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Related Discussions
Advice on which schools to target?
Leah M B
Alum Member ⭐
Hi friends - now that I finally have an official LSAT score, the fee waivers are rolling in and I think my head is getting jumbled up haha. I know that getting fee waivers doesn't really mean anything, but I can feel that it's making me re-think my plans. I thought I'd ask for advice on which schools I should be applying to from the upper ranges (my safeties and mid-range are all set).
Stats: 168 / 3.85
Softs: not much to brag about... 11 years work experience (obv, non-traditional) in entertainment industry, 2 years of that as a legal assistant. Should have good LORs.
Goals: very interested in PI/government. Very debt averse - need big scholarships. Prefer more collegial than competitive. Ultimately would like to live/work anywhere on the west coast or Chicago, maybe DC. I'm a delicate flower from the pacific NW so southern heat/humidity is a nightmare to me and would like to avoid it haha. There are great schools in the south though, so that's tough.
From about #20 and up, I'm planning on applying to USC, UCLA and Northwestern, and just recently decided to apply WUSTL too. I'm thinking maybe Iowa because they give out money hand over fist, but not sure if I'm really interested in attending there. Anyone else I should be more open to considering? Berkeley, Cornell, and BU are on my maybes.
Thanks in advance for any tips!
Comments
Northeastern isn't top 20 but is more focused on public interest than anywhere else (except maybe CUNY) and has an amazing full ride public interest scholarship.
GW? Fordham? Cardozo? Notre Dame?
Lots of schools on the West coast tend to have great PI programs.
UWash, UCD, and UCI could decent safety schools for PI/government and will probably give you great money.
Georgetown could also be a great on-target/reach school in DC (they're mostly international law and policy, but have PI stuff too).
@Kayyyyyyy Northeastern sounds awesome. Just checking out their website--makes me wanna apply there, but I already have so many schools on my list. XD
I heard from a friend who is a public defender that some of the best schools with a heavy focus on PI are Berkeley and NYU.
Columbia is pretty great too! They have an externship to work with the Bronx Defenders, which is super innovative and well-known as a PD office. #PIcareergoals
If you're debt adverse then I'd suggest UMich Law, Chicago Law, Georgetown Law and Northwestern Law. Those are the schools where people I know have gotten full or near-full scholarship with just about your stats. With your stats, you don't need to go outside T-14 to get a school with great scholarship.
I'd try Columbia, Harvard, Yale and Stanford too, just for the sake of it.
Are you able to move anywhere you're accepted? Why not shoot for the moon? You have an LSAT score that all 3 of the top 3 will take. They may all reject you, but why not try? If I told you that you had a .1% chance to win a million dollars in exchange for 5 hours of your time, would you not try?
Write a convincing personal statement and set yourself apart.
Definitely Berkeley. You're at/above their 75ths for LSAT and GPA, they give out decent (if not great) scholarship money, they're great for PI, and they've got lovely weather, lol.
Apply for some reaches where you've got a shot to get in without money too. Getting in at a more prestigious school can really pressure programs to offer you some money. So something like big money at WStL and an Accept at NYU would really put the heat on everyone stuck in the middle, particularly at some place like Berkeley where you crush their stats.
First of all I'd apply to all T-14 schools that send you unsolicited waivers. Your numbers are good, and it seems like the $30 for LSAC report is worth a better acceptance. I'd also email all other schools and ask for a fee waiver, and definitely apply to those that send you one in this way. As far as the schools where you don't get a waiver, that would be a judgment call (although personally I would do it). You could always try use the higher up acceptances for negotiations.
But I agree with what @goingfor99th said: why not shoot for the moon? Doesn't hurt to have more options in the end to choose from.
I say just apply broadly and see where you get good money. I smell a WUSTL full ride with your 168, they love that score. Apply to multiple T13's as you never know if they will give you very good money. Also check out some school's LRAP programs as that is something important as well, especially for PI.
here's a doc that sums up LRAPs for some of the top schools https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aGSpouEOK7rx0V6zXNQowBE6PmoOFegkAwhmmqPvgqY/edit?usp=sharing
Oh man. This doc is awesome. Thank you!
Are you considering Northwestern ED? Seems like you would be a really good candidate, especially if you're interested in Chi. and are debt averse. They'd appreciate all years of work experience more than most schools as well I'm thinking
WUSTL will be good for the negotiating power.
Michigan could be good because they might give you some scholarships, have a fairly solid LRAP, and will be lower cost of living than Chicago or New York. Penn, Duke, and maybe Cornell and UVA might be worth an app for similar reasons.
Of the Top 14 you might really just want to cut NYU, Columbia, and Chicago due to the high cost of living and low odds of scholarships at your numbers.
I'm not entirely sure how the LRAPs might change that calculus though.
I know Harvard, Yale, and Stanford all offer exceptional LRAPs which makes them worth the swing if you can afford it.
This would require waiting a cycle though.
I'd say apply as broadly as you can in the T20 maybe with the exception of HYS (no merit scholarships) & CCN -- I just don't think you're likely to get big scholarships at these schools. Then again, if you can afford to apply, go for it!!
Your stats a good for the rest of the T13 and very strong for schools 14-20. You're going to have amazing options in this range.
you're welcome
Gosh you guys are the best. And way more optimistic about my options than I am haha. That's why I needed some input I think. I started thinking maybe I should apply to more top schools but then was second guessing it. Some really good things to think about here.
@Kayyyyyyy - interesting, I've heard the name but don't know much about it. I'll check it out!
@uhinberg - Yeah, thought I'd throw in GW. Notre Dame is a no for me. I know it's a great school, but I'm extremely against their heavy-handedness against birth control coverage for employees and students. I wonder if that move is going to affect their numbers for the next cycle... maybe not since they reversed the decision ultimately.
@PublicInterested - UW is my local school here! Are you applying to it?
@yawbrobbey - interesting, I know NU can be pretty good with scholarships but thought the rest of those are pretty long shots. Granted, all I really know is info from LSN, so of course this is all anecdotal more or less. Thanks!
@goingfor99th - yep, free to go wherever. HYS don't give merit scholarships though. I know their LRAPs are good but still a huge risk agreeing to a ton of debt. But thank you for the encouragement! You're convincing me I should apply higher than I thought I should haha.
@"Cant Get Right" - that's a super good point. I didn't really think about leveraging not just scholarships but acceptances too. And I'd thought about Berkeley but they seem so randomly picky that I'd kind of written them off but you're right that I should at least apply. Thank you!
@pioneer321 - you make a good point. Since I didn't have an LSAT score until December, I didn't have very many waivers. But they're rolling in now and it does make sense to apply to some long shots if it's just the LSAC fee. Thank you!
@TheMikey - Thank you! I'll admit that I've seen that LRAP sheet before from TLS but some of it is over my head haha. I'm not great with number crunching and TLS is not usually the place to ask basic questions; I don't have a death wish. Do you have a good grasp on how the LRAPs work? If so, could I pick your brain sometime?
@"Sgt. P Bwecka" - absolutely, but it's too late for this cycle. If I end up delaying a year, I might ED at NU then. Thanks!
@"Seeking Perfection" - yes you make a good point about considering cost of living. Even with a full tuition scholarship, living costs in NYC alone would make for massive loans. Michigan would be really nice that way. Thank you!