Law School Discussion

I had the same LSAT score last fall and a UGPA of 3.4 from many years ago. I applied at a wide variety of schools. I got in at Columbia, but no money (they demand that your parents fill our forms,and I did not ask mine to, since I have been independent for decades). I was waitlisted and ultimately rejected at U Michigan (I did not write any essays) and U Virginia, I think. I was waitlisted at UCLA. I got into Vanderbilt and similarly ranked schools with partial scholarships. All those acceptance letters were so fun!!!

My suggestion is to apply to lots of schools. Most will give you fee waivers, so you just have to pay LSAC $12 each.

That is wonderful news! It will change your life and your outlook forever. Your childwill bless your life in ways you cannot yet imagine. You will fall in love with that baby and law school will pale in comparison, unless you can convince yourself that you are going to law school to help your child in the future (more money, etc.). Your wife will fall in love with the baby, too, and may not pay much attention to you, but you will be  concentrating on school, anyway. At least she won't miss you too much, since she will be absorbed with the baby. But she will also be exhausted and lonely for adult conversation.

You need to start getting organized. You are your wife will both be very sleep-deprived for a few months. Who will help your wife with the baby when you are at school or studying at home? You will not have much extra time beginning November 1, or maybe even earlier. Set up a support system for your wife. Get the household running smoothly. That means fix anything on your house, or move to another house or whatever before you start shool and before the baby is born. 

I have four children, so I know quite a bit about this!

Sorry if I offended anybody by asking about the children.

The OP stated that she has stayed home raising the children herself for several years. If she goes to law school, I think it is possible that she and the children might miss each other terribly. She ought to consider the possible ramifications of her plan.

I stayed home with my children for 14 years and started working when the youngest started pre-K, and it was a very unhappy first year for the whole family. So I know that this can be a problem.

I do not think there is anything wrong with asking questions and brainstorming about possible problems. That way, maybe a person can arrange things so as to avoid the problems somewhat.  

I went through all this last summer. I studied all summer for the LSAT (150-200 hours), took it in the fall, and got 178 (99th percentile). It was a great score, but I really worked for it, almost like an obsession. My ancient GPA (1979)was 3.4.

Then I started getting emails from all sorts of schools begging me to apply and offering me fee waivers. So I applied to about 20 schools. Each one cost $12 to apply through LSAC. And then the acceptances and financial aid offers started rolling in. It was so flattering! I even got accepted at Columbia, but on the waiting list at Michigan, UVA and UCLA.

The one thing I did wrong was start asking for letters of recommendation sort of late, in September. I would advise you to start asking now. It may take a while to get all three.

Like you, I have a family. You and your wife should think about and discuss location very carefully. I did not want to move at all. The only two schools I really considered were U Texas in Austin and St. Mary's in San Antonio. I will be attending UT. It is 100 miles away. I have rented a room in Austin and plan to sleep there 2 nights a week. Luckily, classes are only Monday through Thursday.

I hope some of this can be of help to you and your wife.

What you need to do is READ. Do not read novels. Read non-fiction, but not regular newspapers, because they are written at an eighth or ninth grade level. The Wall Street Journal is good, as are magazines such as the Economist. Read things like this a couple of hours every day. I used to teach reading and I know that many adults, even college educated people, do not have very large vocabularies and do not have good literary analysis skills. Practicing ddense non-fiction reading is the first step.