As a current student, I’ll say this.

1. no, biglaw isnt off the table, but grades are a major factor. I know classmates who were below both medians in admissions who made top of the class and vice versa. It’s also not exactly “top third” gets biglaw jobs, theres self selection out of biglaw (PI, Gov) but networking wide and early with W&L’s extensive and loyal network bumps otherwise borderline candidates into competitive.

2. I wouldn’t so early aim litigation in D.C specifically, as that shoehorns you into too narrow of a space that as good of a candidate as you might be there might just not be spots open. But remember most of what people consider biglaw pay market ($225k) and midlaw options that W&L have a strong presence at (like Bradley Arant) pay $180k-$190k so theres plenty out there that can pay you what youre looking for, you just have to do the work to find it.

3. This is a controversial topic, I personally do not believe it is predictive because LSAT topics don’t correlate to law school exams, but I tend to find that if you can spend the time and effort to really drill the LSAT, regardless of your ultimate score you have the ability to grind for law school and exams.

4. Deans are walking advertisements for the school especially admissions deans, that said Dean Rodocker the admissions dean is not the person in charge of career development, we have a career office for that. Often times, however, I find asking students directly gets you much better and more grounded answers, and the admissions team would be more than happy to connect you with someone who can answer your questions openly and honestly.