<p>Haven't taken the LSAT's yet, probably taking them in September/October, hadn't really thought of applying to law school until recently, but it's starting to seem like a better and better option.</p>
<p>Going into my senior year at Columbia and I have a 3.23 GPA, a 3.6 in my major (math), and just was hoping to get a rough estimate of what tier law schools I should be looking at. Sort of what.....general area of something like the US News law school rankings I should start thinking about eventually applying to.</p>
<p>Also does anyone know how merit scholarships/need-based aid works with law school? Is it pretty much the same as with undergrad?</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for any replies, I appreciate any help a ton!</p>
<p>Without LSAT score (the most important factor in admissions) it is hard to say where you should apply. Your GPA is low but a very high LSAT (above 170) could still keep you in the mix for some schools in top twenty. However, score 150 on the LSAT and you are looking at fourth tier. Thus, your GPA will be a weakness for the top twenty but still possibilities depending on LSAT.</p>
<p>Financial aid works differently at the law school level. You should expect that all need based aid is going to be loans. Where the game is played is merit awards. Essentially every law school has them, and they are based on your gpa/LSAT score but how many get awards and what gpa/LSAT is needed to get them depends on the ranking of the law school. In other words, your chances are much less at high ranked schools absent super stellar stats and then get better and better as you move down the rankings to the extent that if you are in the upper 25% of usual admittees of a lower ranked law school, you are probably going to be offered a merit award that is close to covering 3/4 to all tuition.</p>