<p>I am a newly minted graduate of a small Southern liberal arts college which is steadily gaining in reputation. My concentration was in Art History, and I graduated with a 3.7 cumulative and a 3.9 in my major. On (two) practice LSATs I have scored above 160, but I hope to put in more study time and practice so I can score even better. </p>
<p>After reading several books on law school admissions, perusing the discussion boards on College Confidential, and surfing the internet for schools and information, I find myself completely confused as to caliber of schools at which I have a shot at admission. I have seen several websites that have a type of graph or ranking system largely telling me to apply within the top 15. The books generally seem to back up the information I've found online, but the CC discussion boards have caused me to become more and more nervous about my prospects at such institutions. </p>
<p>I don't necessarily NEED to go to a top 15 school, however, following graduation I moved to the New York/Connecticut area. Though I am from California, I would really prefer to stay in the area, and going to a school with an outstanding reputation, I feel, would improve my employability and job prospects. </p>
<p>get your lsat to a 170, and you will be in business, Cornell, Columbia, Upenn. However, ur GPA is around the 25th percentile at these places, however, you would do fine with MBA programs..</p>
<p>and plug in your gpa--to the second decimal place--and LSAT. It will give you a range for the % of students with your credentials accepted at various law schools, e.g., less than 10% or more than 90%. It's always one or two cycles behind, but it's based on the ACTUAL #s and gives you better guidance than any one person can.</p>
<p>PS: When I just tried the link, it got me to the page before it. You can see the listing that says search for law schools by gpa and LSAT. Click on that.</p>
<p>General advice: go to a top 14 school; if you can't get into one of those, go to the best school in the region in which you want to practice.</p>
<p>Depending on your LSAT (I'll assume 160 and assume that your school is good):
Reaches: the top 14.<br>
Matches/Safeties: UConn, Fordham, Cardozo, Brooklyn, Rutgers Newark, Tulane
Safeties: Hofstra, Pace, NYLS, St. Johns, SUNY-Albany</p>
<p>My philosophy is that you should apply to four or five schools at which you have a decent shot of getting in (matches, basically - look up LSAT/GPA grids and find the ones where it's about 50/50 or 75%), one school which is a sure thing (for your own sanity), and then as many above that caliber that you have some sort of shot at, because you never know.</p>
<p>So, for you, I would apply to four or five schools which are ranked about 60-35, then as many ranked above that as possible. Apply to one third-tier school because they may give you money, and the acceptance in hand will make the whole process a million times less stressful.</p>
<p>I don't know why I got freaked out again about law school but here it goes: I am an engineering student at U of I. I have finished my freshman year with a disappointing 3.07 GPA. I say disappointing only b/c I know I could have done better if I only had medicine for ADHD (unfortunately overdiagnosed but definitely not in my case) for the whole year. My GPA is starting to look up and I am aiming for a 3.5 which I see, with my massive upturn in grades and comprehension after my dosage was corrected in the 2nd half of second semester, as quite possible. Not only did I have my disability but my bad study habits (which I couldn't correct with my ADHD) and late start due to a bad science and math education compared with the rest of the students I was competing against.</p>
<p>But I am trying to look positively on my frustrating year with the knowledge that I am a ChemE at U of I (hopefully highly regarded) and I love every second of what I'm doing (so I'm not disappointed at all knowing that I'm not just here for the $ or something else stupid). With that being said, I am really interested in patent law and see myself in that area more and more. So here's a couple things I want to say before you start to type any response.</p>
<p>I was talking to a bio major about patent law and she told me about a girl she knew in chemE that applied to law school with a GPA that was even or not too much lower than mine right now. She is now being paid $14,000 a year to go to school at DePaul . . .</p>
<p>That's nice but I am not looking for DePaul. As much as I want to pursue a law degree, I also want to continue on with ChemE for my masters. This presents a dilemma since I want to get both at a school highly regarded in both areas.</p>
<p>In conclusion, I'm not exactly sure what my question is but what do you say I look like so far in the eyes of admissions? Also what schools would be known in areas of both chemE & law besides U of I (don't want to spend 7 yrs there) or Stanford (never gonna make it there, and I'm fine with that)? Does anyone know how U of I is regarded in the eyes of law schools offhand? I don't want to sound like a desparate loony wanting to know what I NEED TO DO in order to get to this law school or whatever. I just kind of want to know where I stand or if I should continue to pursue this crazy dream at all?</p>