Too optimistic?

[nmb238]

i was similar to you- 167 and 3.86 GPA.
i think youd be silly to not apply anywhere- its all very very random once you hit the 166-169 LSAT range, no one is a shoo-in and no one is for sure gon get rejected.

i can tell you that Fordham and BC should be safe bets, but I know of some scary stories (esp at BC) so Id find another acceptable backup. And Id also look at that gap between Columbia/NYU and Fordham- there are 25 schools in there, and if any are right for you id get an app to them asap.

I do wanna caution you that i thought 167 was a nightmare LSAT score bec I could NEVER tell whre i was gon get in- I was rejected at Georgetown and my alma mater, NYU, but I was waitlisted at Columbia and Harvard, accepted at Cornell, Michigan and (now im at) Penn.

so you just dont know and if you can afford it, blanketing the t14 is a good idea. id also recommend gettin your applications in asap, esp at some places like gtown who are big into that sorta thing.

and best of luck !

[eyeoftheligrr]

Thanks for all of the input.  Hearing about similar experiences has helped very much.  I was able to squeeze some cash from the parental units by explaining the fee waiver process, so I will probably be applying to more schools now.

This possibility brings up a new dilemma.  I'm not too keen on Cornell and I can't live in Tennessee so Vandy is out.  Duke seems like it would be a good fit in terms of numbers and location.  One MAJOR problem: I grew up in Connecticut as a UConn basketball fan and I continue to follow the team mercilessly.  For anyone who is familiar with NCAA basketball, UConn and Duke are bitter rivals.  Now, I would love to be able to attend some kickass bball games at Cameron but I could never support Duke's team and respect myself.  Would attending Duke be completely unethical?

[eyeoftheligrr]

Wow, that is bold.  I don't know if I would want to be "that UConn guy" at Cameron.  It sure would be great to laugh at Coach K when he passes out, though.