Location Dilemma: Law School vs. Career Forum

[ballyross]

Hi Everyone,

I am looking to start law school next fall. I graduated from a T20 non-Ivy with a 3.6 and scored a 166 on the June LSAT. Currently working in NYC as a Biglaw paralegal. With my score, GPA and work experience I feel confident in my chances of getting into a good law school. However, I feel like I could find myself in a bit of a dilemma in choosing the schools I will apply too versus my career aspirations.

Ideally, I want to end up in New York. It's where I'm from, where my family is and it's important to me to be close to them. If I were to choose another city it would be Boston, DC, or Chicago, but New York remains my top choice. That being said, I don't think my application is strong enough for NYU/Columbia. I like my chances for Fordham/Brooklyn/Cardozo, but I also feel like I can get into some good law schools outside of NYC (lower T-14/T-25). Part of me also wants to have the chance to explore a new city one last time since I may very well end up in New York permanently.

How should I approach the application process? Would going to a target outside of NYC (for me, that would be schools like BU and GW, Georgetown/Northwestern/Michigan/Texas are my reaches) affect my chances of being placed into NYC Biglaw? Or should I aim for a lower ranked school like Fordham that has more clout in New York? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks all!

[runinthefront]

There's an easy solution: just retake the LSAT in the September/October or even December administration, raise your LSAT score by 2 points, and you'll at least be in at Cornell--almost guaranteed. From there, NYC biglaw will be yours if you want it. You'd also have good chances at NU/Michigan. If you go up by 3-4 points, you'll be in play at the majority of t13 schools.

[UVA2B]

Man, it'd be nice to have a few extra LSAT points to make this situation easier. But assuming you're going in with a 3.6/166, you can definitely apply to those reaches (and probably should include Cornell as well) while targeting Fordham. BU/BC/GW place some graduates in NYC, but Fordham is the better choice at equal cost unless you're really okay ending up in Boston/DC, and very possibly not in a big law firm.

[existentialcrisis]

Retake. Any T14 will get you to NY.

[JustWannaGraduate]

0L here, but I had similar stats last October after September LSAT. Really didn't want to take a year off, and for some outside reasons, couldn't take December LSAT. Applied to Georgetown ED (a terrible choice but did it because I wanted DC) and thankfully didn't get in. Took the feb lsat and got to low 170s and I'm headed to a T-14 with $$ after the feb lsat - even with the late app. Considering that, you REALLY should retake. A 3.6 isn't a terrible gpa, but it isn't out of this world great either. You need in the 170s to not be either a) at a school that doesn't have great job prospects or b) at a T-14 with a mountain of debt.

With your stats, you have an outside shot at GTown and a Cornell with little to no money. That's probably worse than going to Fordham or GW with less debt. 4 - 6 more points on the lsat though, and you'll be opening up $$ at those schools and possible $ at places like UVA, NW, Duke, etc

Moral: Retake