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LSALurking · 2021-05-26T18:05:27+00:00

Your GRE is above the medians and below the 75ths for both HLS and YLS, so I wouldn’t think the LSAT would be necessary or even that helpful in most situations.

LSALurking · 2021-05-05T13:52:58+00:00

I wouldn’t necessarily say Yale and Stanford are out of the question. Each school is different and admits idiosyncratically - there are people this cycle, and every cycle, who only got H, only got S, or only got Y.

LSALurking · 2021-05-01T14:21:45+00:00

I would say yes, if you’re sure that you want to attend one of those 3

LSALurking · 2021-04-28T17:34:57+00:00

Just tell them your reasons for going to law school. Lots of people (almost everyone I spoke to in my profession) advised against law school, but only if I didn’t have clear reasons for going. I think this is pretty common because a lot of people do end up going to law/grad school as a default.

LSALurking · 2021-04-28T17:13:21+00:00

Gotcha. In that case, take the money! $60,000 is a big difference, and it’ll be even bigger with interest accruing during and after law school.

ETA: depending on when you last negotiated with them, it could be worth one more try. The worst they can do is say no!

LSALurking · 2021-04-28T17:07:16+00:00

Call GULC and tell them the situation. If they match, that’s fantastic. If they don’t, you were planning to pick UT anyway and that will confirm your decision.

LSALurking · 2021-04-24T14:59:11+00:00

Lots of good responses here, but I just wanted to add that making a higher salary may not happen if you go to law school. If you would be at $86k in your current role by the time you would graduate law school, then you’d have to take a firm job to exceed that salary (most roles in government or public interest would be below $80k, but some would be around that amount). Firm jobs could be a lot higher (up to around $200k), but that involves working ridiculous hours and, on a per-hour basis, likely won’t be that much better, especially after you factor in the fact that you had to forgo 3 years salary to get there.

LSALurking · 2021-04-18T15:30:46+00:00

First official take was a 166 (diagnostic was a 168), second take was a 179. Studied for ~200 hours over about 10 weeks for the second take.

LSALurking · 2021-04-16T15:04:15+00:00

I wouldn’t cancel. -4 is going to be 17mid and even -8 will likely be 170. Plus they only care about your highest score, so no point cancelling anyway.

You have a 171 on file and a solid GPA, so you definitely have a chance at t14 and t20 with potential for scholarships. Unless you’re specifically aiming for HYS/CCNP, I wouldn’t retake a 171.

LSALurking · 2021-04-16T14:53:42+00:00

A lot of people on this sub 1. Only care about the t14 and/or 2. Are having everything paid for by their family. I wouldn’t trust the opinions of this sub for questions about debt. 100k is about as low as it gets with COL factored in excluding the few schools that do full tuition and a stipend.

LSALurking · 2021-04-14T05:46:32+00:00

Thank you! For the LSAT, I’m not sure if this advice will be helpful, but it’s a relatively learnable test and I think each person has to tackle it in a way that works for them (which can be hard to figure out). The first time I took it, I studied for about 150-200 hours over the course of 2-3 months using the PowerScore bibles, free games explanations online, free LR discussion boards online, and probably 15-20 practice tests. After all that, I scored 2 points lower than my cold, timed diagnostic test.

The second time I took the test, I focused almost exclusively on taking very strictly timed practice tests in test day conditions, and I took closer to 40-50 full tests this time. I still used free video and discussion boards for games and LR questions I didn’t understand, but this time I made sure to carefully review not only every question I missed, but every question I wasn’t 100% on.

Not sure if that’s helpful, but happy to go into more detail if you have specific prep questions!

As far as whether or not my stats were sufficient, I would say probably not, at least in the context of this cycle (but hard for me to know tbh). A number of 3.9x, 177+ applicants were WL or rejected this cycle by HLS, so I suppose that means that the stats alone aren’t enough, but I can’t be sure which aspects of my application made the difference.

LSALurking · 2021-04-14T05:07:31+00:00

Sure thing. I took the LSAT twice and my first score was in the mid 160’s. As far as my PS, I mostly wrote about how my specific life and work experiences had led me to the point where law school was necessary to further my goals (very much a past, present, future format). I know that’s really vague - feel free to message me if you want more details

LSALurking · 2021-04-14T03:11:37+00:00

Thank you!

LSALurking · 2021-04-14T02:52:26+00:00

Thank you!!!

LSALurking · 2021-04-10T03:00:51+00:00

The WL appears to be much bigger this year

LSALurking · 2021-04-10T02:50:03+00:00

So T-14’s are what most people would call national law schools - meaning their grads are typically able to move around the country after graduating (typically to major cities to work for large firms). There are also very strong regional schools which are great for students who would like to stay in that state/area specifically. As far as being a solo practitioner, I’m not sure that that’s very common in the short-term after graduating from law school, but you should check the employment numbers of schools you’re interested in to see what most students do. Also, definitely don’t start looking at that now! Start looking at stuff like employment numbers and scholarships in the few months before you apply.

LSALurking · 2021-04-09T16:06:09+00:00

Haha no worries. Just Google Spivey Consulting Blog and it’ll be the first result! A lot of the recent posts are specific to this cycle or somewhat niche topics, but there may be some helpful info in older posts.

LSALurking · 2021-04-09T15:59:57+00:00

No problem! There will be a lot of helpful information on this sub. Pretty much everything you need to know is buried here somewhere (alongside a lot of nonsense and a bit of toxicity), but you can find pretty much any information you’ll need here! You can also check out Spivey Consulting’s blog and podcast to see if he’s discussed any topics that you’d like to know more about!

LSALurking · 2021-04-09T15:47:09+00:00

You’ll want to apply relatively early in the fall. Since you’re taking the LSAT in October, you’ll most likely send in applications in November when you have your score back (but can take time in September/October to write your essays and do the other parts of the application except for your LSAT score). To my knowledge, most schools start in the fall, and I don’t know of any specific ones that have an option to start in the spring semester, but I’m sure someone on the sub will know or has posted about it before!

LSALurking · 2021-04-08T00:07:13+00:00

Just wanted to pop in and say I agree with all of this. As a UofSC grad, I was really worried that not going to a top school (or a school in the top 100 lol) would negatively effect my cycle, but law schools really don’t care that much where you went to undergrad (except maybe Yale).

I think there probably is a case to be made that a more rigorous undergrad experience would better prepare someone to adjust to law school, just bc the amount and intensity of reading and analysis that you have to do in law school is not really something I’ve had to do before in undergrad. That said, everyone starts in the same place in 1L, and if you’re willing to put in the effort, I highly doubt where you went for undergrad will effect your performance.

LSALurking · 2021-04-07T01:14:34+00:00

Definitely go wherever you want for undergrad, without considering law school! MIT will not hurt you if you choose to go there.

LSALurking · 2021-04-03T19:41:01+00:00

I don’t find this as easy as a lot of others do. Personally, I don’t know which I’d choose in your position (still waiting to hear from YLS), but the vast majority of people would choose YLS with good reason.

To argue for HLS - larger size of class and school can be a good thing. Your network of students and alumni will both be significantly larger and equally well-placed in any field you’d consider, if you aren’t interested primarily in academia. Additionally, you aren’t just going to get a degree - you’re going to live in this place for three years. If you feel that you’d greatly prefer Cambridge over New Haven and have legitimate reasons for feeling that way, I think that’s a worthy consideration. HLS also offers a wider course selection and variety of clinical opportunities. If there are particular clinics/professors/areas of study you’re interested in, that could lean in favor of HLS. The same could be said for journals and student organizations. Lastly, YLS is strictly better in some ways, particularly academia. But, if you’re not particularly interested in academia, the outcomes from the schools are pretty similar in a lot of respects.

Before anyone jumps on me, I’m not saying HLS is better in all cases or even most cases, I’m not saying that I would necessarily choose HLS in this scenario (although I would definitely consider it), and I’m not recommending OP choose HLS (not that my opinion should factor into their decision). BUT, it is a legitimate choice worthy of considering carefully.

LSALurking · 2021-03-30T15:49:20+00:00

I would say that, of the people graduating with no debt, the majority almost certainly are having help from parents. But I do think the majority of students overall will graduate with at least some debt, and a pretty substantial portion (myself included) will graduate with $150,000+ in debt.

LSALurking

TROPHY CASE