Help me find a match law school

Graduate School Law School
1

<ul>
<li>2nd year at the University of Florida (60 credits completed with AP)</li>
<li>3.8 GPA, hopefully a 3.85 after this semester.</li>
<li><p>163 on last practice LSAT</p></li>
<li><p>Political Science (concentration in International Relations) and History double major with a minor in Economics.</p></li>
<li><p>Considering fullfulling my language requirement in Arabic.</p></li>
<li><p>I've tried to focus my fields of study to the law: ie. I am taking an upperlevel US Legal History course right now.</p></li>
<li><p>URM: Native American (1/4)</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Extracurricular Involvement:</p>

<p>Student Senator
Vice Chair of the Public Relations Committee
Member of the Budget and Appropriations Committe (allocates 13 million dollars annually)
Member of Various Ad-hoc Committees</p>

<p>Greek Judicial Board</p>

<p>Various other positions within Student Government and other organizations.</p>

<p>Obviously, I am interested in getting involved in government, possibly something in international relations (thus the concentration and study of Arabic).</p>

<p>I hope to improve my LSAT to a 168-170... I plan to begin preparing early.</p>

<p>What do you guys think? Where should I look into applying?</p>

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<p>First big question... where do you want to work? Law schools are very geographic; even with the national schools, there's an advantage in going to school where you want to work.</p>

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<p>Is there any language requirement for law school admission?</p>

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<p>ccfaithful--no language requirement for law school. unless you're fluent in another language (to the point where you could discuss legal issues with a client) it probably doesn't matter one way or the other.</p>

<p>lacey--your gpa is adequate for any law school in the country. URM status certainly might help, especially if you have the paperwork from BIA to 'prove' you're native american. my practice lsat score was similar to yours and if you bump it up a few points, i think nearly every school ranked 15-50 or so should be a good bet...the above advice about picking a school in an area you'd like to work in makes a lot of sense. </p>

<p>depending on how you actually do on the lsats (it's so easy to be nervous and do worse than you expect...most people i know get a score that's about 5 points lower than their best practice score), how good your recommendations and essays are, how interested schools are in boosting their racial diversity, I think you have a good shot at top-14 schools too. But no one is a safe bet at these places. If you have your heart set on a T-14, I'd apply as early as possible in the cycle and apply to a bunch of schools (but only ones you'd actually like to attend, of course...my standard was "if this was the only place I got in, would I be thrilled to go, or would I rather take time off and work/reapply next year?"). The region you want to work in makes much less difference when applying to top-14 schools...while most Stanford grads end up on the west coast and most UPenn ones on the east coast, grads from elite schools can get jobs pretty much wherever they want. </p>

<p>good luck!</p>

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<p>Thank you very much, Stacy.</p>

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<p>ccfaithful: Sorry for the confusing I was referring to the foreign language requirement that all Liberal Arts majors must complete at UF.</p>

<p>Stacy and Airesathena: two schools I was looking at were Vanderbilt and Georgetown, because I thought D.C. would be a good location for the field of politics I want to go in to, and because I have immediate family in Nashville. Both schools have Early Decision programs which I assume would help my chances... so I'm going to visit them early to see if I fall in love with either school.</p>

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<p>If you are truly Native American the sky is the limit and you have a good chance even at Yale. If you got yourself up to 168-170 as a Native American you would be a lock for HYS.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
If you are truly Native American the sky is the limit and you have a good chance even at Yale. If you got yourself up to 168-170 as a Native American you would be a lock for HYS.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yes, this is the gospel truth. And I believe you will be able to get your LSAT up, since you are only a sophomore right now. You also seem motivated, so you should be able to maintain that GPA. Good work.</p>

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<p>The OP's GPA is excellent so far. Congratulations!</p>

<p>Let's talk about URM status for a minute here, though. While URM status can help someone gain admission to law school, there is a big difference between someone who is involved with the culture and community of that minority group and someone who can merely trace their lineage to a minority group without anything more. Law schools are looking for diversity in their classes on a whole bunch of different parameters -- geography, background, major in college, ethnicity, etc. None of those make any difference to diversity in the classroom, however, unless a student really brings something different to the table as a result of those differences. I'm not suggesting that the OP shouldn't indicate that she/he is 1/4 Native American, but rather that she/he should elaborate on how that background has affected her/his life, approach and outlook.</p>

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<p>To piggyback on Sally's response....</p>

<p>In the article: Showing Your Color: Minority Applicants and Law School Admission, which can be found on the LSAC web site at </p>

<p><a href="http://www.lsac.org/LSAC.asp?url=/lsac/minorities-in-legal-education-selected-articles.asp#Showing%20Your%20Color:%20Minority%20Applicants%20and%20Law%20School%20Admission%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.lsac.org/LSAC.asp?url=/lsac/minorities-in-legal-education-selected-articles.asp#Showing%20Your%20Color:%20Minority%20Applicants%20and%20Law%20School%20Admission&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>It states:</p>

<p>"In your personal statement, you need to tell us what you had hoped to convey by checking that box," says Sharon L. Pinkney, director of admissions, University of California, Davis, School of Law. "In the past, I think applicants may have tended to check off a racial classification and assume that certain information was conveyed to us. Now, you have to tell us."*</p>

<p>Admission professionals concur that your application should tell the story of who you are, including the background and experiences—both personal and educational—that make you unique.</p>

<p>"It’s important to let us know what different voice you will bring to the classroom, what disadvantages you may have overcome, what experiences have shaped your perspective," suggests deJorna. "Give us an idea of how you look at the law and how your notions of justice were formed."</p>

<p>As you complete your application, remember the importance of such things as:</p>

<p>the organizations and affiliations you list: they provide strong insight into what is important to you and the causes or issues to which you have chosen to devote your time;</p>

<p>the context in which your undergraduate degree was earned: did you have work or family responsibilities in addition to school? If so, how has juggling various commitments shaped your ability to be organized? (Do not overlook the fact that juggling various tasks is a necessary skill for lawyers.)</p>

<p>any special connection you have to your potential client population: Do you speak a language other than English? Have you demonstrated an ability to communicate with the poor, with recent immigrants, or with inner-city residents?
*</p>

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<p>Thanks, sybbie. That's a great link.</p>

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<p>While law schools say that they want true diversity and evaluate the applicant, the fact is that minority status is applied more mechanically and given more weight than on the undergraduate level. Sad reality is that the pipeline of talented, qualified minority students is simply too small to maintain any semblance of a diverse classroom.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Sad reality is that the pipeline of talented, qualified minority students is simply too small to maintain any semblance of a diverse classroom.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>This may be good for Asian-American applicants.</p>