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Related Discussions
How to identify what law schools you want to attend?
BigBobsBeepers
Member
Hello, I wanted to get everyones thoughts/opinions on how they identifying what law schools they wanted to apply to and the criteria if any they used in selecting them. I dont have a LSAT score on file presently so I can only guestimate with the admission predictor. I have an okay undergrad GPA (3.1) and high grad school GPA (3.8? with about 4 years of upper management exp. under my belt. I am hoping to apply in Fall 2019 for enrollment in Fall 2020.
So far I have created an lists of school I am interested in, I have done some prelim research, and have visited a few schools in my area. I know this is a pretty broad/general question but I am new to the whole LSAT/Law school admission process. Thanks in advance everyone.
Comments
Yikes!!
So here's the thing, LS is mostly about UGPA and LSAT right?
Which means if you want to get into a T14 school, you'll have to get a 170+ on the LSAT. (Which is completely doable, I've seen a UVA acceptance of a 2.99/171 this admissions cycle!!)
This means you should ideally be preparing your best to get a high score on the LSAT!
For now, the doors are open to T30, T14's for you, so don't fret.
Just set your goal high (i.e. 180 or 178! highly unprobable, but not impossible, especially because we don't know your diagnostic score yet)
Your top priority should be to prepare for the LSAT and try to achieve the highest possible score.
Other factors you should consider when looking at law schools:
- Location: do you have any sense of where you would eventually like to work professionally? The professional network you build during your law school studies can be helpful in securing internships or associate positions that lead to full-time employment after graduation
- Programming: do you have a particular area of law that you are interested in? If so, you might look into which law schools are known for extensive programming in that area of law. If a school puts funding and resources into a particular program (like public interest law or IP law or ADR), you as a student might find more upper level electives and experiential learning opportunities that will not only build up your resume but expand your professional network, thereby increasing your employment prospects. US News has the overall ranking of law schools, but you should also consider looking at the US News program-specific rankings and other ranking lists like National Law Journal.
If you have been out of school for a few years and have professional experience, you should definitely try to lean on that as a strength in your application (resume and personal statement). While admissions offices will start off looking at your numbers, prior professional accomplishments, if presented in effectively, can definitely work to your benefit. Good luck!
For me, it was all about location. I'm targeting two markets (where I live and where I want to live). Based on schools that service those two different areas, I applied to school where my stats have a reasonable chance of getting me in.
Like everyone else has said, get that LSAT up. The higher you get, the more opportunities you will have.
@"selene.steelman" @LSAT_Wrecker @Harvey_l Thank you all for your responses. @"selene.steelman" to answer your questions. I am looking mostly looking up and down the east coast and going west as far as Illinois.Trying to stay around the large metro cities. I am looking at both public interest and biz law. Thank you for the insight on using my professional experience as a strength for my application.
Location, for sure. For me, it has more to do with distance from family. But expense plays a huge factor. For instance, take San Fran. Sure, I might get a scholarship to a school in the area, but what would it be like renting there or living there? The prelim numbers aren't pretty.
In state here, I am leaning a little more towards the smaller school that has a more affordable rental market. But, it's farther away, which adds to my travel costs. So.. I'm still pretty undecided. It may come down to the better scholarship offer.
Definitely check out the schools and the city they're in. What are your personal needs? Are they easy to get to? Can you handle 3 years of that kind of traffic? Does the school, in person, rub you the wrong way or disappoint? There are a lot of factors that go into it all beyond the usual questions.
@AudaciousRed I am absolutely considering expenses as well, as that is always going to be a factor for me. My region/state has some great schools that I am of course going to apply to for the perk of instate tuition. I have a list of about 32 possible schools that I hope to widdle down to a manageable number to apply to. Culture fit for me is a big factor so I am trying to see as many as possible/feasible. But school/name recognition is also a factor as well. I went to a small school so I am looking to get into a more well know school that can help with employment post grad.
Unfortunately, with your undergraduate gpa, figuring out which law schools to apply to will be determinant on what your LSAT score is. Law schools don’t really factor in graduate school GPA as anything other than a good soft [carries abt the same weight as a glowing recommendation]. As other people on here noted, to have a shot at T14 you’re going to need 170+. And to have a shot at schools like Fordham, Boston College, etc., you’re going to want to be at the 75% LSAT or higher, which for them is about a 164 for BC and a 166 for Fordham. A good rule of thumb is that if you’re below the 25th percentile UGPA for that school’s last entering class, you should strive to be at or above their 75th percentile LSAT score to stand a chance. Of course, this metric changes if you’re an URM
There are a lot of factors to consider. Some of the main ones are: location, career goals, acceptance requirements, scholarship options, special programs.
It helps to have a vague idea at least of what you would like to do after law school. Do you want a job in biglaw (law firms with 500+ attorneys)? Do you want to do something more specialized like patent law? Do you have career experience that you want to use in addition to a JD? Do you want to go into government or public interest position? Do you want to clerk for a judge? Some schools are better than others at placing into these different types of positions.
Location is very important too. East coast is great, sounds like you are open to a wide range of options. But, as mentioned, it's usually good to go to school in the location of where you want to practice law afterward. The exception to that is attending a school in the T14. Those tend to be more "portable" degrees, where it matters less where the school is.
I also prioritized schools that are known for giving large scholarships. I set a goal for myself to take out less than $100k in loans, so focused on the more generous schools. Lawschoolnumbers.com, mylsn.info, lawschooltransparency.com, and ABA 509 reports are valuable resources to see who tends to give the most.
I also am interested in public interest positions, so have researched to find schools that have strong reputations in that area. It helps to peruse schools' websites to see what kind of resources they have for public interest students. The ABA 509 reports also give you an idea of how many students each year go into those positions, and sometimes have salary information as well.
Hope some of that helps!
@redshift Thanks for your response. And yes your are so right about the LSAT score being my big factor for admission into a T14 school as that is one item I can still control the outcome.
@"Leah M B" I am very open to a lot of the different legal career routes I can pursue. I have always been drawn toward public interest and criminal law specifically. But the more I have been researching I have been gaining some interest in Business Law, National Security, Const. Law. So I am keeping my options open. Scholarship is another factor for me as well always good to try and get money where I can especially given how $$$ this endeavor is.
Everyone needs to read “Most Law School Advice is Bullsh*t” before they pick their schools.
Go into this with both eyes open, guys.
I've graduated undergrad three years ago, so my answer to this has matured throughout the years. I want to go into public interest law, so I am looking to schools that have clinics/specializations that I am interested in. Location isn't so much a problem for me, just not west - given the amount of money it takes to live on the west coast. Lastly, as it was stated above, I do look at schools that tend to give more money. I need scholarship money lol.
Be honest with yourself is a famous cliché. This, like many clichés, so lame and unexciting on the surface, actually expresses a great and terrible truth. So start there.
@"chelsea.stipek" Thank you for the book recommendation. Just got it today I can not wait to read it!
As someone who has lived all over the west coast and is currently on the East coast, so feel it’s my duty to tell you that there is a huge continuum of cost of living on the West coast, and many East coast schools have a much higher COL than many West Coast schools.
It’s not about west vs east, but the local housing markets. The Bay Area and LA are comparable to NY and DC, but many other areas are very affordable.
Yeah I agree, I live in the west coast as well. I’ve never heard anyone say that the west coast is more expensive to live in. Usually people who consider moving to NYC from LA/SF are worried about how expensive it is in NYC. In any state there are cheaper areas to live in which are still safe and clean ie suburbs further away from down town/metro areas. You can’t compare a small town in the east coast to SF and generalize that the west coast is more expensive..
Get your lsat score then choose where you’ll apply. You may change your mind on what schools you want to go to once you realize how little/how much scholarship money you’ll get from certain schools. You may even decide to postpone a cycle. You’ll be bored and research schools while you’re studying and you’ll figure it out. Most people decide based on scholarship which is based on your lsat.
@"chelsea.stipek" “Most Law School Advice is Bullsh*t” is an amazing book thanks again for the recommendation. Really eye opening. Highly recommend it to any 7sagers who have not had a chance to read it yet.
Another good idea of narrowing it down could be to go to http://users.lawschoolnumbers.com/gpa-lsat, and see what the various schools similar users with your GPA got into based on their LSAT. Hope it provides inspiration of where to aim and knowledge of what's open to you!
Location was key for me. I don’t care about T14, T20, etc, I have to be here in SoCal where I currently live, and I need a school within driving distance. Second to that is scholarship offers- I have the GI Bill but that caps at about $24k per year, so schools that offer competitive packages matter to me. After your first job, it doesn’t matter where you go to law school anyway.
@cqas190517 I am also using the GI Bill, are you not using the Post 9-11? From what I understand, the Post 9-11 has no limit as long as you attend a public university, otherwise it caps out at around $21k per year. Did you use some of your GI Bill already? Sorry for all the questions, your statement just had me confused seeing as I understood the Post 9-11 to have no limit for a public school.
My list is a mix of public and private, but I do believe that it caps at public schools based on what several admissions offices have said about other GI Bill users.
Here's the thing for me, while I did standard research, the thing I place some of the most value on is reviews by alumni and current students. You can find these on The Vault's website, or Above the Law, and other community resources like them. You will find in the reviews a lot of information that contradicts the official marketing material and rankings. I also watched as many independently filmed youtube videos about law schools as possible, which, in my opinion, does a much better job of objectively showing a campus than campus tours.
My standard research compiled everything: employment data, scholarship data, bar passage data, location, weather, population of city, student body, gpa and lsat data, programming, clinics, pro bono, yield rate, acceptance rate, diversity information, collegiality, extracurriculars, etc. I have a separate excel tab for every school and a (nonsensical, but helpful to me) numeric rating based off of everything I listed above.
Can you tell us a bit about why "Most Law School Advice Is Bullsh*t" is a good book? How is it different from other law school advice books besides being meta and self referential?