School Admission Goals - Can I obtain a full ride to T2/T3 with low 160s lsat?

Colin1485Colin1485 Member
edited April 2017 in Law School Admissions 108 karma

Alright - I've managed to raise my pt scores to the high 150s/low 160s. Trying to consistently score in the mid 160s; I've been scheduled for the June 2017 Lsat for awhile now. My goals are kinda simple - obtain a full ride scholarship offer or highly reduced tuition offer to T2 or T3 state school nearby.

Is it possible to get full ride to let's say Baylor or Texas Tech or Texas A&M law with 3.5 / 161?
(Not willing to move out of State (In Texas) or far away for Law school) - Was really impressed with A&M and Tech.

Some background - I'm making a career change, in my early thirties, I have a BA in Political Science (finished with 3.5 gpa), have four years of land title/curative title/real estate experience. Probably won't have any academic recommendations (almost 10 years removed from College), just work exp. My ultimate goal would be to work as a general practitioner/criminal law attorney in the small city where I live. (Living in somewhat rural Texas)(prefer to keep any future law school debt minimal, hints the full ride question).

Any suggestions, tips or recommendations on how to achieve a conditional full ride?

Comments

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    23929 karma

    @Colin1485 said:
    Alright - I've managed to raise my pt scores to the high 150s/low 160s. Trying to consistently score in the mid 160s; I've been scheduled for the June 2017 Lsat for awhile now. My goals are kinda simple - obtain a full ride scholarship offer or highly reduced tuition offer to T2 or T3 state school nearby.

    Is it possible to get full ride to let's say Baylor or Texas Tech or Texas A&M law with 3.5 / 161?
    (Not willing to move out of State (In Texas) or far away for Law school) - Was really impressed with A&M and Tech.

    Some background - I'm making a career change, in my early thirties, I have a BA in Political Science (finished with 3.5 gpa), have four years of land title/curative title/real estate experience. Probably won't have any academic recommendations (almost 10 years removed from College), just work exp. My ultimate goal would be to work as a general practitioner/criminal law attorney in the small city where I live. (Living in somewhat rural Texas)(I'm Living with my future wife; we are somewhat well off/I won't be the breadwinner career in the family but we prefer to keep any future law school debt minimal, hints the full ride question).

    Any suggestions, tips or recommendations on how to achieve a conditional full ride?

    According to MyLSN.info, it looks possible, but not great unless your LSAT is in the mid-160s. I put in 3.5/161 and here's what I got: http://mylsn.info/a8nftr/

    My recommendation would be to get your LSAT into the mid-160s (~164+ range) and I think you'd have a solid chance. Although it doesn't seem impossible to get a damn good scholarship with a 3.5/161 at some of the schools you mentioned.

    Advice on how to get scholarships: Negotiate with better ranked schools you've been accepted to. Any other similar or better ranked schools with $$$, and tailor your apps/essays when applying to each school. So basically write Why X Essay. And most importantly, just make sure you take the time you need to get your LSAT score where it needs to be. Sounds like you're really close to hitting the mid-160s consistently and you have 2 months. However, if you fall short in June don't write off taking again in September/December.

    :) Good luck!

  • Colin1485Colin1485 Member
    108 karma

    Thanks Alex!
    It's been a battle to get to the 160s - I'll keep plugging along though!
    Checked out the link you sent. Baylor would be kinda a long shot with low 160s at having good $$ off. Wasn't really impressed with the school either when I toured it. Texas Tech and A&M seemed more laid back but had the attentive vibe. SMU was too downtown Dallas for me (also cost of living would be high). Also, kinda open to Oklahoma but prefer to stay in Texas (where I intend to practice law).

    Even on off days, I end up occasionally with a bad RC or messed up logic game error (grouping games). Getting about 17-19 correct on each LR sections, about 18-20 correct on LG and about 15 - 17 correct on RC. My strategic reading is so slow lol. Going to have to take some uppers or something to get through all 4 passages.
    Thanks again!

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    23929 karma

    @Colin1485 said:
    Thanks Alex!
    It's been a battle to get to the 160s - I'll keep plugging along though!
    Checked out the link you sent. Baylor would be kinda a long shot with low 160s at having good $$ off. Wasn't really impressed with the school either when I toured it. Texas Tech and A&M seemed more laid back but had the attentive vibe. SMU was too downtown Dallas for me (also cost of living would be high). Also, kinda open to Oklahoma but prefer to stay in Texas (where I intend to practice law).

    Even on off days, I end up occasionally with a bad RC or messed up logic game error (grouping games). Getting about 17-19 correct on each LR sections, about 18-20 correct on LG and about 15 - 17 correct on RC. My strategic reading is so slow lol. Going to have to take some uppers or something to get through all 4 passages.
    Thanks again!

    No problem my man! Yeah -- I still think you'd get significant money from Texas Tech or Baylor with those projected stats, but I think a lot of improvement can happen with 2 months left, especially if your LGs aren't -0! If you can really nail those down I think that would give you that last little bump you need. In any case, it's a good place to start. And hahaha! I feel you on the RC passages, man. Some days I'm in the zone and others I feel like the entire RC should just be 2 passages lol

  • TexAgAaronTexAgAaron Alum Member
    1723 karma

    @Colin1485 So I am looking at very similar schools. @"Alex Divine" is correct that these schools (especially A&M and Baylor) will require a mid to high 160's score.

    A&M while not impressive right now is one of the big movers right now; went from NR to 92 in 4 years (only been in existence for 4 years). I've heard from some that if you get into the mid-160's you'll pretty much get a full ride but this is from talking to a few people. Tech you probably can go a bit lower and achieve what you need. Baylor, while expensive, is a great litigation school (they literally call it a litigation factory; they push you really hard).

    LawSchoolNumbers.com has a great data set that shows acceptance and what people are receiving scholarship wise too. I'm looking to stay in TX too so I've been scouting most schools pretty extensively down here.

    Hope this helps!

  • Colin1485Colin1485 Member
    108 karma

    @"akeegs92" Thanks for the info. Texas is hopping! Most definitely not planning on leaving anytime soon. What schools are you aiming towards?

    Texas A&M had a great tour and vibe - Not surprised they are improving. I went to one of their prospective student tours a couple months back, left me with good feelings, a full belly (TAMU provided Lunch) and had a long talk with some of the faculty too. They had us do a mock class (was about a real estate case/land issue). Texas A&M seemed more IP law driven though.

    I've heard Baylor is really competitive (I.e students taking pages out of law books to get advantages/childish stuff); Litigation does sound appealing though - I hope to be a jack of all trades though. Criminal and real-estate interest me at the moment.

    TTech seemed cool as well, they have a high bar pass rate.. Living up in border of Oklahoma, I'm also checking into OU Law..

    @"Alex Divine" - RC has been killing me lately. That and grouping games... How's your full time studies going?

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    23929 karma

    @Colin1485 said:
    @"akeegs92" Thanks for the info. Texas is hopping! Most definitely not planning on leaving anytime soon. What schools are you aiming towards?

    Texas A&M had a great tour and vibe - Not surprised they are improving. I went to one of their prospective student tours a couple months back, left me with good feelings, a full belly (TAMU provided Lunch) and had a long talk with some of the faculty too. They had us do a mock class (was about a real estate case/land issue). Texas A&M seemed more IP law driven though.

    I've heard Baylor is really competitive (I.e students taking pages out of law books to get advantages/childish stuff); Litigation does sound appealing though - I hope to be a jack of all trades though. Criminal and real-estate interest me at the moment.

    TTech seemed cool as well, they have a high bar pass rate.. Living up in border of Oklahoma, I'm also checking into OU Law..

    @"Alex Divine" - RC has been killing me lately. That and grouping games... How's your full time studies going?

    Grouping games have always been an issue for me too, at least timing wise. So I feel you there too. Just doing the ones I have trouble with over and over has helped quite a bit though...

    Full time studying is going pretty well! This month has been a bit crazy just because of tying up loose ends and what not. Really looking forward to kicking it into high gear in the next few weeks. One thing I've noticed is that when you have most of the day to study you can split up the time into 1-2 hour blocks as opposed to trying to cram it all into an after work study session at night. For me, that's made a noticeable difference in my score!

  • TexAgAaronTexAgAaron Alum Member
    1723 karma

    @Colin1485 I'm looking at A&M, SMU, UofH, Baylor, and maybe UT.

    I didn't know about the childish stuff at Baylor. Probably my leader right now is UofH. I'll get a better picture in September of what my range is when I take the LSAT for real.

    A&M's best program is IP; its actually a top 10 program now in the USNWR.

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