3.2/162 combat vet Marine applying from the 'Stan

[Gruntlife03]

Folks-

In advance, I appreciate the help, I am currently in Afghanistan-so I have no other resources. Which of the following schools do I have a low, medium or high chance of getting into?

UChicago:
Northwestern:
Berkeley:
UT:
UCLA:
USC:
Minn (home state):
Notre Dame:
Iowa:
Colorado:
Univ San Diego:
Villanova:

I have a 162 LSAT, 3.2 GPA. I was a platoon commander for 51 infantry Marines in Afghanistan for my first deployment. My second, I am in charge of over 200 Marines as a company commander. I also received an award with a "v" for valor on my first deployment.

Thanks again, at the tail end of my deployment, I'll have to apply to schools for Fall 2012, so I need an idea of what I'm dealing with.

[FalconJimmy]

You can figure it out punching into the following:

https://officialguide.lsac.org/release/OfficialGuide_Default.aspx

I don't mean to discourage you, but although my scores were lower than yours (3.05/159), I was declined at CWRU, which is a considerably less selective school than pretty much all the ones you mentioned. 

Might be a stretch.  I would suggest a safety school or two.

Best of luck and thank you for your service.

[MikePing]

The right school for you will depend more on where you want to live/practice law than the rankings.  Most of the schools you have listed are a stretch for you. And, they are pretty spread out.  Each region that you would want to live in has its own ranking of schools that you can figure out by researching the local firms and talking to local lawyers. 

Thank you for your service.  Ufortuantely, though, (due to the multitude of deployments over the last decade) law schools are full of students with combat/leadership experience.  So, that won't be a huge boost; but it doesn't hurt. 

[bigs5068]

Check out lawschoolnumbers.com for these type of questions you can see where applicants with identical numbers were admitted, waitlised, or rejected. You also can see the dates they were accepted, rejected, waitlisted, etc on top of that you can also see how much scholarship money applicants with certain numbers received. It is a great website to see what your chances are at certain schools.

[haus]

Gruntlife03,

I noted that you had Iowa on your list. If memory serves the Dean of their Law School is a former Marine. Your LSAT is within range for them, although they generally pull students with higher GPAs. I suspect that it is defiantly worth a shot.

Semper Fi,

[wjo9522]

I was in a similar situation last year; sitting in Firebase Fiddler's Green/Marjeh with very limited NIPR access.  Many of the responses you are going to receive here will assume you have the basic U.S. implements of phone and 24/7 Internet access.  Please P.M. me if there is something I can help with.  We were still burning our poop and drinking from a well when I left there, and I hope things have improved.

If you have SPAWAR access, you should be able to enter your stats at lawschoolpredictor.com, which will give you a decent idea of where you stand.  I'm not sure if you are an Underrepresented Minority candidate, but I did some research for you and this is what was generated from your scores (non-URM):

UChicago: Deny
Northwestern: Deny
Berkeley: Deny
UT: Texas?...Deny
UCLA: Deny
USC: Deny
Minn (home state): Deny
Notre Dame: Deny
Iowa: Deny
Colorado: Deny
Univ San Diego: Consider
Villanova: Weak Consider

I'm certainly not one to dispense Law School admissions advice, but I have learned a great deal from reviewing LSD postings and several publications that the LSAT score is the most important admissions factor that you can control at this time.  I would recommend at least two books to you, both of which are available at Amazon.com:

1) Law School: Getting In, Getting Good, Getting the Gold by Thane Messinger (also an LSD contributor)
http://www.amazon.com/Law-School-Getting-Good-Gold/dp/1888960809/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1304347181&sr=1-12)

2) Later-in-Life Lawyers: Tips for the Non-Traditional Law Student by Charles Cooper
http://www.amazon.com/Later---Life-Lawyers-Non-Traditional-Student/dp/188896006X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304347322&sr=1-1

As Bigs5078 writes, lawschoolnumbers.com is a great place to see where you stand compared to current/previous year's applicants.  I think you will see several combat veterans listed there, some with numbers and "soft factors" more compelling than others.  Lots of Army guys with Bronze Stars = war heroes.

Please let me know if you need assistance in getting these books or additional info.  Thane was generous enough to contribute a copy of his book to my cause and I would be happy to pay it forward.  Good luck to you and your brave Marines.

Semper Fidelis. 

[Tofayel]

Your LSAT score and GPA are not well enough, also you professional background is not law related. So I think you should try for average standard schools.

[Nor-Cal]

I was a platoon commander for 51 infantry Marines in Afghanistan for my first deployment. My second, I am in charge of over 200 Marines as a company commander. I also received an award with a "v" for valor on my first deployment.

I could be wrong, but I believe your military experience will not play a huge part in your application for school. You may get some sort of a veterans preference depending on where you go, but just remember the more educated people are, the more liberal they tend to be; so your military experience may not get the advantageous results you expect. I think undergraduate degree, GPA, and LSAT score will be weighted more than your combat experience.

Good luck and keep your head down.