Help w/ Choosing where and when to apply?

Graduate School Law School
1

<p>I am still a year and couple of months away from applying to any law school. I want to apply to begin as soon as a graduate from undergrad, due to the fact that I want my loans to continue to be deferred. If I start paying them back, if I wait another year (waiting for a higher GPA after my last semester or if I find it necessary to take the LSAT again), will the again be deferred once I begin Law School? </p>

<p>In any case, I am looking at schools that have a dual international degree programs. I am an undergrad at BU, doing a double degree program from which I will graduate with a BS in Business Administration w/ a concentration in International Management and a BA in International Relations w/ concentrations in Business and Econ. and Western Europe or Latin America (still undecided). I am latina, my family is from the Dominican Republic. With the right preparation, I can do very well on exams, so I expect to get at least 170 on the LSAT (I plan on taking an extensive Princeton Review course starting in August next summer, up until the exam. Prior to, I intend to spend the spring semester practicing on my own with books). My GPA, however, isn't extremely high. At time of applying, I hopefully will get it to a 3.52. (Right now it's a 3.38) I know I have to ace my LSATs in order to get to some top schools and like I said, if I wait to apply until the after graduating undergrad, I can probably apply with a 3.6. </p>

<p>As of right now, I am only looking at schools that have (a) an International Dual Degree Program-it is my goal to do international business/corporate law and graduate with the ability to take the bar exam and practice law in both the U.S and abroad (either in England, France, Spain, or Latin America -the programs are usually offered in the first three, and if one is able to practice in Spain one is usually admitted into cases in LA, as well. Also, once one is able to practice within a country in the EU, it is easier to be allowed to practice in most of the EU.), (b) Have a good JD Program.</p>

<p>Now, the list of schools I know that have these programs are American (my top choice right now), Columbia, Cornell, U of Virginia, Georgetown, UConn, UPenn, Harvard, USC, Nova, Duke, and U of Detroit Mercy. </p>

<p>Which of these schools do you all feel I'd have a good chance of getting into with my stats. (3.52 GPA upon applying, 170 or greater LSAT (likely), and my minority status, as well as other soft factors-extreme financial hardship, not stellar grades first year due to family crisis right before beginning freshman year, working all four years throughout college-at times two jobs; the dual degree program; and various other activities and extra-circulars throughout my undergrad; study abroad experience; fluent in Spanish, and should be fluent in French upon applying; and at least two internships (one management and one legal)-aside from the other jobs which were for money reasons.)</p>

<p>Also, if anyone knows other schools that offer the programs I am looking for, please let me know so I can research it!</p>

2

<p>-Yes, if you take a year off in between undergrad and law school, you can defer your loans once you're enrolled again full-time in law school. I'm doing it right now.</p>

<p>-Assuming a 3.52 / 170, my best guess would be
rejections: Harvard and Columbia
in at most of, if not all: Cornell, UVA, GTown, Penn, Duke, USC
scholarship money at the rest.</p>

<p>I would strongly recommend waiting a year before applying so that you can get an extra semester of GPA in your calculation. The difference between, say, a 3.55 and a 3.6 is significant. It's the difference between falling under and within the 25th percentile at, say, Columbia and UPenn.</p>

3

<p>So, if I did that, instead of applying in my fall semester senior year, I would apply the following fall?</p>

<p>Aside from the added benefit of the GPA thing, would the year of work, if it's something substantial and/or related to law help with applications?</p>

<p>I'm also just considering taking a couple more summer courses next summer to boost my GPA or online courses. I really want to go to law school right upon graduating, I'm the type of person who doesn't want to get out of the school mode when I know I'm going to need to get back into it asap.</p>

<p>What do you think my chances at American are applying at the regular time?</p>

4

<p>At this time, it is not practical to have a list of schools. You need an actual (not hypothesized) LSAT score in hand, or at least a practice score and an SAT score to use as the basis of a projection. Moreover, the most accurate way to project your GPA is simply to use your GPA as it currently stands -- 3.38. (The analogy is batting average -- a .238 hitter could be batting .250 by the end of the year, but it's hard to say for sure that he can do so.)</p>

5

<p>
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I'm also just considering taking a couple more summer courses next summer to boost my GPA or online courses.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Most courses taken after your first bachelors will not be counted into your LSAC gpa.</p>

6

<p>I know. I'm an entering junior, so it would be the summer before my junior year and they will still count. </p>

<p>I understand that I should use my current GPA and all that, but the reason I have that list of schools is because they are the ones that offer the programs I am interested in doing. I'm not necessarily applying to all of them, but I am working backwards in the sense, that I want to work as hard to qualify my LSAT and GPA so that I can apply to most of them, with a reasonable chance of getting in at all, and a couple of safeties. The list might grow or get shortened, if these types of program are added to other schools, or for some reason I simply don't want to go to a certain school. It's not finalized, nor I'm I filling out applications, but it's a starting base for me. </p>

<p>I'm the type of person that works much better with a goal in mind. If I know how I have to do, than I can prepare better to do it.</p>

<p>I'm basing my "projected," LSAT on how I've done on other tests, the amount of studying I will be putting in, and the fact that though I haven't taken an actual practice exam (I'm trying to find a day that I can dedicate to it soon), I've taken a number of practice questions and have gotten almost all correct. I pretty good at logic problems and reading comprehension has always been my strong suit. Also, like I said, I will be doing individual practice during this fall and spring, and a three month course from August to October. Thus, I feel good in assessing my projected score as is. While I might be surprised afterwards, I'd rather have this goal in mind and work toward it, then taking it as it comes. </p>

<p>Another question for those who might know. Though my freshman year was a bit rough, my sophomore year was a whole lot better A-/B+ and like one or two B's. I'm taking 3 summer courses, one of which ended and I got an A in, and the other two are almost over and if I do fine on the finals I should get an A in both. Will the schools notice the upward trend, especially if I have an addendum for freshman grades explaining family crisis? I know just saying I will do well in the next two years of college doesn't guarantee, but if I do continue to do as well, will they take into consideration the noticeable trend upwards. </p>

<p>Sorry, for the extremely long post!</p>

7

<p>It turns out that specialized programs in law school aren't particularly important -- whatever specialization your career ends up in will be determined much more by your experience than by anything else. Even a joint program can be duplicated by just applying separately, or even doing them at different schools (which is what I'm doing).</p>

<p>As a general rule, you want to attend the top law school you can get into -- and that's a question that still has way too many variables to be answered stably at this point.</p>

<p>Upward trends matter some, but not a lot. Definitely better than flat mediocre performance or a downward trend.</p>

8

<p>I guess I still don't know enough about it to argue the point, it's just...I know so many people that went to the top school they got into instead of the one that offered the good program for them, or a number of other factors and they are or were utterly miserable. </p>

<p>I understand specialization isn't as important. But if you want to practice law in other country or have the option and there are a limited number of schools that offer a program for that without having to attend anywhere from 6 to 8 years of law school in total, wouldn't those schools be the best to look into?</p>

<p>But thanks for the advice, I guess I'm just used to micromanaging every detail of my life, including future plans. I think I'm gonna relax and just try to do the best I can in the upcoming academic year and study for LSATS. I suppose a decision on whether to apply for the 2010-2011 year can wait until then, when I see the effect an extra semester would truly have on my grades.</p>

9

<p>A lot of people are miserable in law school. I highly doubt a specialized program would have altered their sense of how difficult law school is.</p>

10

<p>I didn't mean that would alter it entirely nor having to do with the difficulty because obviously it's beyond hard. What I meant is that I tend to think that many other factors should determine which law school out of the ones you are accepted into should be taken into consideration, obviously including it's rank.</p>

<p>I know that a specialized program isn't going to magically make law school easier. What I was saying is the that being in a top school may make it easier for you to get a better certain job but that doesn't mean as much to me as getting the job I want and not having three years of misery and more to follow. </p>

<p>You can't practice in Spain without the degree that's required. You can't practice in Latin America without the degree required in those countries or the degree from Spain, etc...</p>

<p>If my ultimate goal is to work in a position that gives me the opportunity to do this, than how would going to Yale (which doesn't offer that dual international degree program) for three years, and being utterly miserable, then having to apply following that to a school abroad and taking three to four more years, again miserable be better for me than going to another school with a slightly lower reputation and accomplishing both goals in three or four years, albeit still suffering through law school, and reaching my career goals a couple of years earlier? And happier.</p>

<p>I don't mean to make it sound like I think I know better, clearly everyone is going to have differences of opinions. Some people think the school makes the graduate, while I am of the mind that the graduate makes his or herself and the school simply gives you the tools. Some schools are in better position to give you better tools, but it's all about how you use them, how dedicated you are, and how hard working. There are opportunities for everyone, you just have to work for them.</p>