So law school decisions are rolling in and I’m getting more anxious. I made a number of mistakes when applying, the first being that I did not study for the LSAT. My score isn’t terrible but its not good; 154. I have a good gpa on the other hand. The second mistake was that I waited until the last minute to apply.
I’ve been wait listed at a number of schools and accepted to a few decent ones but I’m concerned with all of the negative talk about the job market that a ‘decent’ law school will be a waste of time.
I spent a good amount of money applying to law schools but now I’m considering whether it would be better to work next year and study my butt off for the LSAT in the hopes that I get a better score and then reapply early.
Basically what I’m asking is if this is a good idea? I’m worried that reapplying will hurt my chances, taking the year out will look bad and just that ultimately it will turn out to be a waste of time. And at what rank is it not worth accepting an offer from a law school?
I would appreciate any advice!
you should not go to law school with a 15x, even if the LS paid you to attend. To paraphrase Groucho, you wouldn’t want to be a member of the school that would accept you. The chances of you getting a job from such a school is minimal.
Retake is the only answer, particularly if you have a good GPA. Taking a year off and reapplying will not hurt. Law schools love work experience, any work experience.
btw: a 154 is terrible.
@NoClue71093: The good news is that a baseline score of 154, with no studying at all, is a solid start. More good news is that you were smart enough to reconsider your plans. Few are willing to do that at this late stage.
Bluebayou is right, the smart move is to take the time to study and retake. I would not necessarily recommend working while studying. Part time while studying is doable, but full time is tough. You’ll make more money by studying for the LSAT than any job you can get now, so prioritize accordingly.
Reapplying should not hurt your chances; I had several classmates in law school who were rejected when they first applied and then re-applied and got in.
I would study really hard for the LSAT and apply again at the beginning of the application season next time.
Yup! restudy and take the test again.
I would retake and try to get some money with higher score.
The law school you attend will have a huge impact on your career opportunities, with long-term impact. I agree with the rest … your new plan IS a good idea! Study hard, re-take the exam, and apply early to the same or better law schools. I also agree with you that should should get some work experience (and/or internship experience) during your “year off.” I do NOT recommend focusing only on studying for the LSAT. You’d be bound to drive yourself stir-crazy and get yourself hyper-fixated on the exam if that’s all you do. Not only that, but schools will want to know how you spent your time after graduation, so it’s important to do something else productive.
I think that balance and maturity and perspective go a long way toward supporting success in law school as well as success on major exams (I’m thinking about the bar exam, in particular). Students who have worked for even a little while in the real world are usually better at managing time, handling stress, etc. I don’t know statistics, only anecdotes, but I’ve seen lots of examples of students who had to study for the bar exam while working full or part-time doing better on the bar exam than students who had the entire summer off to study. If you exercise a bit of the maturity and self-discipline that you’ll need to do well in law school, you’ll be able to balance study for the LSAT with another commitment, even the commitment of a full-time job. Put another way, if you’re lucky enough to find a decent full-time (40 hrs/ week) job, you should not turn down that opportunity to study for the LSAT; you should have plenty of time to study evenings and on weekends. If, however, you would like to limit your work to a part-time job during the summer, that would be fine. That would give you more than enough additional time to study hard for the LSAT. You can re-take the test in October and then move on to a full-time job or internship after that.
Good luck!
Yes, study, study, study, study and submit your applications as soon as application season starts–start over. Don’t go to a law school that is not more or less the best one that you can get into.
It’s the exact opposite. Things that will hurt you: going to a law school that you got into despite having not studied for the LSAT and applied at the last minute. Things that will not hurt you: applying again; re-taking the LSAT and getting a better score; working for a year and having something sensible to say about why you’re sure you want to attend law school.
If a school wants you now, they will want you even more with a higher LSAT score. That makes them look better.
Your alma mater will matter for the rest of your life. The student loans you take out will matter for at least a decade. The decision to reapply, study more for the LSAT (take the October one, by the way; you’re too close to June to really do it justice), and get into a better school and/or take on less debt is a no-brainer.
I will also be that old, cranky person: law school and lawyering is NOT to be done on the fly. It’s something that you need to WANT, and to want to put everything into. It’s a competitive, overcrowded profession, and law school is there to beat you up. The bar is no walk in the park. Get your head on straight before you attend - and part of that is understanding the need for exceptional preparation.
So, here is some context and real-time consequences any potential student needs to think about when pursuing a law degree. So, not even considering the debt one might acquire and legitimate employment prospects, (not the happy talk of a law school employment office), one must be really candid if you are best suited for the practice of the law.
With that said, according to statistics from the Law School Admission Council—the organization that administers the LSAT—scores higher than those in the 60th percentile correlate with a low risk of failing to eventually pass a bar exam. Scores ranking from the 60th to the 40th percentile, by contrast, correlate with a moderate but rapidly increasing risk of failure. Scores below the 40th percentile correlate with a high risk of failure, and scores below the 25th percentile correlate with an extreme risk of failure, to the point where it is quite unlikely that someone with an LSAT score below 150 will ever pass a bar exam. Currently, you stand at the cusp, statistically speaking, of a legitimately borderline score…
Please take the info with measure and goodwill–I’m not here to dissuade you, but only place you in the position of best available decision making.