NY/PA Schools/Corporate Counsel

[strayfoxx]

I am planning on attending law school in two years and ideally I would want to stay in New York, but would consider PA and VA if necessary. As or right now, I believe when I got out of law school I would want to be a corporate lawyer. My main two questions are:


1) Are there any NY (ideally) or PA law schools that provide good training in corporate counsel, and that are well respected by employers.

2) What would I need to get on my LSAT to best get into Syracuse or Buffalo with 3.53 UGPA?

Thanks for your help guys. Just lurking here has given me loads of information, and I really enjoy the helpful atmosphere around here. Forgive me, if I ask a lot of stupid questions because I am not that well versed on the workings of law school yet.

[canuck]

I applied to both and your GPA is high enough that it should off-set a lower score on the LSAT.

That being said, I think if you shoot 158 or higher, you'll probably seem some dollars from them in the form of scholarship.

Best bet is to check out this site:

http://officialguide.lsac.org/search/cgi-bin/lsatgpa.asp?WhichScreen=KeywordSearch

punch in your GPA and several LSAT scores.  Then look for Cuse and Buffalo.  I'm guessing you want to stay in upstate New York - but if you want to go into Corporate Law, you have a decent shot at higher tiered schools like Cardozo and Brooklyn with your grades.  And if you do extremely well on the LSAT, you could try for the top schools like NYU, Columbia and Fordham.

That's why if you want to do Corporate work, it's best to go the highest ranking school possible - because that's where the biggest law firms go to recruit and they handle the most corporate work.  Just MHO but goodluck!

[strayfoxx]

If I'm not looking into getting into the biggest, and highest paying firms would Cuse and Buffalo still be fine?  I am actually content with a small firm and 40-60k a year...

I really appreciate your help.  And if you're Canadian, which I'm assuming from your screenname, I apologize for all the bad things that I've said about your country....Well maybe not everything...

[canuck]

It's okay.  Us Canadians are real polite and we're use to the unabashed arrogance of our neighbours from the South.   

If BigLaw (that's those big firms) isn't your main goal then both Syracuse and Buffalo will be just fine. 

Buffalo's incoming class of 2003 looked like this:  GPA (25%-75%) 3.16-3.66.  LSAT (25%-75%) 153-158.

Syracuse's incoming class of 2003 looked like this:  GPA (25%-75%) 3.17-3.55.  LSAT (25%-75%) 150-155.

So again, if you get a 158 you should be fine.  That being said, Buffalo is ranked higher and is much cheaper so if you're not going to BigLaw - you might want to lessen your debt load (unless you're not taking out loans).  My friend just graduated from Albany last year and even his school (a tier 3) saw many people place well and in the higher end of the salary range you're looking for.

Good Luck, Stray.

[strayfoxx]

Canuck...

You said you applied to both so I'm assuming you got in. Do you think that the fact that you were from Canada helped you with Buffalo and Syracuse. I know all law schools look for diversity, but I dont know if they give people from Canada special treatment when it comes to the admission process..

I'll try to do as best as I can on the LSAT. I am taking it in October, would it be too early to start studying now???  I'm not too good on standardized tests so I picture I might score in the 150-155 range, but I guess I won't know until I've taken it....