<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I have a 3.94 GPA in political science and history from Penn State University. Unfortunately, I scored a 155 on my LSAT even after taking a Kaplan prep class and studying very hard. I have taken case law classes during undergrad (constitutional law and civil liberties and due process), as well as a constitutional history class that focused mainly on Supreme Court jurisprudence. I received an A in all three classes. In constitutional law, my professor told me that I received the highest grade of anyone who's ever taken the class. Given this information, what kind of schools do you think I could get into? Any chance at tier 1 or tier 2? Thanks!</p>
<p>The ONLY things that matter are GPA+LSAT. The other “information” is irrelevant.</p>
<p>Please do not waste that GPA on a crap LS. Take another course, self-study, do something-anything to raise that LSAT. </p>
<p>btw: Kaplan’s course it not well regarded by those on the other LS blog. Personally, I like Manhattan. Their new book on LG is excellent.</p>
<p>It would be a travesty for someone with your GPA to attend any of those schools. Take a year off, study for the LSAT, and boost that score. Then reapply. Research the classes offered in your area. Individual instructors can matter a lot and the classes themselves are not all equal.</p>
<p>I really don’t have $$ to take another course…my only choice is to study on my own or take the Kaplan class again for free (they have a satisfaction guarantee).</p>
<p>As a lawyer of 16 years who deals with law students all the time, BEWARE of private law schools with big price tags. I know several students who were bright enough but couldn’t qualiffy into their state schools. They really really wanted law school and thought that the money/jobs would follow…justifying the
high costs. It doesn’t. </p>
<p>If you cannot afford to take a test prep do not go to a lower tier/big bucks private law school. You may end up $120-160k in debt and no job and about half of them don’t pass the bar on the first go. They talk a good game but the legal market is in a GLUT and are NOT doing a service for most students. </p>
<p>We have a relatively new LS in my state that started out very very small to get their feet wet and those kids were fine and good and the first two years they had high bar pass rates. Now, class size is 350 because they are much less selective. There is no iL/2L/3L “law school community” to speak of because kids can take classes day or night! and start any semester! ( which they market as convienence) and the legal community is getting wary of those who are graduating…</p>
<p>In fact at my work we had a recent discussion that even if someone got a scholarship free ride first year whether it would be worth it…because you have to keep your grades up (unpredictable in LS how you will do) and the cost is SO HIGH.</p>
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<p>Whatever it takes to boost your score, it needs to be done. You can play with the numbers [url=<a href=“http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com/wp-content/uploads/Law-School-Predictor-Full-Time-Programs.htm]here[/url”>http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com/wp-content/uploads/Law-School-Predictor-Full-Time-Programs.htm]here[/url</a>], but I think at least 165 should be your goal. If you don’t have the money for an LSAT course you definitely don’t have the money to pay full freight at a law school worth attending. To fix that you need the LSAT score. Without it, it’s hard to justify law school for you.</p>
<p>@TempeMom: Private law schools are really no more or less expensive than the state schools. For example, [url=<a href=“Fees & Cost of Attendance - Berkeley Law”>Fees & Cost of Attendance - Berkeley Law]Berkeley[/url</a>] estimates its cost at 48k per year. [url=<a href=“Cost of Attendance - American University Washington College of Law”>Cost of Attendance - American University Washington College of Law]American[/url</a>], a private school, is the same.</p>
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<p>Not needed, really. YOU have to do all of the work yourself anyway. Pick up some prep books on amazon for ~$65. There are plenty of study prep calendars available for free online.</p>
<p>Focus, focus, focus.</p>
<p>It’s all about pedigree in the law, so fair or not, your employment chances after law school are based in large part on where you went to law school. For it to be worth it, you’ve got to go to the highest-ranked school to which you can gain admittance-so you have to raise that LSAT score.</p>
<p>Demon: I thought “surely” you were wrong about those numbers…but nope. Even our two state LS are at $24/38k IS/OOS tuition. Plus another estimated $23k for expenses. </p>
<p>Don’t spend that amount of money to go to “ANY” law school you can get into. It’s all overpriced. You don’t want to end up bailiffing or delivering summons. </p>
<p>/shaking my head in disbelief.</p>