevinstelter Alum Member
edited September 2018 in Law School Admissions 149 karma

Hey all!

JK on the title, there are just going to be some difficult decisions to make in the coming months. This post is mainly me just decompressing after receiving my LSAT score and asking for input from others on my current situation, as I don't like to just sit and think to myself at times like these.

So like many people, I got my score back today and was kind of disappointed with the result. My last three PT's averaged like 162.7 and I got a 159 on the actual test. The main school I was highly considering was the University of Utah and their median LSAT is 158. My GPA is 3.92, so I'm not really worried about being accepted, but the issue is that I don't think I will receive much in the way of scholarship money. Utah changed their residency policy so now if you are classified as an out of state student (which I would be) you have to pay out of state tuition all 3 years (base is around $38,000, they are still figuring what the final number will be). I am pretty debt averse, so being over 100k in debt after school sounds like a bad financial decision. My "safety" school (I use quotations because I would enjoy living in the area because I love the mountains and am not really going into law for the money) is the University of Montana. Their median LSAT is 154 and I would be paying significantly less in tuition. I plan on going into environmental law, and Utah has a top 10 EL program, while Montana does not.

For some reason I seem to have a weird ego thing where I would be less excited about going to a school ranked where Montana is ranked (although I could probably accomplish the goals I have there). As for taking the test again in November, I seem to have no motivation to go through prepping and actually taking the test again. I am just trying to make the decision whether to apply with my current score and get into Montana and most likely Utah (but without scholarship money), or to apply to Montana in October with the 159 and then retake in November to see if I could get a better score for more scholarship money at Utah.

So a few questions for everyone: How highly do you consider school (and program) rank when comparing schools if you would enjoy living in both states and would plan to stay in those states to practice law? Given the information in this post, would you recommend applying to both schools in October with the score I have or to apply to Montana in October and then retake in November and apply to Utah in December?

A lot of this post might be me getting my thoughts and feelings off my chest, but I feel that is the best way for me to rationalize the score I got since I tend to be way too hard on myself when it comes to things like this. Thanks in advance for any insight!

Admin note: edited title, no all caps please

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Comments

  • _oshun1__oshun1_ Alum Member
    edited September 2018 3652 karma

    I think once you get out of the t20 schools (arguably t12...) the ranking really doesn’t matter. Go wherever gives you the most scholarship $ or just retake so you have more options/get more $.

  • cgracia12cgracia12 Alum Member
    737 karma

    Agree with the previous post, but I think your goals matter a lot. I've spoken to a couple attorneys, most recently to a lawyer working for my former school district that went to Duke, and he mentioned the same thing you did.

    I met up with him during lunch, and I remember him saying very casually something along the lines of "You know, I could have probably been doing the same thing with a lot less debt had I gone to another less prestigious school". There's a chance he may have said that very casually because of the position and salary he has can easily manage his debt load, but I'd assume somebody in a less prestigious position would not mention the debt load so casually.

    I understand the prestige of a certain law school may be tempting, but if you're debt averse and there is opportunity to achieve the same goals in another school that will leave you in less debt, I'd definitely go that route.

    Regardless, I would think with your scores and gpa you're in a great spot. Best of luck to you!

  • knisskat94knisskat94 Alum Member
    43 karma

    I'm following this thread, because I am in the exact same boat as you, with two parallel choices. Although, I'm worried about the scholarship situation even at my "safety" school, so I'm definitely going to retake in November. I'm also exhausted of this process, but even if I get more score up a couple points, I think it could make an enormous difference in the debt I'm living with for many years to come.

    I am interested though to hear what others think about how important the stage in the cycle you apply in is for admission and scholarship consideration. October vs. December?

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