<p>My daughter, an AA URM w/a 3.6GPA @ a top 35 Undergrad, just got her LSAT score back. She was in tears over the 160. Does it make sense to take it a 2nd time?</p>
<p>Can anyone suggest schools w/decent reps and joint JD/MA programs in International Law that might offer hope of a full ride? It'd have to be all merit -- High EFC/High debt here.</p>
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<p>If she has good grounds for thinking that she’d improve, yes.</p>
<p>From an admissions perspective, she’ll get into a lot of great programs (including top-6, maybe). The problem is that I’m not sure exactly how her merit aid package is going to look.</p>
<p>I have to disagree that she will not get into a top 6 as an AA female with a 160 (AA men have a much larger hook than AA women). Since it is getting late in the application season, should apply for next year (cos it is important to be early). She should definitely take a second time. If necessary OP’s D should take a prep course like testmasters or blueprint because she will really need to raise her score. If she could bring it up to a min. of 165, then she could crack the T-14. </p>
<p>Law school is not like undergrad in the land of full rides. She may get some scholarships (if she raises her scores). Even with scholarships like the Hamilton (Columbia), the Darrow (Michigan), Roots (NYU), Scholars in Law (Wash U) and a host of others, very few if any are full rides. She may get some full tuition, but she may have to take out loans for her living expenses.</p>
<p>Again, she may get some need based FA at some schools (depending on your income/assets) but full rides are few and far between. As a law/grad student, she can now borrow up to the full cost of attendance. At many schools they will take your income and assets into consideration when awarding financial aid.</p>
<p>Her current scores will not even remotely put her in the running for a full-ride unless she is planning to go to a tier 3 school (good luck getting a job).</p>
<p>Is there any particular reason that she wants both degrees. If she want to be a lawyer, having a MBA at this juncture is not going to give her a lot of mileage (imho, just a lot of debt). Remember that if she is looking for a JD/MBA she applies to both programs separately. Keep in mind that she may end up getting into one program and not the other. She has a better chance of getting into a Top MBA program if she has a couple of years of work experience under her belt.</p>
<p>I also don’t think that she should solely focus on a school for “international law” she should focus on getting int the best school that she possibly can. many schools have clincs, courses and study abroad programs where she can look at the international aspect.</p>
<p>Good luck to your D in the process,.</p>
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<p>This is a pretty ridiculous thing to say. </p>
<p>First, law schools are so desirous of black students that they won’t distinguish significantly between men and women: they’ll simply admit enough to reach their quotas while sacrificing the quality of their student bodies as little as possible.</p>
<p>Second, among black applicants, men are actually better represented than women in the high score ranges, so even if top law schools were distinguishing between black men and women, men would have more competition.</p>
<p>The rest of your advice is sound.</p>
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<p>You are actually wrong on both counts. There are more black women in college and law school than there are black men (who are most underrepresented in both categories).</p>
<p>If you have been researching any of the admissions trends regarding blacks in law school admissions, when it comes to African American males and females black males will be admitted with lower numbers than black females at many of the T-14 schools. (I would recommend that your check out the URM threads at toplawschool.com, specifically the URM admissions cycles).</p>
<p>Although the numbers of black students in law school are not increasing, still year over year, more blacks are bringing their “A” game to the table and are becoming more competitive. </p>
<p>Op’s numbers probably would have got her into Cornell (no money), provided that she applied early, about 2 years ago (if she applied “late” in the cycle, she would be held). This year, those numbers are not a lock to get into Cornell, especially if she is applying now.</p>
<p>More blacks are prepping for the LSAT and are getting higher scores.</p>
<p>I know there are more black women than black men in college and law school. That doesn’t mean that black women have a tougher time getting into law school. Black men have a higher average LSAT score than black women as well as a larger standard deviation for their scores, so they tend to be better represented among the top black scores (i.e. the students applying to the top schools).</p>
<p>Anyway, this is irrelevant because top law schools do not discriminate between black men and women – they are too desperate to recruit blacks who stand a chance of handling the workload.</p>
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<p>According to today’s article in the Network Journal, the Journal on Blacks in Higher Education (JBHE) states:</p>
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<p>With almost 2/3’s of the african american enrollment at law schools consisiting of women, a black man with a good LSAT/GPA combination can essentially write their own ticket because there are not many to choose from. Law school like undergrad school also find that it is important to gender balance. </p>
<p>If Op’s Daughter applies with current GPA/LSAT combination to the T-14, she will end up waitlisted at many of them where a black man witht he same combination LSAT/GPA will most likely garner a couple of acceptances. </p>
<p>the article also states:</p>
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<p>Tons of great info & refs here. Thanks, Sybbie, for the cites. </p>
<p>And transfers - here’s hoping, selfishly, that your optimism’s founded. I LIKE your (perhaps somewhat cynical?) view of things! :-)</p>
<p>D is a junior this year. She took the LSAT very early, on the rationale that she’d have time to sit it again if dissatisfied. Alas, she DID take a reputable LSAT prep course (Kaplan), so I’m not sure she can increase her scores by much (she claims her prep was frequently disrupted by schoolwork, internship, among other things).</p>
<p>I note that lots of the T-14 are posting their stats w/percentages of applicants 1+ years out of college, though – is this the new “thing?” Will taking a year off before law school help D’s chances? If so, how helpful would it be to suggest she investigate chances @ a teaching Fulbright?</p>