<p>So only after I've applied to schools did I realize how screwed I really might be... I wasn't sure about the application process until late in the game. I took the LSATs in December and didn't get my apps in untl January. I graduated with a 3.4 at a good very good university and scored a 168 on the LSATs. 4 year collegiate varsity member and captain, 3 years work experience at Bear Stearns/JP Morgan, and a few other softs like volunteering that probably don't matter at all. Still, I decided to set the bar (unrealistically) high, and applied to a large number of schools. To anyone with any experience: please weigh in on how screwed you think I am, and what you think I should do given your predictions. The schools to which I applied (remember - I shot for the stars on this list):</p>
<p>Columbia
NYU
Cornell
Fordham
Cardozo
Harvard
BU
Georgetown
GW
Notre Dame
UCLA
Duke
Michigan
UVA</p>
<p>I appreciate any insight... I've been driving myself crazy.</p>
<p>it really doesn’t matter what we think. now it is just a wait and see game. I do think you put yourself at a great disadvantage by applying late in the cycle. You really might have had a better shot at some of these T-14 schools if you applied earlier.<br>
If you aren’t satisfied with your acceptance offers, I suggest you wait a cycle and reapply next year. </p>
<p>You"re likely to get into Fordham, BU, GW and a bunch others- but if you are aiming higher, you might want to wait until next year and get applications in by October/November with a possible ED to UVA or Mich.</p>
<p>take my insight with a grain of salt as I am a parent whose kid has similar stats and is applying this year. I don’t think you set the bar unreasonably high as you have a nice mix of schools and should get accepted to several. But you would have had MUCH better odds if you applied earlier in the cycle.</p>
<p>why not Northwestern?? They love work experience.<br>
Don’t drive yourself crazy now. You may get lucky with a T-14 acceptance. But I do see that kids will wait a season out and reapply if they are not happy with their choices.
Good luck.</p>
<p>It would be a long shot, but Northwestern does consider late applications. No promises, of course, but, as Marny said, they love work experience, and yours sounds very good. If you don’t get the school you want, and you’ve got a good job, why not ride it out for another year? You could retake the LSAT, and if you bump up a couple of points you’ll have a much better chance for t-14.</p>
<p>Do schools look unfavorably at reapplying? I doubt my application will change significantly from this year, with the exception of another year of work experience.</p>
<p>slainte- I would have thought so- but I’m not that sure anymore. I’ve known my kid’s basic stats for the past few years as she took her LSAT in her junior year and graduated from college in 2008. So I have followed kids on LSN who have similar stats to her. (LSAT 167 with a 3.7 + GPA). I always categorized my kid as being on the cusp of a T-14 acceptance.<br>
In following info from LSN, I did see that a few kids with similar stats who were not happy the first time around, reapplied the following cycle. The main difference was that they applied alot earlier in the cycle.<br>
Not everyone was succesful, but anecdotally I am aware that those stats play better in October than in January.
so- if you aren’t happy in April/May, you might want to consider waiting until next year.
I will admit, I nudged my kid to get her apps in early. I thought that was a very important thing to do.
and btw- she already has 2 T-14 acceptances in hand and some scholarship offers. Scholarship offers may be more plentiful early in the cycle, so that too may be a reason to wait it out.
but just wait to see what your options are in the spring. You may luck out and get some great offers.
I’m not a big fan of delaying everything for another year, but I really feel you may have fared better if you applied earlier.</p>
<p>brian- i think it’s a bit more than having an activity or 2 under your belt. My kid who is almost 2 years out of UG, is a labor union rep. and has alot of responsibility including going to small claims court with members, addressing union meetings, doing research & being apart of the contract negotiating team.
So though there are some on these boards who think work experience doesn’t add too much value to your chance of getting into law school, I think that not all work experience is equal.<br>
I do feel that the vast majority of new college grads may not get the same level of responsibility during their first year or two on the job. But some jobs lend themselves to total responsibility from day one. There is no long winded management training program for teachers, firefighters, union reps, military etc.<br>
Some new college grads get full responsibility from the day they start on a job (or at least within the first few months).
I think her work experience and her extracuricular activity (there really was only one solid program she was involved with on campus) added a bit more texture to her application.
bottom line --her #'s were still in the ball park for most T-14 schools. If her lsat score was a bit lower, I don’t think she would have gotten any T-14 acceptances regardless of what her work experience was.
I think the OP has very solid work experience too- so I would be bothered if he missed his opportunity to go to a top law school because he applied late in the cycle.
Good luck to all.</p>