I am an undergraduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, and will be graduating in 2017 with a degree in Economics and minor in Finance. I have a 3.8 GPA and plan on maintaining that, if not improve it, before graduation. I also am a member of a large fraternity on campus, started my own student organization and increased it to 50 members in one semester, work as a part time real estate agent in the Austin area, and caddie at local golf course on the weekends. I believe that with good preparation and study i can score a 165+ LSAT score and have always wanted to go to law school. My question is what kind of law schools do you think i have a chance at getting accepted into with this type of application?
I just want a realistic outlook on what i can achieve, so i can motivate and focus myself to achieve my goals.
Your post belongs in the Law School forum: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/law-school/
Try this website https://officialguide.lsac.org/release/ugpalsat/ugpalsat.aspx
If you can get up to a 17x, you will be showered with money from many top law schools. Take a year off, study hard, and it will be the easiest tax-free money that you will ever earn. Don’t settle.
I would take a year or two off and work before attending law school. It sounds like you have ample time available for things other than your classes, so perhaps studying for the LSAT (studying hard for a few months) is best done now. Get ready for the LSAT and if your practice test scores aren’t at least 165+, then take it after graduation. (Don’t take the LSAT itself unless you’re sure to get the score that you want.)
With a 3.8/165, you should be able to get into UT Austin and Emory and the like. The clubs, real estate agent work, caddie, etc. won’t really matter for law school admissions (or law firm hiring).
The website law school numbers has a lot of data about admit/deny at law schools based on LSAT and GPA. You will find that each LSAT score point will make a big difference on your odds of admissions at the Top 20 schools, and your odds of getting merit scholarships.
At 3.8/165 you will be right outside T14 schools.
With your stats UT is a good option. Also, a lot of the lower T-14 (think Cornell, Northwestern), and binding to UVA or Duke is possible. Prior real estate work is definitely a plus when doing OCI. Texas is a large market for real estate and “dirt” law, so playing that up if applying to Texas markets will help, particularly in Austin and Dallas where real estate is growing. Also, project finance in Houston all starts with real estate law, so it will help there as well.