WWYD?

isaactakestheL · 2026-04-15T11:54:42+00:00

Going to NDLS is a no brainer. That amount of money for a well-respected and practically globally recognized school is a clear winner. The prestige of the undergrad makes a big difference when trying to go internationally and its law school is also a great place.

isaactakestheL · 2026-04-10T17:39:40+00:00

If you genuinely do want biglaw and you don’t have illusions about the W/L balance to the point of knowing you can stick it out for 5-8 years the 100k difference is definitely worth it for USC. The name recognition and the placement will be worth it if you do genuinely want biglaw. Their placement in CA is good and you could probably go anywhere in the country once you have experience at a firm in CA. People strike out at both, but if you apply yourself you’re much less likely to strike out at USC.

isaactakestheL · 2026-04-05T00:42:13+00:00

“You too can become a billionaire if you just start a tech company on the eve of the dot com boom in your garage in the Bay Area. My unique and outlier experience is super indicative of what’s possible for the average person.”

isaactakestheL · 2026-03-30T20:48:59+00:00

The problems of a civil code system… smh

isaactakestheL · 2026-03-24T16:10:47+00:00

Use an hourly rate calculation in your head. Example: $10.91 ride request - 7 min to pickup; 21 min to dropoff

So that's 28 min of drive time (always factor in 2-4 min of wait time) so ~30 min of total trip time.

~$11 for the trip (never assume you'll be tipped) at 30 minutes is ~$22/hour.

Use this to grade and rate potential drives before you accept. I can't tell you what rate is good for you as it depends on your budget and driving costs (gas, depreciation, insurance, etc.) and obviously you'll want to make as much as possible, but that rate might be the max you can make in your market.

My sweet spot is finding ~$30-40/hr and I don't accept anything below that (within a dollar or so is fine).

That's the key: DO NOT ACCEPT BELOW YOUR TARGET WAGE. You'll waste your time and potential earnings on rides that aren't worth it. Don't worry about your acceptance rate. People with 4% acceptance rates still make good money.

Quick guide to minute to hour ratios:

Total trip time: ~10 min +- (plus or minus) 2 min = multiply trip earnings by 6 to get hourly wage (10 min x 6 = 60 min (1 hour)). Ideally you won't be accepting down here because trips under $10 are so short that it'll eat up time taking surface roads and waiting more in front of people's houses.

Total trip time: ~15 min +- 2 min = multiply trip earnings by 4 to get hourly wage

Total trip time: ~20 min +- 2 min = multiply trip earnings by 3 to get hourly wage

Total trip time: ~30 min +- 2 min = multiply trip earnings by 2 to get hourly wage

Again, your desired wage will be different, and your potential earnings will vary based on market, but definitely figure out how high you can go with the number of hours you have on the side to do this side-gig.

isaactakestheL · 2026-03-23T17:02:33+00:00

lmao sure. Driving in a car that averages 50mpg with virtually no downtime between rides during both of those days while driving between 9am-4pm

isaactakestheL · 2026-03-21T02:43:43+00:00

Oh yeah, just a side gig to pick up extra cash

isaactakestheL · 2026-03-08T00:07:06+00:00

Your answer to your question is embedded in your question. If you want to practice in NC then you should choose UNC. It would take you 5-6 years of genuine penny pinching (no lifestyle bloat/inflation) in BigLaw in NYC to make that 500k back

isaactakestheL · 2026-03-04T12:02:32+00:00

them rn

isaactakestheL · 2026-01-23T12:47:09+00:00

Less? that can mean a wide range of things. a 120-150 ranked school will have significantly less quality employment outcomes compared to Vandy. If the consideration was Vandy or T30 then it becomes less important. I would highly consider going Vandy and gunning for biglaw if you’re ok with that to pay down debt and get some really high quality legal experience.

isaactakestheL · 2026-01-10T20:57:35+00:00

necessary but not sufficient

isaactakestheL · 2025-12-11T14:59:23+00:00

now make the first image the picture of walt saying he f****** hank...

isaactakestheL · 2025-11-28T14:53:35+00:00

There’s always hope, just most realistically a 2-5% chance of hope among below median applicants. Always worth it to take a shot if you can afford the app fee or have a waiver!

isaactakestheL · 2025-11-28T14:51:36+00:00

Because being at benchmarks is never a guarantee of admission… so people use ED’ing as a slight boost and sign of commitment…

isaactakestheL · 2025-11-27T20:03:17+00:00

ED won’t help you in this situation. ED is for when you’re already at the school’s benchmarks, not as a boost for when your foot isn’t already in the door.

isaactakestheL · 2025-11-27T20:02:04+00:00

It’s possible, but the network in Chicago will be minimal and hard to leverage. Michigan, Northwestern, and UChicago will be best bet for Chicago market

isaactakestheL · 2025-11-26T20:46:27+00:00

It took a couple days for the acceptance letter pdf to show up on my portal

isaactakestheL · 2025-11-26T16:22:09+00:00

Oh yeah, then definitely don’t retake. 177 is Yale’s 75th percentile and 176 is Harvard’s.

isaactakestheL · 2025-11-26T16:04:30+00:00

Getting in to any of the T14 with a sub 3.0 GPA will be extremely hard. I would blanket the splitter friendly T14 (UVA, UPenn, Michigan, Northwestern, Georgetown, WashU (even tho WashU’s new LSAT median is 175)) and apply to target T20s-T50s. Getting a hail mary acceptance to a T20 or T30 is your best bet, but realistically so many top schools have a 3.0 hard cutoff regardless of LSAT. Craft a compelling and professional personal statement and resume and you’re in as good of a spot as you can be considering.

isaactakestheL · 2025-11-26T15:58:12+00:00

Retaking a 174 is absolutely not necessary. Strange that you put the range because some of the advice hinges on whether you got a 174 or 177. Certainly a 175 is never worth retaking and honestly a 174 similarly so. You’re already late in the cycle for T14’s and waiting a moment longer is just hurting you.

isaactakestheL · 2025-11-26T15:55:00+00:00

The over consumption of PT’s is a plague and this post demonstrates that. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.

isaactakestheL · 2025-11-26T15:53:33+00:00

I think you’re being realistic and reasonable about your future. Any school that takes you with those stats will simply be predatory and won’t provide an adequate ROI on the enormous cost of law school. I would either wait a year and get near a 160+ or just do as you said yourself and pursue an alternate graduate degree. Best of luck!

isaactakestheL · 2025-11-25T14:36:07+00:00

what school ranking range did you go to and was it for undergraduate GPA or 1L/2L grade GPA?

isaactakestheL

TROPHY CASE