Law Thread • Page 2

I'm visiting next month I believe. I've heard great things from several people who have gone there. I've never been to St. Louis before but their scholarship offer blew my mind.

 

With a 168 LSAT score, I'm not surprised. But that is seriously an awesome feeling. Congrats.

Funny story, I never even considered that law schools offered scholarships. I don't know why. It just never crossed my mind. So when my first acceptance came with a modest scholarship I was blown away.

My unsolicited advice is this: Law school debt is awful. Unless there is a huge discprenancy in ranking or something else that is determinative, seriously consider the school that gives you the most money.

 

Thanks It was such a relief when I found out schools offered scholarships. Only like very few schools could ever seem worth taking out that absurd amount of debt for (UPenn is probably the only one I would turn down this Washington University scholarship to go to instead for full price- since I'm not getting into Harvard Yale or Stanford lol). There's such a vast difference in opportunities one has when they graduate with no debt and can take whatever job is best for them or graduate with a ton of debt and need to take the highest paying job just to not default on their loans.

 

(this is my account rn)

I didn't apply to too many schools -- Vanderbilt, Texas-Austin, Michigan, WashU, Minnesota, and on the pipe dream that my personal statement stands out at all, Chicago and Berkeley lol

Minnesota is the only one to get back to me so far -- and offering over 50% tuition scholarship, which is awesome. Really hoping I get accepted to Michigan because I went on a tour in the fall and really liked it. Besides that, though, everything feels up in the air and that I'm kinda in a state of limbo at the moment. I'll probably try to make it to those incoming student weekend things before making a decision. Idk

 

Congrats on Minnesota! I very nearly applied to Michigan before the deadline but I figured I'd have to pay full tuition even if I got in so I left it alone. (If I had known months ago what I know now I wouldn't have applied to so many (4) safety schools and would've gone for more shots in the dark)

If you get into Wash U or if we both get into Vandy, let me know. Would be cool to coordinate my trip to one of the two schools around the same time as you.

 

Huge grats on getting into schools! The debt from law school is pretty terrifying when you see the grand total at the end, but if you can do Federal loans for all/most of whatever the scholarship doesn't cover there are repayment options that make the debt manageable for now at least (income based repayment programs, public interest loan forgiveness programs, ect.).

If you're up for more unsolicited law school advice: After weighing your scholarship options, go with the school at feels right in a part of the state you want to practice in. Law school debt is something important to consider, but you're about to go through some of the most challenging and rewarding years of your life at any law school. Being at a school that has that je ne sais quio that works for you will makes it better.

Picking a law school around the state you want to practice in helps too. The law school you choose will cover general subjects tested in every state bar, but will also teach to their state bar (unless it's a Uniform Bar Examination state). Which ever school you go to will also have access to employer networks, but the networks will probably be focused on employers who are in the immediate area around the school. Basically it will probably be easier to pass the bar and find a job in a state or area right around the law school you went to.

 

Thanks so much for this. Some of this is information I knew but it's nice to get some bigger picture perspective on it. Like I said the scholarship from WashU is crazy, but I've never been to St. Louis before so I'm not sure if it's where I would want to practice coming out. Judging by what you said, depending on the other schools I hear back from if there is a comparable offer from a school in a spot where I know I would love to practice, I should really heavily consider that even if it means I have to pay more.

 

All great advice. I would say the only exception to that would be schools with national cache like U of C or Stanford, or to a lesser extent Northwestern. Those schools aren't as region-tied as most every other law school when it comes to looking for jobs.

 

True facts. If you go to a law school that a SCOTUS Justice graduated from, I think you have a golden ticket to anywhere in the nation you would like to practice in.

As kinda an end point on locations and law school as I understand it; where you go to school it not your destiny. If you start going to an ABA accredited law school and think you've made a bad choice, you'll likely be able to transfer to most other ABA law schools after your first year as long as you're in good academic standing. The exception being transfers into national cache schools which are difficult to get into in the first place.

It is very possible to practice in an area outside of your school. I went to McGeorge which is based out of Sacramento, and alumni regularly post job and internship openings in Southern California, D.C., and New York to the school's jobs board. I had friends who came to the school because of scholarships, but planned to practice out of state. The career advisers at the school helped them get access to other schools' jobs postings boards to find work where they wanted to practice. I would imagine most law schools would work to do the same with you if you wanted to start your career out of town.

The postings on the school's jobs board based out of Sacramento out number the foreign postings like 10:1 however, so its much easier to find work in the area. I was under the impression that most schools have job opportunities similar to the ones I saw, unless you .

 

Harvard Law School will no longer require the LSAT for admission

Motherfuck.

 

Just took the diagnostic test. The studying begins

 

I hope everyone who was working on their apps are excited about being near the finish line. I look forward to hearing what schools you all chose. And good luck to @Zoshchenko. I started this process almost a year ago and it's amazing how fast it flies by.

 

Just found out that my undergraduate school (Notre Dame) is gonna take a ton more transfer credits than I initially thought they were, moving my timeline up a year where I'll be applying for law school this fall. Trying to take the LSAT in June with a possibility of a September retake. Kinda frantic about switching gears so quickly tbh

 

Don't rush. If you're not ready for June, take it in September. If that doesn't go well, take it in December, if that doesn't go well work for a year and reapply next cycle. No reason to really rush. Schools don't really love K JDs anyway and there's a chance you would underperform anyway. I think you're better off taking as long as you need to do well on the test

 

I am actually not a K-JD, I took several years off in the middle of college to work for AmeriCorps and do some other jobs. So since I am a bit older, I would rather start law school ASAP but I am applying this fall knowing that there's I chance I might end up needing to reapply next cycle.

We shall see! Thanks for the advice

 

Ahh I see. Well from what I understand admissions people do love people who have done Americorp. And I hear you about just wanting to start. In a perfect world I would take the LSAT again and try to hit my practice scores (5 points higher on average than my highest LSAT) but I'm ready to just get started and I'll be going to Wash U in the fall in all likelihood.

Good luck on the LSAT! 2 months isn't a super short lead in time so if you crack the books hard that's definitely doable. It's good that you have September there as a backup as well

 

Yeah for sure. I did do a month of prep from Jan to Feb this yr too but fell off when the semester got going. Oh well we shall see. GULC is my dream school so I need to do very well on the LSAT, but I think that's def possible since I have excelled on standardized admissions tests in the past.

 

And congrats on Wash U, Craig! Hope they threw $$ at you like I've heard they do haha

 

They certainly did. It's my most affordable option out of the schools in the top 25 or so and I really liked it when I visited. Below that I had some other full rides I never really seriously considered. But yeah I'm also still waiting on Vanderbilt who are taking literally forever this cycle (and some waitlists that I'm only half considering because they would be well over 6 figures more to go to)

 

GULC is definitely well within the realm of possibility. I feel like next year might be a tough year for them though, I think they and GW will drastically reduce class size to respond to falling rankings.

 

Yeah that's my fear. Oh well we shall see

 

Anyone else anxiously waiting for their June LSAT score?

 

How did it go, bud?

 

168! Probably still gonna retake in Sept as I'm a super splitter with a low GPA. (Although my grade trend is extremely positive in the last 3 semesters)