someone calm my shattered nerves!!!!

[siehead]

I know how you are feeling. I too was averaging 168 on 16 practice LSATS. Averaging. Real LSATS, timed tests. Actual thing... 164. But you know, when I look at your signature it kind of gives me hope. Such is life. I decided many months ago that I was going to do the best I can, get my score back, and run with it. It could have been a 162, and it could have been a 172. I applied to 19 schools, and only one of them has accepted me so far, GW is probably 18th on my list, but it is likely where I will be haeding next year.
I look at all these people with 166's and 167's getting into better schools with much more ease than myself. It does not seem fair to me, but I never expected it to be very fair to begin with. I carry with me a sort of confidence that things will work out the way they are supposed to, I also believe that I could perform well at any school in the country, but it is no longer in my hands and I have learned to concede that.
You could always do what Pookie suggests, in the end, if you don't see yourself happy with where you are, and if you know that you can do better, perhaps a year would be worth living the rest of your life not knowing what could have been.
Another option could be going to Loyola, a great school in the best city in the world 
Either way, you are not alone, this process is aggravating for many of us and I hope that in the end you will be able to look in the mirror and just be content with all that you are and all that you have accomplished.

[JCHeff1979]

Bone I feel like we are brothas from a different motha.

I'm in the same boat you are with just about the same #s at the same schools. The wait is killin me and I have chest pains everyday around 4 when I can psychically "hear" the mail hit the box while I'm at work. Anyway, chin up, stiff upper lip and all that. First beer is on me when we get to Hastings. 

[TBoneUCLA]

Bone I feel like we are brothas from a different motha.

I'm in the same boat you are with just about the same #s at the same schools. The wait is killin me and I have chest pains everyday around 4 when I can psychically "hear" the mail hit the box while I'm at work. Anyway, chin up, stiff upper lip and all that. First beer is on me when we get to Hastings. 

haha. misery sure LOVES company!  i guess that is why this website is so damn popular to  begin with. it makes me feel good to know that other peeps are dealing with the same stuff though. mopstly because it makes me realize that talented successful t14 quality folk end up all over the place at all sorts of schools because of bad circumstance. mostly i want to go to a school with great peers and great teachers and @#!* everything else!

he he. i swore because it is fun to have lsd change my swear word to "darn" or something pg like that....

[zakrob]

I applied to Hastings at about the same time, went complete end of January (it took them a month to even request my lsdad report, so I think they are just kind of slow) and I finally got accepted a couple of weeks ago. I imagine you'll be hearing good news from them soon 

[risingMC]

TBone: Michigan was a sort of reach, sort of target ...  but the rejections from UCLA and WashU are pretty surprising. I always heard that the 95th% was the magic cutoff, but I'd always taken it with a grain of salt. Don't know how this happened to you, but I'm sure you won't have any problem with Hastings. Keep your chin up, and good luck!

[TBoneUCLA]

TBone: Michigan was a sort of reach, sort of target ...  but the rejections from UCLA and WashU are pretty surprising. I always heard that the 95th% was the magic cutoff, but I'd always taken it with a grain of salt. Don't know how this happened to you, but I'm sure you won't have any problem with Hastings. Keep your chin up, and good luck!

actually i wasnt too surprised at ucla or michigan at all, but thanks for being surprised for me!

what do you mean 95% is the magic cutoff??

[phxangel]

yeah, whaddya mean?

I'm interested too. I scored 95th percentile but NW waitlisted me...darn them.

[risingMC]

what do you mean 95% is the magic cutoff??

Oh, that's just what I'd heard about it being the magic number for the tippity top schools. My law school buddies told me that it would likely be the lowest score that the top 5 or 6 would take. But then again, maybe they were just trying to make me feel better ... 

[Snuvy]

dear god you're going to be fine!  take a couple breaths, do some yoga or something, and it'll all fall into place. i'm a big believer of "everything happens for a reason" and until you find that reason feel free to huff and puff and throw tantrums--because then those are also "encompassed" in the everything blah blah reason.  Feel free to let off some steam.

you applied to a lot of really amazing schools and i'm sure you'll get into one that you'll be more than happy with.  i also feel like i'm the same boat a little, i applied really late in the game, i was just being dumb my fall quarter, i sent out all my applications on xmas day, in hopes that they would want to grant me some sort of xmas present...or something, anyway, obviously it did not work...i hate the "i wish i applied earlier" thing, kuz it's like "well, i didn't so POOO" but anyway, just wanted to say chin up.

and if law school isn't the way for you, i hear there's a lot of money in "personal male entertainers" these days.. haha, take that with a grain of salt (the money part, not the career advice.)

anyway, my lsat is way lower than yours--i'm in the "is he capable of reading at a 5th grade leve" precentile.  But I'm still holding out with some hope.  Otherwise I am still STOKED to go to BC.

alright, hoped this helped some way or the other--adding to the karma wheel of the world.

[That 70s Guy]

I've heard this as well from various sources.  The 95% "cut-off" may involve the whole necessary vs. sufficient issue - a score above a certain percentile may be necessary for most applicants - but other factors (GPA, undergrad institution, etc.) are also taken into consideration when deciding whether to admit, waitlist, reject an app.

TBone: Pookie's advice seems right on the mark - unless you are confident that you will be satisfied at any of the schools to which you are accepted, maybe retake the LSAT and re-apply early in the cycle for '06.  Good luck with the rest of your apps and your decision!