<p>Thanks, Ballerina - I was just going to point out that his LSAT is on the low-ish side for a lot of T-14 schools. Sure, his GPA is high enough to make up for it, and it's not like he went to Slippery Rock, but the fact remains that he can't just apply to any five of the T-14s and expect admission. As I said, state schools favour their own residents; HYS are gambles for anyone; and Northwestern wants students with work experience. Right there, that's seven of the top 14 schools. Sure, if he applies to Columbia, Cornell, Georgetown, Chicago, Penn, NYU, and Duke, he'll probably get into most of those schools. </p>
<p>It is very important to realize that law school admissions can be very erratic, mostly because some factors come into play in weird ways. </p>
<p>If I were the OP, I would apply to about seven of the T-14s (there's no need to apply to all 14) and three in the T-25s, both as safeties and to see what the fin. aid is like. Presuming that the OP wants to stay on the east coast and isn't a CA, MI, or VA resident, the seven to choose would be any seven of: Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, NYU, Penn, Georgetown, Duke, and Yale (as a long shot for anyone). Of those, just from what I've seen from l.s. admissions, except about four or five acceptances, some with merit, an outright rejection (not necessarily from H!), and a waitlist or two.</p>
<p>Since that is so erratic, you apply to a Fordham, BC, GW, or similar so you get an acceptance early on and feel better about life. :)</p>