So here is the thing

Comments

• 2 Likes

  Sprinkles Alum Member ⭐

  September 2016 edited September 2016 11542 karma

  @Kateryna said:
  I feel like applying to each and single one in the top 25 law schools. I also think about not having any safety schools on the list and applying only to those I will absolutely love to go to, not simply be "okay" with. Does it sound like a mad woman plan?
  

  Your plan looks good to me!
  
  EDIT: Nope, not a good plan...refer to the comments below lol
• Kateryna Alum Member

  September 2016 984 karma

  @montaha.rizeq speaking of which, I know you responded to the post in my other threat about how to request fee waivers. what i wonder is do you know how law schools decide who to give and not to give fee waivers to?
• desire2learn Member

  September 2016 1171 karma

  I think your plan sounds like a daring adventure. There is however a fine line between daring and foolish depending on your application quality and the norms for Top 25 schools. However, I doubt that you meant you were applying with a 2.9 GPA and a 149 LSAT. As long as you think you have a reasonable shot, GO FOR IT! The only question is the arbitrary cutoff of Top 25. You're saying that you would not be interested in #26? There is also enough fluctuation in that range (schools dive in and out of #20-25 depending on the year) that you might consider schools in bottom of your range based on other factors.
• Sprinkles Alum Member ⭐

  September 2016 11542 karma

  @Kateryna said:
  what i wonder is do you know how law schools decide who to give and not to give fee waivers to?
  

  Since applications are very low nowadays, some schools give waivers based on request or if you attend their open house, etc. Some schools will give financial based waivers. Your best bet is to simply email and ask.
  
  Also, I just realized you said you do NOT plan on applying to "safety" schools and I do not think this is a good approach even if your GPA/LSAT was in every school's 25th/median/75th/above 75th percentile. You just never know and don't take any risks when applying. I will say however, if you have a 3.9 GPA with a 173 LSAT, I would maybe add 1 or 2 safety schools compared to a splitter applicant where I recommend they apply to many safety schools. Hope that makes sense.
• Kateryna Alum Member

  September 2016 edited September 2016 984 karma

  @montaha.rizeq @desire2learn @MrSamIam i guess general definition of safety school is where u fall on 75th percentile LSAT/GPA wise. is that correct? also, the thing is, i was planning on retaking LSAT next september if i do not get accepted to the desired schools this cycle around. do you guys think it is better to go to mediocre school than to wait a year and work even harder to get a higher lsat score. that being said, my GPA is 4.07 as of right now, taking LSAT this September as my first try.
• 1 Like

  MrSamIam Inactive ⭐

  September 2016 2086 karma

  @montaha.rizeq This! I highly recommend applying to at least a few safety schools. You may as well apply to those that have a decent rank and offer a fee waiver.
  That said, you are more than welcome to apply to all of the T25...if you can afford to do so. If not, narrow it down to your top 15 or so, and apply to those.
• Kateryna Alum Member

  September 2016 984 karma

  let me add, i do not really understand the point of safety schools in the first place. if its not a dream law school why settle for less? maybe I am wrong, I would love to hear your input on the issue. @desire2learn thank you for the input, i will certainly not consider a dry cut 25 top schools, 26 will work if you know what i am saying i will concentrate on a ranking range of the schools for sure. thank you for advice.
• Kateryna Alum Member

  September 2016 984 karma

  @MrSamIam i mentioned you in the comment above, would love to hear your input on that as well
• Sprinkles Alum Member ⭐

  September 2016 11542 karma

  @Kateryna said:
  i guess general definition of safety school is where u fall on 75th percentile LSAT/GPA wise. is that correct
  

  Yes but this usually means it's a school that ranks lower than your top choice school.

  @Kateryna said:
  i was planning on retaking LSAT next september if i do not get accepted to the desired schools this cycle around. do you guys think it is better to go to mediocre school than to wait a year and work even harder to get a higher lsat score.
  

  If you can get into a better school that option is always superior because if you plan on working with your degree, your institution matters. Of course this is more so for people wanting to work in biglaw, but generally this is the case so always aim for the best school you can achieve.

  @Kateryna said:
  my GPA is 4.07 as of right now, taking LSAT this September as my first try.
  

  Holy! that's super impressive and will be noted by the adcomms, congrats! Hope you do well in a few weeks
• Kateryna Alum Member

  September 2016 984 karma

  @montaha.rizeq thank you! i was wondering if people consider safety schools in the first place because they are eager to get in law school in that application cycle specifically? i mean if you are desperate to be admitted lets say fall 2017, then you have to have safety schools on the list just to be sure chances are high you will go to law school that year. but if there is no rush in which cycle to attend then are safety schools even needed? i am 20 and senior in poliscy, trying to score big on law school i am going to attend. have 3 LORs which are good, i am an international student so that adds to diversity part a bit. so, overall softs should be good.
• Sprinkles Alum Member ⭐

  September 2016 11542 karma

  @Kateryna said:
  i do not really understand the point of safety schools in the first place. if its not a dream law school why settle for less?
  

  I see what you mean. A safety school is a school the applicant is not opposed to attending but wouldn't consider it their very top choice. So obviously if it's a school you have absolutely no interest in attend then do not apply - it would just make studying the law even more difficult than it already is lol. A safety school for an applicant is a school that isn't horribly ranked compared to their top choice schools and is a school they can see themselves attending based off rank, reputation, clinics, environment of campus etc. I think that's what you were implying and I agree
• Kateryna Alum Member

  September 2016 edited September 2016 984 karma

  @montaha.rizeq said:
  A safety school is a school the applicant is not opposed to attending but wouldn't consider it their very top choice.
  

  okay, i get what you are saying here. i guess my question is do you think its a mad decision to have only top schools on the list?

  @montaha.rizeq said:
  A safety school for an applicant is a school that isn't horribly ranked compared to their top choice schools
  

  the difference between Yale and 25th school... is it horrible?
  
  
• Sprinkles Alum Member ⭐

  September 2016 11542 karma

  @Kateryna said:
  i was wondering if people consider safety schools in the first place because they are eager to get in law school in that application cycle specifically?
  

  Yeah that's not what we mean when we talk about safety schools although I definitely see how you came up with that lol. This scenario would be someone applying to a T20 school for example, gets rejected, and instead attends the school ranked 137. I don't consider that a safety school, it's too disperse from their top choice school. You just have to be realistic. Take me for example, I had a few rough years in undergrad which resulted in me having a lower GPA than most school's medians/25th percentiles. I'm now completely depending to score a 170+ on the LSAT to consider my application as being a super/splitter. Having said this, I don't think it's wise to apply to just the t14-20 schools given my number aspect on the application. Almost everyone wanting to attend law school dreams of being a HYS law student, but we have to be realistic. I won't consider these schools my top choice and then say Georgetown Law is my "safety" school. That' just not realistic.
• Sprinkles Alum Member ⭐

  September 2016 11542 karma

  @Kateryna said:
  i guess my question is do you think its a mad decision to have only top schools on the list?
  

  Haha, yeah I still do. Just maybe add 1 or 2 safety schools on your list if you would like
• Sprinkles Alum Member ⭐

  September 2016 edited September 2016 11542 karma

  @Kateryna said:
  the difference between Yale and 25th school... is it horrible?
  

  Nope, not horrible but certainly a 25th ranked school would be considered a safety school in this scenario. Yale is in the the top 3.
• Kateryna Alum Member

  September 2016 984 karma

  @montaha.rizeq

  @montaha.rizeq said:
  That' just not realistic.
  

  yes, i certainly see where you are coming from. i guess the thing i am struggling with is to be able to settle down with something lesser than desired. how would you deal with the doubt that maybe if you retook lsat you could have gotten to HYS, but instead you are going to lets say 30th school? also what gap in ranking is an acceptable one?
  
  as you said

  @montaha.rizeq said:
  This scenario would be someone applying to a T20 school for example, gets rejected, and instead attends the school ranked 137.
  

  so what is the actual range one should be looking at?
• Alex Alum Member ⭐

  September 2016 23929 karma

  @Kateryna said:
  I know the smart decision would be to limit myself to some number of schools I will apply, but the thing is I cannot. I feel like applying to each and single one in the top 25 law schools. I also think about not having any safety schools on the list and applying only to those I will absolutely love to go to, not simply be "okay" with. Does it sound like a mad woman plan?
  

  I guess it would be really contingent on your stats and softs...
  
  I don't really agree with applying to law schools you wouldn't want to go to even if you got in, unless it be for scholarship negotiations. If only because it seems like a waste of time and money. For instance, if you have absolutely no intention of going to Iowa Law School than I don't see any reason to apply, lol. You mention that yo are also thinking about only applying to places you would absolutely love to go; I think that is a great approach! Aim and apply to go to a school you will be happy attending. As long as you do that, you can't lose
  
  Good Luck!
• Cant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor

  September 2016 27878 karma

  With that GPA, it all just really depends on your LSAT. If you score a 175, there's no point in applying outside of T10 in that situation, and everything outside of T6 is almost certainly pointless. If you score a 160, then that's a very different situation. It all just depends. That said, I definitely think it would be worth delaying a year for the kind of options that 175 gives you. This test sets the projection for the rest of your life: If you need a year to get it right, so what.
• 1 Like

  MrSamIam Inactive ⭐

  September 2016 2086 karma

  @Kateryna You're absolutely right, there's never a need to settle for less. Honestly, that should be the 7Sage motto, since all of us here push each other past what we once thought were our limits.
  That said, a safety school is simply that, a safety school. You don't apply to it, hoping that it'll be the only school that will accept you. You apply to it knowing that life happens, and should life present you with a set of unforeseen circumstances that preclude the possibility of going to a top 10 school, you'll still have your safety schools to fall back on. The aforementioned is highly unlikely, but I have heard of it happening plenty of times.
  
  Tl;dr: Just apply to a few safety schools, just "in case."
• 1 Like

  Kateryna Alum Member

  September 2016 edited September 2016 984 karma

  @"Cant Get Right" thank you. thats what i needed to hear
• 1 Like

  tomiwa.bo Free Trial Member

  September 2016 edited September 2016 37 karma

  Hey Kateryna!
  Good luck to you.
• Kateryna Alum Member

  September 2016 984 karma

  @tomiwa.bo thank you! best of luck to you too!