Is This A Good List of Places to Apply to for Me?

[jackrabbitslimz]

I've been a creeper on here for a few months now. 

Background Details (for soft):  I'm a bit older than the average law school student (mid 20's).   Up until the last couple months (I took time off to get all my law school ducks in a row) I had been working as a Financial Consultant and before that in Hospital Management.  I'm also a freelance writer, and have published a couple dozen pieces since I've been out of school.

GPA and LSAT:  I graduated from NYU double major with a 3.64 major.  My score on the LSAT's will be somewhere between 165 and 170 when I take it in October (I frequently roll about a 172 on practice so I'm going to take a conservative estimate here).

I'm most interested in attending a program that has a great IP program (I'd like to get into the film industry as a lawyer rather than screenwriter).  I just moved back to PA so I'm considering a few places there as well, which is why they're on the list.

Schools I'm Planning to Apply to:

U Penn
Pepperdine
Pitt
USC
Chapman
Loyola (LA)
Southwestern
Western State
Whittier

My question seems to mainly be this.  Do I have enough of a selection between Great, Good, and Mediocre schools?  From what I understand on here, I'm a good candidate (certainly not the best) but I'm wondering if I should be stacking the deck with a few more top schools?

[bigs5068]

For sure you should register for an LSAC forum and if you can attend you will get a ton of fee waivers if you jsut write your LSAC number down at booths or they will hand you on the spot often times if you stop by their booth. If you have fee waivers you might as well apply to as many as possible and LSAC forums are a great place to get those.

[Jamie Stringer]

Hard to say without a real LSAT score. As I'm sure yo know, there's a world of difference between 165 and 170.

If you score on the high side of the range, then I'd eliminate Chapman, Pepperdine, Southwestern, Western State, and Whittier.

I don't understand why you have Pitt on the list but seemingly want to be in Southern California. If you want to end up in the LA area, Pitt is a waste of time. Conversely, if you want to end up in PA, all those California schools would be a waste of time.

"Great IP program" means nothing. Go to a T14 or go to a well-respected school in the region where you want to practice. And ITE, minimize your debt as much as possible.

[jackrabbitslimz]

Will definitely do the forum thing even if I have to go back to NYC.

Good note, Jamie.  I think I need to get off the fence of being both PA and So Cal, and need to commit to So Cal.  Definitely understand it's hard to predict without a hard LSAT score, but I've taken enough timed tests by now (twenty or so) and was modest enough in my score that I'd wager very highly I score within a few points of a 167. 

The problem seems to be that in So Cal there are either very easy to get into schools with my scores or others where I'd be anywhere from 25th to 50th percentile.

[jackrabbitslimz]

A cop, haha.  Only if I get Don Johnson as a partner.

[marcus-aurelius]

There is a forum in NYC on October 1, 2 in NYC starting noon on the 1st, 10am on the second at

Hilton New York
1335 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10019
212.586.7000

['blueskies]

Good note, Jamie.  I think I need to get off the fence of being both PA and So Cal, and need to commit to So Cal.  Definitely understand it's hard to predict without a hard LSAT score, but I've taken enough timed tests by now (twenty or so) and was modest enough in my score that I'd wager very highly I score within a few points of a 167. 

The problem seems to be that in So Cal there are either very easy to get into schools with my scores or others where I'd be anywhere from 25th to 50th percentile.

If you're deciding between two regions, I don't think there's a problem with applying to schools in both of those regions.  Once you hear back, you might be able to make a better decision (maybe you get into better schools in one region and that sways your decision, or maybe you realize the schools you got into in a region would be a bad investment, or whatever may happen). 

[sonofapickle.]

He won't say much, and will smell pretty bad.........

A cop, haha.  Only if I get Don Johnson as a partner.

[Jamie Stringer]

Will definitely do the forum thing even if I have to go back to NYC.

Good note, Jamie.  I think I need to get off the fence of being both PA and So Cal, and need to commit to So Cal.  Definitely understand it's hard to predict without a hard LSAT score, but I've taken enough timed tests by now (twenty or so) and was modest enough in my score that I'd wager very highly I score within a few points of a 167.  

The problem seems to be that in So Cal there are either very easy to get into schools with my scores or others where I'd be anywhere from 25th to 50th percentile.

You can't really say that definitively. I've read enough stories of people on here who practiced in the low 170s and then scored mid-160s on test day. I personally know someone who consistently tested in the high 170s on the exam (no BS, as I actually took timed tests with him and saw the scores) and scored a 168 on the actual exam. Undoubtedly still a good score, but hugely different. I'd say that the difference between a 165 and 172 is even greater than his difference of going from 176 to 168 in terms of the types of schools to which you could be admitted.

In terms of Southern California schools, I recognize that's a problem in the area. You could also apply to schools in Northern California. UC Irvine is probably a good match based on scores. Although it's a new law school, the school itself has name recognition in Southern California because of the rest of the university. I understand what blueskies is saying in terms of waiting until you see where you get in before you pick, but if you want to do entertainment law, just know that Pitt won't get you there. Full stop. There is not entertainment work in PA. So yeah, I suppose you could apply there. But if you are solidly committed to entertainment work, it would be a waste of your time and energy (and money)!

Oh, I also forgot to mention that you told us your major GPA, but not your LSAC GPA. The former is not really important. The latter is crucial. The way it's calculated could either be hugely helpful or detrimental to your chances. If you haven't calculated that yet, I'd suggest you Google LSAC GPA Calculator to figure out what yours would be.

[lawboy81]

um i'd think ucla would be an obvious candidate. very hard to get into for out-of-staters of course.