low LSAT score

[lawschool2010]

Hello Everyone...
I have a low LSAT score.     

[Matthies]

Its going to be really tough with that LSAT score and GPA to get in just about any place. I'm the last person in the world to recoemnd re-taking becuase I didn't take my own advice, but you gotta retake. If you can improve by 10 points you will have a lot more options. Right now your going to spend a lot of money in app fees just to get rejected. Put that money twords LSAT books or a class and try a retake.

[Ninja1]

You're going to need at least 10 more points on your LSAT to have any chance of getting into somewhere decent, and given your GPA, you really probably need 15-20 more points. Given your current numbers, I wouldn't apply.

Get academic LORs if possible. Only use the employer as a fall back.

[gdogg]

I had the same lsat and a slightly higher gpa, and had three choices last year and three this year after applying to about a dozen schools.  Also had two summer school special admit options this sumer I passed on.   You CAN get into an ABA school with those numbers.  What you do with your career as a lawyer depends on you, not your lsat score!!

[big - fat - box]

The other guys are right. You need to retake. Deans of admission are full of hot air and will never discourage an applicant in most cases. That is because the more people they reject, the higher the USNews rating in their selectivity category is.

[Denny Shore]

A few things to consider:
- I'd advise you to retake after doing some coursework (kaplan, books, self-study - all helpful)
- Another option is to take some classes to show that your past performance doesn't indicate future performance.  You don't have to take graduate level courses, but avoid blow-off classes and take something law related that you didn't take in undergrad.  Community colleges offer courses in logic, criminal justice, sociology, etc.  Doing well in a course like this can be used to show that you are serious and capable.
- with your LSAT and GPA score as they are, you are looking at some rather poor law schools. The downside is that these schools charge pretty much the same as the top schools do, meaning you get less bang for your buck.  I'd rather attend DePaul than Cooley.

It's not that you CAN'T get into school with your numbers.  It's that your options aren't going to be as good as they would be if you retook the test and were able to demonstrate academic proficiency.  It helps that you've been working, believe it or not, because you are able to differentiate yourself from the majority of students who are recent grads.  Life experience counts too, just not as much as you might hope.

[lawschool2010]

everyone's opinion is really great....    I'm sure i'll make a wise decision. 

[Denny Shore]

everyone's opinion is really great....    I'm sure i'll make a wise decision. 

I have another question...

I was thinking about taking the following courses at a local community college:  legal research and legal writing.  Will this help on my applications? 

Any class you take at the college level that you receive a good grade in will help, especially if it's been a few years since you took any college classes.

Law schools also look at grade trending, and if your grades went up during your last few semester and subsequently, it is viewed favorably.

[big - fat - box]

Do not waste your $$$ on college courses, community or 4 year. They will not help you get into law school.

Unfortunately, the only thing that can help with a GPA like that is a better LSAT score and the passage of time.

Due to the USNews rankings, schools will only count the GPA earned in the first BA degree. Historically, even much older non-trad students who had abysmal UG gpas and then went back 10-15+ years later have had trouble getting accepted because schools are nervous about admitting students with GPA's below 3.0. Your gpa is going to be the kiss of death at even a lot of t3/t4 schools, even if you were to increase your LSAT by 10-15 points. That goes for part-time programs as well, and now that USNews has started counting part-time stats in the rankings schools aren't going to be able to "hide" students with low gpas & lsats there either.

Bottom line is that you will have to get your LSAT up by at least 10 points, preferably as high as it can go. Then look at lawschoolnumbers.com and see where students with similar numbers got in.

Generally, I think that even if you got a 159 (15 point increase) you are looking at a tier 2/3/4 school. Nothing wrong with that per se but we are in the midst of a terrible economy and you will likely end up at either an out of state or private school. Best case scenario would be your local state school obviously but that might not be possible.

If you are patient, one strategy might be to move to a state with a good state law school that might let you in assuming much higher LSAT. After you obtain residency you could go there with in-state tuition. This might be tough but you can research admissions trends at state law schools in tier 2/3/4 and speak with admissions staff personally and see what they say. Like I said, a lot of them might not be honest with you but some might. Again, because of what I said about USnews, you are going to see a lot of schools tightening up standards of admissions which is going to make it even harder for you.

Private or out of state school means $150K+ in student loans and a starting salary of $45K if you are lucky. Think long and hard about whether or not you really want to be a lawyer and how much you are prepared to slog it out.

One more thing: are you a minority? If you are black, native american, or hispanic, that might give you a boost, but you will still have to substantially raise your LSAT score.

[big - fat - box]

There is nothing else you can do. Get the LSAT up. After that make sure your app materials are flawless. There is a good book on law school personal statements and such by Anna Ivey. Your local library might have it or you can buy a used copy off Amazon marketplace. But don't worry about that right now, just focus on the LSAT. There is an LSAT section on this site that will give you all kinds of advice on studying.

http://www.lawschooldiscussion.org/prelaw/index.php/board,6.0.html