Which New York and California Schools Do I have a Shot At

[ansky1980]

Good day all.  I'm a first time poster who finished my undergrad in 2002.  Had a 164 on the LSAT from October 01 never went to law school, but now have decided it's to make some more moola.  (Incidentally NEVER EVER take the LSAT during the time period they are purging your old score from the record cause they won't release your score until they delete the old one.  Yea that makes sense.)

I got a 166 on the June 07 LSAT and I have a 3.5 g.p.a. (3.38 on LSAC although that should go up a couple hundredths of a point cause of a c grade that is being removed from my transcript)

Ideally I want to go to school in Los Angeles or NYC.  Advice on where to apply and chances of getting in to the respective schools would be most appreciated.

[BoutrosBoutros]

USC, UCLA, Fordham. Maybe Cardozo as a safety.

[sno]

ucla and usc's a reach...possible, but reach...solid enough of an lsat, but the gpa's a bit low...loyola's pretty much a target in la...as far as schools in ny, i don't know them as well so i'll leave that to others...

[donvito]

i would say brooklyn and cardozo are locks.  fordham is a possibility, but you should be accepted if you go part-time with them.  loyola-la is fine.  USC and UCLA are reaches to be honest.  but since it seems that youre a bit older, i think you could prove to be an attractive candidate for them. 

[ansky1980]

Thanks for the responses everyone.  Is Loyola a better school than Pepperdine?  Also I am really interested in intellectual property and entertainment law (hence New York and Los Angeles), are there any other schools I should consider around the country?

[bamf]

First off, why the huge discrepancy between your degree and LSAC GPA?

Second, are you in-state in California?  this would make a big difference for UCLA.

Third, I don't think you are any where near as big of a longshot at Fordham and USC as people here seem to be alluding to.

Fourth, you should NOT focus your school search on specific cities just because they are good cities for entertainment.  What is important is that you go to the best school you can get into.  I really can't see justifying going to Loyola over GW or something like that.  You will need to break into a big firm to do entertainment law, so why not give yourself the best shot to do that.
There are plenty of other schools with entertainment law concentrations.  Vandy would be a reach for you, but not out of the question.  But in general I recommend being much more meticulous with your school search.

[ansky1980]

My GPA fell off my junior year (Father fell off the wagon and got in trouble with the law) and Senior Year (Father went to jail) rather than taking some time off to clear my head I just plowed through, but didn't do as well as I should have.

Unfortunately I am not in-state for California.

As for checking out schools in other areas what books or sites do you recommend for gathering information on schools?

[sno]

First off, why the huge discrepancy between your degree and LSAC GPA?

Second, are you in-state in California?  this would make a big difference for UCLA.

Third, I don't think you are any where near as big of a longshot at Fordham and USC as people here seem to be alluding to.

Fourth, you should NOT focus your school search on specific cities just because they are good cities for entertainment.  What is important is that you go to the best school you can get into.  I really can't see justifying going to Loyola over GW or something like that.  You will need to break into a big firm to do entertainment law, so why not give yourself the best shot to do that.
There are plenty of other schools with entertainment law concentrations.  Vandy would be a reach for you, but not out of the question.  But in general I recommend being much more meticulous with your school search.

or you go to a school in an entertainment city and hope to make connections...big law isn't the only way...

0Ls don't really know this yet, but the most important thing isn't always going to the best school you get into...first there are regional concerns, "best" school is about as ambiguous a term as you can get...

edit: oh, i do agree though, you shouldn't limit yourself to just the 2 cities...you should consider every school and compare them against each other to determine the best one for you...