The Official BLSD "What Are My Chances?/Where Should I Apply?" Thread

[A.]

I agree with most of that.  But, of course, one always likes to think one made the right decision .  In my summer class, 3 blacks were from Yale (and all on the Journal at that), and 1 was from GULC...that was it.  I would add the elite litigation and appellate shops to Kirk's "most prestigious" list (e.g., Kellogg Huber, Robbins Russell, Keker, Altschuler)...your shot at those even with YHS is small if you don't have a COA clerkship under your belt (which, in turn, are infinitely easier to get from YHS).  So yeah, I think ranking certainly matters at the margins.  But, of course, who's to say you want to compete at the margins?  There are lots of good BIGLAW jobs, and you certainly don't need to go to YHS to get them.  Will going to YHS make it easier to get them?  Indubitably.  But it's your choice whether it's worth the financial sacrifice.  (But I agree with Kirk that I'd rather have a job with debt than be debtless and jobless...or, even worse, jobless with debt.)

I think it might be a useful exercise (I haven't done it) to look at, say, the top 20 firms and see who has not laid off or reduced salaries (you can probably find this information on Above the Law).  Then count the number of people from each school at those firms and divide each total by the school's class size.  That should give you an idea of how things actually stand at firms that are on seemingly solid footing.

[jerjon2]

AA Male 3.2/162 Elec. Eng.

I'm just checking to see the range of schools people think I should be shooting for. I have a 3.2 in electrical engineering from georgia tech. (which is honors here) I wrote my personal statement about my research background, published papers and my desire to be a patent attorney. I have research experience in mechanical, biomedical and electrical engineering and I have worked part time nearly my entire time in college. I can't think of any other softs that I have that might be out of the ordinary.

PS I posted this at TLS, if you read both, sorry for the duplicate post

[A.]

target the middle t14

[Kirk Lazarus]

yep what A. said.  Throw in a couple reaches like Harvard, CLS and NYU as well.

[captainkyoraku]

What do you guys think my chances are at Texas and Vanderbilt? I've been thinking more and more about these schools because I would be OK with being regulated to their regions and they offer good prospects in these regions---but I would go in and at least try to get grades good enough to transfer to HYS. Obviously there are no guarantees but that might be my best shot. I've heard rumors about being a black male giving one a boost for transfer admissions--what do you guys think?

[uptown125]

What do you guys think my chances are at Texas and Vanderbilt? I've been thinking more and more about these schools because I would be OK with being regulated to their regions and they offer good prospects in these regions---but I would go in and at least try to get grades good enough to transfer to HYS. Obviously there are no guarantees but that might be my best shot. I've heard rumors about being a black male giving one a boost for transfer admissions--what do you guys think?

Relegated, not "regulated," man. Not to be a jackass, but some people instinctively look for this kind of thing and, needless to say, it doesn't look good.

Anyway, now that I've applied to CLS with my pitiful 3.09/167, I suppose I'll just have to play the waiting game. I know you guys think I've got a shot, but is it worth getting my hopes? This is really a dumb question, but if you actually had to quantify my shot as a black male first-generation college grad, would you say over or under 50%?

Also, since I'm signed up to retake the LSAT in December, is it inevitable that I'll be deferred pending my new score? Part of my just wants a higher score for its own sake given that I've underperformed so badly. However, since LSAC stats suggest that I'm already well within the top 1% of black male lsat scores (feel free to correct me here), it seems clear that even a 178 wouldn't make much of a difference. 

Any additional thoughts? I totally understand if you're sick my questions btw. Thanks all!

[captainkyoraku]

What do you guys think my chances are at Texas and Vanderbilt? I've been thinking more and more about these schools because I would be OK with being regulated to their regions and they offer good prospects in these regions---but I would go in and at least try to get grades good enough to transfer to HYS. Obviously there are no guarantees but that might be my best shot. I've heard rumors about being a black male giving one a boost for transfer admissions--what do you guys think?

Relegated, not "regulated," man. Not to be a jackass, but some people instinctively look for this kind of thing and, needless to say, it doesn't look good.

Anyway, now that I've applied to CLS with my pitiful 3.09/167, I suppose I'll just have to play the waiting game. I know you guys think I've got a shot, but is it worth getting my hopes? This is really a dumb question, but if you actually had to quantify my shot as a black male first-generation college grad, would you say over or under 50%?

Also, since I'm signed up to retake the LSAT in December, is it inevitable that I'll be deferred pending my new score? Part of my just wants a higher score for its own sake given that I've underperformed so badly. However, since LSAC stats suggest that I'm already well within the top 1% of black male lsat scores (feel free to correct me here), it seems clear that even a 178 wouldn't make much of a difference. 

Any additional thoughts? I totally understand if you're sick my questions btw. Thanks all!

It's called a typo---I'm aware that they don't even mean the same thing.

[A.]

What do you guys think my chances are at Texas and Vanderbilt? I've been thinking more and more about these schools because I would be OK with being regulated to their regions and they offer good prospects in these regions---but I would go in and at least try to get grades good enough to transfer to HYS. Obviously there are no guarantees but that might be my best shot. I've heard rumors about being a black male giving one a boost for transfer admissions--what do you guys think?

You should get in...they're ranked below the schools we recommended for you.

[A.]

What do you guys think my chances are at Texas and Vanderbilt? I've been thinking more and more about these schools because I would be OK with being regulated to their regions and they offer good prospects in these regions---but I would go in and at least try to get grades good enough to transfer to HYS. Obviously there are no guarantees but that might be my best shot. I've heard rumors about being a black male giving one a boost for transfer admissions--what do you guys think?

Relegated, not "regulated," man. Not to be a jackass, but some people instinctively look for this kind of thing and, needless to say, it doesn't look good.

Anyway, now that I've applied to CLS with my pitiful 3.09/167, I suppose I'll just have to play the waiting game. I know you guys think I've got a shot, but is it worth getting my hopes? This is really a dumb question, but if you actually had to quantify my shot as a black male first-generation college grad, would you say over or under 50%?

Also, since I'm signed up to retake the LSAT in December, is it inevitable that I'll be deferred pending my new score? Part of my just wants a higher score for its own sake given that I've underperformed so badly. However, since LSAC stats suggest that I'm already well within the top 1% of black male lsat scores (feel free to correct me here), it seems clear that even a 178 wouldn't make much of a difference. 

Any additional thoughts? I totally understand if you're sick my questions btw. Thanks all!

Relax.

[Vaio]

What do you guys think my chances are at Texas and Vanderbilt? I've been thinking more and more about these schools because I would be OK with being regulated to their regions and they offer good prospects in these regions---but I would go in and at least try to get grades good enough to transfer to HYS. Obviously there are no guarantees but that might be my best shot. I've heard rumors about being a black male giving one a boost for transfer admissions--what do you guys think?

Relegated, not "regulated," man. Not to be a jackass, but some people instinctively look for this kind of thing and, needless to say, it doesn't look good.

Anyway, now that I've applied to CLS with my pitiful 3.09/167, I suppose I'll just have to play the waiting game. I know you guys think I've got a shot, but is it worth getting my hopes? This is really a dumb question, but if you actually had to quantify my shot as a black male first-generation college grad, would you say over or under 50%?

Also, since I'm signed up to retake the LSAT in December, is it inevitable that I'll be deferred pending my new score? Part of my just wants a higher score for its own sake given that I've underperformed so badly. However, since LSAC stats suggest that I'm already well within the top 1% of black male lsat scores (feel free to correct me here), it seems clear that even a 178 wouldn't make much of a difference. 

Any additional thoughts? I totally understand if you're sick my questions btw. Thanks all!

It's called a typo---I'm aware that they don't even mean the same thing.

No it's not. It's called an error. A typo involves misplacing a word here or there...you typed an actual word but applied it incorrectly.