My youngest son has decided that he wants to be a lawyer and he is planning on applying to UT Law School. How difficult is it to get in to UT Law? I know that they are ranked #15 in the nation, but I hear that it is an impossible school to get into. If any UT people out there can give me some insight, I would greatly appreciate it. I asked AggieRocket (he and I taught at UT together in the early eighties) and he told me that UT has gotten a lot more competitive than it was 25 years ago. On the flip side, neither one of us taught in the School of Law. Please fill me with any and all knowledge you have to offer.
hey, same as my s/n over at hornfans. as for UT Law, all i know is it's hard to get into. haven goes to UT Law so maybe he can hook you up with some info. i don't know of anyone else that goes there.
I'm applying to UT Law after my undergraduate work and its really competitive. I think its a 10-16% acceptance rate. If your son is a minority (like me) he'll benefit from the new procedures which i believe allow those making the decisions to use race as a deciding factor. Not fair at all, but I'd be lying if I said I wont be using that to my advantage ... . The 25-75 percentile in GPA for those comin in is 3.4-3.8 I believe. He'll also have to have a fairly high LSAT score. That's why I'm starting now. Out of curiosity, what year will he be applying?
Those are some impressive numbers for the 25-75 percentile. His GPA does not fall within that range. I think he has a 2.9. In his defense, he is an engineering major and I think that grants some wiggle room. How much wiggle room remains to be seen. He made a 169 on the LSAT. He plans on attending law school in Fall 2005. We are not classified as minorities and I guess he won't get that benefit at UT. However, he will also be applying to Yale and he will have a huge advantage there because Yale is my alma mater.
Unfortunatly UT is supposedly a GPA heavy school so i think its going to be tough to get into with a 2.9. Its worth a shot though since you never really know what the admissions committees will do and a 169 LSAT score is damn good. Yale is so unbelievably competative that i dont think it being your alma mater will mean much. The 25/75's are 3.8/3.97 and 169/175. You may want to check out this site. It has tons of information on various schools including LSAT/GPA ranges for applicants. http://officialguide.lsac.org/docs/cgi-bin/home.asp
That being the case, he may wish to consider UH Law. While the overall ranking is not as high as Texas, UH consistently has one of the top intellectual property programs in the country. Most engineers who go to law school have a strong interest in patent law. If this is the case, he may wish to apply.
UT was fairly difficult to get into back when I applied, a 2.9 wouldn't have gotten the job done. But that was 7 years ago. And you're right, engineering does have its advantages, both in terms of admission and placement. At least, according to IP friends of mine at the time.
From what I understand, you are correct about UT being very GPA heavy. I would really like for him to be able to go to UT. If UT does not work out, UH is definitely an option as well. Either way, he'll be close to us. He's my youngest and after him, the nest will be empty I think you are also right about Yale. The fact that I went to Yale for undergrad and grad school probably will not be enough of a factor to overlook his grades. From my personal experiences, I know that Yale is definitely a numbers school. I served on admissions committees at Yale and quite frankly, people with grades like my son's did not get a second look.
He may also want to consider Baylor and SMU. They are both around the same level as UH and are both good schools. SMU is rumored to like really high LSAT scores and he may be able to get a nice scholarship there. Either way that 169 should land him somewhere nice.
some good news is that schools like diversity of majors. A engineering major applying to law school? They dig that stuff. Unfortunately that GPA really hurts, but that LSAT score is really great. You should still apply to UT but in the application they give you a chance to write a page or two on any scores (GPA or LSAT) that you think don't reflect you. I think your son should apply to UT anyways and write something to explain why the GPA isn't a reflection or make an excuse. Even if you don't have much of an excuse, law schools love to get a chance to see your writing ability. Writing real well in your personal statement and this excuse can show em your skills. Anyways, good luck. I'm applying to UT Law too but its going to be an uphill battle for me too so I know how it feels.
I went to UT Law in the late 90's. I knew people with GPA's like your son's with high LSAT scores. Things are more competitive there now. But remember that 80% of the class must be Texas residents under state law. That is a huge advantage. I also believe that the engineering degree helps. And many people get in off the waiting list, even at the last minute. I'll keep my fingers crossed for your son. Good luck!
I definitely agree that your son's engineering degree helps. I did my undergrad at UT in computer science. Although I didn't go to UT law school, I'm sure my unconventional pre-law degree helped. I believe I was the only CS major in my graduating class. Good luck.
I got in but I am mind numbingly intelligent as well as a brilliant writer with impeccable credentials. Seriously though, I wrote an essay that -- I was told by various admission directors -- was very good, the UT lady seemed to be especially high on it, said it was among the best she'd ever seen, blah blah blah. Now, she could have just been kissing my ass so that I'd go (I didn't) but who knows. Mine was very personal (I would say sappy too) but chicks who run admission depts usually dig that kind of stuff.
I think you must have used the same essay as MacBeth: I'm a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I've been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, write award-winning operas, and manage time efficiently. Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row. I woo women with my sensuous trombone playing. I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I'm an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru. Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, was scouted by the Mets, and am the subject of numerous documentaries. When bored, I build large suspension bridges in my back yard. On Wednesdays, after work, I repair electrical appliances free of charge. I'm an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don't perspire. While a private citizen, I receive fan mail. I've been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat 400. My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me. I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations for the Canadian Intelligence Service. I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Australia, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I've made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven. I breed prizewinning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I have played Hamlet, performed open-heart surgery, and spoken with Elvis.
FWIW, I'm in a unique situation. I currently attend UT-Law right now. I'm a 3L at the school. I spent my first two years at a Top Tier out of state private law school. I came here b/c I plan to take the Texas Bar...I wanted to also be closer for the job hunt; the plane trips back and forth from my school to Texas were getting tiresome. Anyhow, besides the prestige for in state residents, my experience at UT has been far below my expectations. I expected a school with the national rankings it has garnered to be much better. My main complaints in comparison with my home school is that (1) the professors are very disinterested in your progress on the whole...(2) the class sizes are large, it's difficult to get questions answered, and on it appears the professors would rather lecture than get into a give and take conversation...(3) the administrative people have been very unhelpful; it is very beaucratic in that everybody passes the buck and it takes alot of time to get problems resolved...(4) the students are ill prepared and don't seem inclined to do anything but the minimum amount of work...(5) there is little emphaiss on writing skills outside the seminar class; few paper classes- which makes sense with the size of most the classes...these are all generalizations and there are exceptions to each, but all in all the experience paled in comparison to my home school. Also, I must point out that I was not here for the 1st year, undoubtedly the most/only important year of law school, so I don't know how that experience compared. Point being, just because your son sees UT as the highest ranked school in the state, the only difference between alot of the students there and other schools are 5-7 points on the LSAT test. Please recognize that is the be all end all in the admissions procedure. The essay, your g.p.a. (unless it's incredibly low, in which case you'd want to reevaluate to going to law school to begin with), recommendations, and even your work experience bow to that one number. Anyways, it appears most kids did not have difficulty getting a job, and it they plan to stay in Texas for those practical professional reasons it might be a good place to land...but, for a pure educational experience he may wish to look elsewhere. Just my two cents.
May I ask what school your first two years were spent at? Just curious... it may help out my choice in the admissions process maybe.
