I applied to an interesting mix of schools. I currently work as a patent agent at a law firm in Chicago, and have for a few years now (graduated from undergrad in ‘23), and so was considering part-time programs in Chicago but also decided to try the major DC part-time options as well. The Georgetown (Evening Division) A was a pleasant surprise, and certainly hard to turn down, but full-time school aligns better with my personal goals especially given the cost of living and general environment/vibe in DC of late.
Since I’m from the Midwest and ultimately want to settle and practice here (likely in Chicago or environs, eventually in-house counsel at a tech company ideally after being at a firm for a while), I also applied to several nearby well-regarded state schools: Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, and Illinois. They’re all peer schools, and I ended up with full-tuition offers from Iowa and Wisconsin. I enjoyed Wisconsin’s ASD last month, and Madison seems like a great place to spend three years, so I will likely end up there this fall. I attempted to negotiate with Illinois using the other three offers, but unfortunately they did not offer me any more money. They of course have the best Chicago placement out of any of those options, but the scholarship offers I had from the other schools ultimately made that decision for me.
I don’t have much advice to future applicants beyond do as well as you can on the LSAT, especially if you have a “low” GPA like I do (I did not write a GPA addendum - the COVID semesters were rough for me, but that’s not exactly exigent circumstances given that everyone experienced the same thing, but I had a decent upward trend my junior and senior years).
I broke into the 170s a few times on my practice tests but ended up getting exactly my PT average on my actual test. For this reason, I wasn’t confident in my ability to do much better on a retake, though in hindsight even a point or two higher might’ve made the difference at NDLS given the 170+ median they seem to be targeting this year. It’s unfortunate how focused schools are on medians, but you have to play the game if you want to win.
I ended up realizing the fact that I’m just not as smart as all the 175+ scorers on this forum, and making peace with that was really important for me. Otherwise, it just breeds resentment and ends up making yourself unhappy for no reason. No point in worrying about such things if it doesn’t change anything or help, and comparison is the thief of joy and all that. Not everyone who wants to can get into a T14, after all, or get generous offers at T20s. Just how it is.
The key part overall was that I think my work experience as a patent agent certainly gave me a very strong “why law” that tied my application together. I think admissions people like to see specific interest in certain areas of law, especially if you have the work experience to back it up.
I also don’t think it was a coincidence that I got my full-tuition offers at two of the schools I interviewed at. For Iowa and Wisconsin, I think they really want to ensure that you’re actually considering attending the school and have legitimate reasons for going there. They are less likely to give out quite as much money to someone who has no or few ties to the area unless you can articulate that well in an interview.
To all “normal” applicants (i.e., uncompetitive for the T14 like me), please ignore the T14-or-bust attitude that is online these days. It’s the same thing as the undergraduate Ivy-or-bust and it is a really destructive mentality. You can have a fulfilling and remunerative legal career at many schools outside of this select group, especially in a more niche field like patent law where other qualifications (STEM background, patent bar passage, etc.) are frankly more important than school rank. Be realistic where you apply, and certainly target schools where you can get generous scholarships, since debt will hold you down a lot more than anything else at the beginning of your career.
Overall, I am pleased with my results, and of course very happy to have the full-tuition offers and to say that I did get into Georgetown lol.
Best of luck to everyone as they make their decisions!