I am looking into law school - - Do I stand a chance?

Question

I graduated in 2002 with a BS in Marketing, 3.1GPA. I have been working marketing/business positions since. I have decided to pursue an abandoned dream of becoming a lawyer, with a specific interest in real estate. (Although I have worked for real estate companies the past 2.5 years, I have not had any exposure to the legal end of things.)
So - - my question is, do I have a chance of getting accepted into any schools? I have just begun my research process and would appreciate any feedback.
Thank you!

Answer 1

I hope you've taken the LSAT and have a really good score on that (>90th percentile).

If you graduated from a really presitgious school (Ivy-caliber), that should be a slight boost. Your work experience is also a positive.

Unfortunately, most top-notch law schools would like at least a B+ (3.3 GPA) to even consider a candidate and usually admit people with GPAs of at least 3.6 (a bit short of an A-). You won't have an easy ride getting into second-tier law schools (ideally ABA-accredited) but you should be competitive there. It'd be a struggle for the first-tiers (UChicago, Stanford, Yale, etc.).

I'm sorry this sounds pessimistic but I think it also reflects the truth. Best of luck.

Answer 2

I think you definitely stand a chance, depending on your standards. The average age for law school is 24-25 years old and climbing each year, which means that the majority of law school students are not straight out of undergraduate and have experience in the "real world."

I am sure you already know that your numbers, i.e. GPA, are not stellar. For questions on numbers, you might want to look at lawschoolnumbers.com This website allows you to search by law schools and keeps a tally of the students who have gotten into, been rejected from or waitlisted in that school and their respective GPAs and LSAT scores. This will give you a realistic overview of what you're up against.
Also, use the website princetonreview.com to search the average LSAT and GPA for each law school you're interested in. Now's the time to put in all that work, because it's 3 years of strenuous work and it's best if you're at least comfortable with your choice in the atmosphere.

Also, try to resist limiting yourself to real estate, especially in your personal statements. You don't want to appear narrow minded and disinterested in other aspects of law, but definitely touch upon your personal experience in real estate and your "following your dream." Each application will ask for an explanation if you have been out of school for longer than a semester, so you'll get your chance to explain yourself there.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Yes, you do. Probably not a top-of-the-line school, but there are plenty of very good tier-2 schools that produce excellent lawyers. Make sure you are well-prepared for the LSAT so you can post a good score, and you'll likely have your choice of several law schools.