What do you do when you get denied by every school you applied to??!

[latinlord]

Well yep that was me!! ( I just found this forum today) I was that guy, the guy who you never want to be! I got 11 denial letters all through out a 9month period. My depression has grown more and more. I graduated from my undergrad this year WCU magna cum laude Spanish major. (you would think it means anything). Well I am hoping that this time the lack of extra summer classes I was taking at the same time of my LSAT helps me do better. AT the time I was bombarded with regular summer classes and a Kaplan course that I felt rushed in anyway. I took the June 04 exam and bombed it (135), I had no idea it was worth as much as it has been. I thought my GPA would keep me afloat and get me into at least 1 of the schools I sent applications to. I think I sent applications to school that were just too high up for me, hoping that by some god they would see past the one LSAT number and look more into me.
  Well I decided to finish up the year and get a tutor from Kaplan to help me study for the October test. This time I won't be applying to any real extreme schools. Only the ones near my home, which sadly has basically all high ranking schools. I live in PA, so Villanova, temple, Penn, Dickenson, Rutgers, Maryland, etc. are all near me and I can't get into one. I will reapply to Villanova b/c they don't average the LSAT and Widner too because they are a 4th tier school. But mainly i'm looking for something, anything that I could get into.  My search has led me all throughout the country to a North Carolina school, Texas school, Florida, Louisiana etc. If any of you guys have any clue of any schools that I might have a chance of getting into that would help. I just hope that my new LSAt score isn't anything close to what I got before. But as of right now i'm just studying as much as I can to get my LSAt up and the have the older one be only a distant memory. I wish I had half the luck of so many of you all, I see people getting into awesome schools, I wish I could have that. But hey, sometimes life just isn't fair. But hey, maybe I can be a success story too. 

Thanks for listening I know it was long, I just needed someone to hear about my struggles. Ones that are basically a lot worse than yours, but if anyone out there has the same as me. Please do tell, letting it out helps.

[Ann Coulter]

tke a year off to work, travel, join Americorp, anything to help you move on with life. Then start studying your butt off for next time. discover your strengths an dweaknesses regarding the LSAT and go from there.

[Denny Crane]

Latinlord:

If you're the same latinlord from LSN, then it is no surprise you got rejected everywhere.  Your LSAT score is WAY too low for the schools you were applying (I know your parents made you apply to Harvard, etc), but you needed to aim WAY lower than what you ended up doing.  Did you discuss your application with your pre-law advisor (does your school have one?)?  I know it sucks to be judged by the factors that weaken you (ie: your lsat score) than by the factors that you think truly show who you are, but the LSAT is a fairly good indicator of first year performance in law school, and based on your numbers, you'd get slaughtered.  Take the test again.  Study like hell for it.  If you can, take a prep course.  It would do wonders for you.  If you can't take it again, then I'd look at the data from the LSAC to see where you'd be competitive.  Based on the LSN numbers, you would have the best shots at Cooley (I don't mean that as a joke), Pontifical Catholic, and Inter-American law schools.  If these don't match your goals, then you need to take the lsat again, and do significantly better (by at least 15 points for schools that don't average LSAT scores, and by about 35 points for schools that do).  Sorry man.  This situation sucks.

The lsac calculator, go to the following link and click on "LSAC Data Search":

http://officialguide.lsac.org/docs/cgi-bin/home.asp

[latinlord]

Thanks for the comments, Yea I know I was crazy to shoot for some of those schools. But I seriously was didn't have a clue how much my low LSAT would distroy my 3.65 GPA. Also yea i'm working with kaplan, I got a tutor and am already scheduled for the October LSAT. I will be applying to Cooly among other schools. I mean I can still hope to transfer, right? I really like the idea of asking for Part time also, I will definately do that. I think that I heard that I can add an extra request asking that they consider me for Part time as well if I don't get into fulltime. Can I do that?? Also does anyone know of a list of schools that doesn't average the LSAT? Thanks everyone

[Denny Crane]

You can transfer up, but only if two things happen: 1.) you do very well during your first year at whatever college you matriculated to (this implies law review, top 15%, in many cases top 10% or 5%, depending on the school you're transferring to) and 2.) that your stats (undergrad GPA, lsat score) are strong enough to have made you competitive as a first-year applicant.  You'll have some leway if you have a relatively low lsat score, but not enough to get you into harvard if your lsat was sub-165 (sub-170 really).  Just do well wherever you end up at, and aim at schools that are ranked above it within 10-20 positions (it is a little difficult to jump tiers, but certainly possible).  I can't think of any schools that don't average lsat scores, but I think Penn is one of them assuming you score at least 5 points above your previous score (in your case, you'll need to improve your lsat score by at least 30 points to be competitive for Penn and comparable schools.  If those schools average your score, you'll have no chance at them unless they feel very generous).  Good luck with your second lsat exam and your second round of law school apps.  It sucks you have to go through this again.  Hopefully this time will work out for you better.

[twarga]

This time I won't be applying to any real extreme schools. Only the ones near my home, which sadly has basically all high ranking schools. I live in PA, so Villanova, temple, Penn, Dickenson, Rutgers, Maryland, etc. are all near me and I can't get into one. I will reapply to Villanova b/c they don't average the LSAT and Widner too because they are a 4th tier school. But mainly i'm looking for something, anything that I could get into.  

If you'd applied to Widener like you should have from the start, you'd be packing for school right now instead of belly-aching.  What was your LSAT score?

[PSUDSL08]

Agree with twarga you should def apply to Widener...may not get into the Delaware campus, but Harrisburg is a possibility. Also, Duquesne University in Pittsburgh will take the highest of your two LSAT scores. You'd probably need a minimum of a 152 to get in there, so study your ass off.
As for transferring, there's a forum on Yahoo that has the stats of those that have transferred to other schools. A girl who went to my T4 scored in the top 5% and got into top schoos, so anything is possible. As for now, study your ass off and accept the fact that you'll be going to a T3 or T4 next year.

[Denny Crane]

Hate to break it to you guys, but he did apply to Widener, and got rejected (yes, his lsat was quite poor, even by widener standards).  Being a URM did not help him.

[latinlord]

 Yea sadly I got denied by Widener DE campus also. I'll probibly try Harrisburg this time too. Bottom line i'm still working on the LSAT, I don't know how I did so bad, the LSAT has control of my freaking soul!Sad thing is that my GPA is higher than most schools average. It is a shame that 4 long years of doing well in a higher instituion means nothing compared to a 1 4hr exam.

[Denny Crane]

Sad thing is that my GPA is higher than most schools average. It is a shame that 4 long years of doing well in a higher instituion means nothing compared to a 1 4hr exam.

That's exactly how I felt about the SAT when I was applying to college.  I did fine on it, but not as highly as I needed in order to get into all of my top choices.  Luckily I got into one of my top choices, but I was definitely limited by an exam I thought had no bearing on my performance in college.  I know that the LSAT is looked upon more strongly by law schools than the SAT was for colleges, so I'm not taking any chances.  LSAT reigns supreme.