Santa Clara Law and Possibly Transfer or Retake LSAT? Forum

[HMPass]

Finally received all my letters from law school, and only got into 3: Santa Clara, University of San Francisco (USF) and Howard. While I'm not surprised given my 152 LSAT (2nd exam) and 2.9 GPA (albeit 9 years ago and from an Ivy-League), I'm still undecided as to whether or not I should just go for Santa Clara and try to transfer or try to retake the LSAT and reapply to enter Fall 2020. So I'm asking anyone and everyone for advice. If I wanted to get into a T1 or T14 (hoping for Berkeley, Georgetown), would it be better for me to retake or transfer?

Here are some factors that could affect my decision:

--TIME TO STUDY FOR THE LSAT: I'm already planning to quit my job this month to either buckle down and study for the September LSAT test or to take time off if I eventually decide to go to law school. I'd love to get any insight from anyone out there

--GOOD WORK EXPERIENCE: I've been working in the legal field for about 7 years now--two years at a small law firm and 5 years in-house. I'm currently working on the commercial side of a tech B2B company's legal team. I'm looking to break into public interest law--either working for non-profit (i.e. Legal Aid) or tech with a social impact/social justice mission (i.e. Kiva).


What do y'all think?

[Wubbles]

You should retake to get into a better law school for cheaper. Your GPA will hold you back on the upper end even if you score very high, but it will put you in a way different tier than you currently are considering. If you can't score higher on the LSAT, it would suggest you probably will do poorly and won't be able to rank high enough in your class to transfer. A cheaper and better school would also alleviate the problems that come with the likelihood you won't do well enough to transfer up. Best of luck on your LSAT studies.

[LBJ's Hair]

Retake. Your LSAT score sucks. If you can get into an Ivy undergrad, I assume you have the standardized test-taking chops to do better than a 150 on the LSAT. And you should never go to a law school assuming you'll be one of the lucky few to transfer to a T14. Pretty much everyone at those schools, in the back of their minds, is thinking "I'm smarter than these dummies, I bet I can transfer."

[cavalier1138]

Don't go to Santa Clara. Ever. And don't matriculate to a school you wouldn't want to graduate from.

If your goal is public interest law in California, you should be shooting for somewhere like UC Davis (or better).

[HMPass]

Don't go to Santa Clara. Ever.

Thanks cavalier1138! The consensus on this thread feels pretty solid. But out of curiosity, and because I get mixed advice from attorneys at my job, what's driving your stance on SCU (other than its USNWR rank)?

[Wubbles]

It costs nearly 300k for a less than 60% (in their BEST year for employment) shot at being a lawyer. It's the type of place that would accept someone with sub 3.0 gpa and 152 LSAT score. They flunk out 10% of their 1L class every year.

[Ted10]

Depends on what type of field or focus you intend on pursuing, along with what matters to you. Santa Clara has a relatively respected Bay Area presence in Tech and Public Interest. On the flip side, consider the following: scholarship retention after the first year is around 50% to 60%. The grade curve, if this is one of the factors you are considering, is set at a B-/C+. Speaking as someone who declined the opportunity to attend a "top 25 ranked" law school and now is living the consequences of such decision, I would recommend retaking the LSAT.

[LSATWiz.com]

The 152 is a poor score, and LSAT scores in 5 point increments DO predict 1L grades 80% of the time. If you had a 162, not only could you go to SC for much cheaper, you'd have developed the reasoning skills that would favor you'd place in the top 10 percent there. Is it guaranteed? No. But contrary to what many assume, getting better at the LSAT DOES equip you for LS exams. You still need to perform, but analytical application of law to fact is skill based and a skill LSAC tests you for. Retaking is a win-win (you win more scholarship money and a better chance at transferring).