LSAT's

[ASTalumna06]

Just to give you some idea as to what you should be looking at in terms of scores by school:

http://www.gettingtogradschool.com/L...ol_Top_150.htm

http://www.lsatprepcourse.com/law.htm

[Low C Sharp]

You should assume that admitted candidates who are below the school's 25th percentile LSAT have GPAs above the 75th percentile, have diversity factors, or both.

[KDCat]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

Just to give you some idea as to what you should be looking at in terms of scores by school:

http://www.gettingtogradschool.com/L...ol_Top_150.htm

http://www.lsatprepcourse.com/law.htm

Pay attention to the percentage employed at graduation, as well. You want that number to be as high as possible.

You also want to ask around your target legal community to see which schools have an edge in your market. Employers have strong preferences for certain schools in certain markets. You want to look around to make sure that your target market hires from your school in substantial numbers.

[IUHoosiergirl88]

Go pay a visit to Top Law Schools and their forums...you can really learn a lot from those. I'd also recommend the 'bibles' (logic games, logical reasoning, and reading comp)

[Psi U MC Vito]

I have now decided the waiting for the results is the worst part of the LSATs.

[adpiucf]

Actually, the worst part about the LSAT is that it is your gateway to spending six figures on a law school education and not ever being able to pay it off because the market for lawyers is terrible for grads from all tiers of all law schools. I hope you've got a full ride wherever you're going. Or you've just decided to be willfully blind to the facts and statistics out there that law school is the worst possible graduate/professional program out there right now.

Yes, I sound like a Debbie Downer, but I really hope you'll reconsider for your own sake.

[KDCat]

Originally Posted by adpiucf

Actually, the worst part about the LSAT is that it is your gateway to spending six figures on a law school education and not ever being able to pay it off because the market for lawyers is terrible for grads from all tiers of all law schools. I hope you've got a full ride wherever you're going. Or you've just decided to be willfully blind to the facts and statistics out there that law school is the worst possible graduate/professional program out there right now.

Yes, I sound like a Debbie Downer, but I really hope you'll reconsider for your own sake.

You're being realistic. It's that bad out there. Only 55% of the Class of 2011 has long term, legal employment. Do anything other than law school.

http://www.lawschooltransparency.com...than-expected/

[Low C Sharp]

I'm sticking with my position that it can still be smart to go to law school if you get into the top 14, you get a hefty scholarship, someone else is paying, you have a guaranteed job waiting for you when you graduate, or ideally, more than one of these factors. But even those folks should proceed with caution.

[pbear19]

And don't be fooled into thinking that you won't have debt even if you do have a full tuition scholarship. Bills don't pay themselves, and I'm not a fan of being homeless. So although I didn't have to pay for tuition, I've still had to take loans to make up for the fact that I didn't have a full time job anymore.

I'm graduating a semester late because I had a baby, but only a couple of my friends who graduated in May have jobs at this point. Most people I know who do have jobs are not working as attorneys.

[adpiucf]

Originally Posted by Low C Sharp

I'm sticking with my position that it can still be smart to go to law school if you get into the top 14, you get a hefty scholarship, someone else is paying, you have a guaranteed job waiting for you when you graduate, or ideally, more than one of these factors. But even those folks should proceed with caution.

Your position is completely wrong when it comes to the T14 assertion since the recession and its subsequent fallout, but I'll agree with if all of these factors are present. Law school is not a safe bet for anyone unless you're going for free, have a hefty trust fund, and have no intent of practicing law for a salary when you graduate. And if you have that kind of money, go play around Europe for three years rather than sitting in a classroom learning how to read cases.

ETA: If these warnings save even ONE person from a lifetime of being saddled with an impossible six figure student debt, I'll keep posting the very true doom and gloom associated with a law school education today. Law school is fun, and practicing can be great, no doubt about it. But it is the worst investment you can make with your life these days because the cost is astronomical and payoff is very unlikely-- and if I can talk just ONE of you out of making that mistake, I think I will have done a very good deed.

[Munchkin03]

There have been a lot of threads on GC, maybe not specifically about the LSATs, but about the state of the legal profession and how maybe it's not such a good idea to go and rack up a ton of debt. It seems that, unless you have an ace in the hole like a family firm to work for or a low-cost school, it's not the golden ticket to wealth it may have seemed when you were growing up.

The Top 14 may be a safer bet (everyone I know from college who went to a Top 14 is employed at a top firm but most of them graduated law school in 2006 so they were not as affected by the recession as younger folks might be), but all but a handful of those schools are in the most expensive areas in the country. If you ended up at one of those places, which isn't likely, you could have $15-20K of living expenses a year (a conservative estimate, really). Also, I believe the ABA prevents you from working more than 20 hours a week during your 1L year.

In other words, even if you get a "full ride," you could still end up 75-80K in debt and that's assuming you don't have any undergrad debt. That's on top of uprooting your life (unless there's a great law school close enough to avoid moving). Do you love the law that much, or is this more about making more than you do as a teacher?

ETA: I wish GeekyPenguin was around more. I think she posted about her LSAT/law school experience a lot and doing a search of her posts might be helpful for you.

[ASUADPi]

Originally Posted by adpiucf

ETA: If these warnings save even ONE person from a lifetime of being saddled with an impossible six figure student debt, I'll keep posting the very true doom and gloom associated with a law school education today. Law school is fun, and practicing can be great, no doubt about it. But it is the worst investment you can make with your life these days because the cost is astronomical and payoff is very unlikely-- and if I can talk just ONE of you out of making that mistake, I think I will have done a very good deed.

That is how I sometimes feel about my Bachelors and even Masters degree. I just got a note with my balance and I will be paying the same amount in interest as the loan itself! Sometimes school isn't worth it, but there are jobs that you can't even have without it.

[Low C Sharp]

Your position is completely wrong when it comes to the T14 assertion since the recession and its subsequent fallout

You may disagree with me, but I don't think you have more information about the T14 than I do. I am closely involved with more than one institution in that group. A large majority of graduates still do well, even coming out of Georgetown, to say nothing of HYSNCC. It's not the sure bet it used to be, but it's still a reasonable risk for many people. I just don't agree that everybody borrowing to go to Cornell or Duke is a sucker. It's case by case.

[adpiucf]

Originally Posted by Low C Sharp

You may disagree with me, but I don't think you have more information about the T14 than I do. I am closely involved with more than one institution in that group. A large majority of graduates still do well, even coming out of Georgetown, to say nothing of HYSNCC. It's not the sure bet it used to be, but it's still a reasonable risk for many people. I just don't agree that everybody borrowing to go to Cornell or Duke is a sucker. It's case by case.

I am closely involved with many, many graduates of T20 and T10 schools who have graduated in the past 3 years. A lot of them graduated with great grades, law review, and are doing doc review for a living because following the 2L summer clerkships, the economy tanked, their offers were revoked or they were no-offered entirely due to economic factors. Or they never got that summer clerkship because hiring dried up completely after the massacre of the summer classes in 2009. There are a lot of very smart, very capable grads of top schools out there who can't find work.

I am not going to get into a pissing contest with you over who knows more graduates of top law schools. LOL. You're welcome to your assertions, as I am to mine, but I urge all would-be lawyers to actually review and research the stats (which are widely available via a google search) out there. The numbers speak for themselves. Law school is no longer a good investment. Tuition is inflated, jobs are scarce, and the schools are overstating their job placement stats.

[glittergal1985]

I have to jump in to mention that even if you are the lucky one out of 500+ super qualified applicants to land that clerkship, the future isn't very bright. Many end up working somewhere for free with the hope of eventually getting a paying job.