U of R info session - straight talk on the LSAT

I went to an information session at the University of Richmond yesterday. I missed the first 45 minutes or so, but I made it in time for the question and answer session. The program was definitely geared more towards people who are still thinking about applying or working on their applications. So it was no surprise when somebody asked about test scores. Dean Rahman came right out and said that the LSAT is the most critical part of the application because it carries so much weight in the US News rankings. A solid GPA is great, but the dean said that they are more likely to take somebody with a high LSAT and low GPA over somebody with a high GPA and a low LSAT.

During this discussion of LSAT scores, Dean Rahman mentioned that a good way to get off of the waitlist is to take the LSAT again. If you've made the waitlist that means that they're interested in you. A higher LSAT score would give them a good reason to offer admission. If I really wanted UVA, I would have started prepping for the LSAT as soon as I was waitlisted. I don't want UVA that bad, but it's an interesting insight into the admission process.

Given all of this talk of LSAT scores, I thought they might be open to me doing some kind of part-time program. They pretty much told me there was no way when I brought it up in the summer and they did the same thing yesterday. I can see their reluctance before the part-time numbers were used in the US News ranking, but I guess they have the part time option for people who start the program and for one reason or another can't stick with it full-time. Rather than seeing them leave, they give them the part-time option. Between my promotion and other events at work, I'm not sure that leaving is the right thing for me to do right now (especially as pay for a first year associate at a mid-level Richmond firm makes about $10K less than I make now, according to my tour guide yesterday anyway). I have a few more months to think about it. We'll see how things evolve at work.