Recent graduate here stressing about law school admissions; I would be applying for Fall 2021 but I’ve already started preparing for applications at the moment. I attended UC Berkeley for undergrad and majored in Legal Studies while minoring in History and got a cumulative 3.0 GPA overall. I haven’t taken the LSAT yet but I’m currently in the 150-155 range and I’ll be taking my first official test next January. Im aiming for a score around the mid to upper-160’s.
Regarding soft factors, I doubt there will be much bearing from them, since my only noteworthy experiences were being the head of recruitment for my own fraternity and later the head of recruitment for all Berkeley fraternities.
I know my chances at T14/T25 schools are pretty grim so I’ve been looking at schools like Loyola, Southwestern, Pepperdine, with my ideal school being UC Hastings, but I would greatly appreciate suggestions for other law schools to apply to as well as any advice on the process as a whole. Thanks for the help
What do you eventually want to do with a law degree? Have you looked at the employment statistics for the jobs you are interested in? Law school is very expensive, and the job market for graduates of these lower tier schools is often not worth the debt.
I’d like to become a sports agent or entertainment lawyer with a J.D. I’ve done a little bit of research and the market for such jobs isn’t set to make a big change despite being highly competitive especially at entry levels, but may grow slightly in the coming decade. I understand the concerns surrounding lower tier schools , but I don’t think I stand a great chance for higher tier schools.
@blossom It’s just a projection based on how my current preparation is going so far. My plan is to take on some student loans while fulfilling work-study requirements as much as I feasibly can.
Take on a few loans as you can. Do NOT attend any T2/T3 law school that does not give you a significant merit scholarship. Debt is not your friend. Forget work study in LS, you need to study hard to earn as many A’s as you can to enhatnce job prospects.
Your GPA is in the bottom quartile for Loyola, Pepperdine & Hastings, so you’ll need a high LSAT for merit money. Aim for the 75th percentile LSAT; for Pepperdine, for example, that will mean a LSAT of 164.
Entertainment and sports agent jobs are in the unicorn category. Highly unlikely that you will be able to break into those areas, so plan on just being a regular lawyer. (For example, O’Melveny in LA has some entertainment clients, but they are Big Law and hire from top law schools. To have a chance at O’Meleveny from a T2, you’d have to be at/near the top of your LS class. Theoretically possible, but the odds are extremely low, as everyone entering LS plans to be in the top decile.)
As you can see, UC Hastings would be a reach for 3.0 GPA / 150-155 LSAT, but only 70.6% of 2019 graduates went into jobs that required bar passage (an additional 12% went into jobs where JD degree is an advantage). 11% did not find employment. First time bar exam pass rate was 79.6% for this class.