What is the normal number of law schools that people apply to on any given year?

May: What is the normal number of law schools that people apply to on any given year?
I have a 3.2GPA with a 178 LSAT score, and am planning to apply to about 10-12 law schools with a few reaches (Stanford, Columbia, U of Chicago, etc).

To law school alumni and prospects: How many law schools did you apply to?

Answers and Views:

Answer by ownpool
You should be easily admitted to Georgetown, Duke, and Northwestern. You have little chance at Stanford, a very good chance at Columbia, and an even chance at Chicago. If you apply to the first three I listed, two more in that category, two reaches and two safeties which are much easier (e.g. Notre Dame and George Washington), you should be fine.

I applied to eight law schools: 3 reaches, 2 matches and 3 safety schools and was admitted to all but the reaches.

Answer by TheOrange Evil
Law schools are reporting that they’re receiving more applications, but a lot of these applications are from individuals who are just applying to more schools, not added unique applicants to the pool. 10-12 is a good number, especially if you got a lot of fee waivers.

The important part of the application process isn’t the number of schools you apply to, though, but how many of them are realistic. There’s no problem including a few reaches as long as not all of them are reaches.

Your three reaches are definitely reaches, but you never know. Might as well throw an application to them. Columbia and Chicago don’t dip below 3.5 almost ever and Stanford doesn’t like to go below 3.8, but I think you already know that. Even though your LSAT is truly awesome, the fact is that once your LSAT score is over a school’s 75th percentile, it doesn’t do them any good. So, they’d rather take someone who is a 3.7/173 than a 3.2/178 because both LSATs are >75th, but that 3.7 is around median. Despite what schools say, they have GPA cutoffs even in the face of a near-perfect LSAT score like yours.

What are your targets and safeties? I’d say you’re in somewhere in the top 14, definitely in the top 20. I’d apply UPenn on down – specifically UVA, UMich, Duke, Georgetown, Cornell, and Northwestern (definitely if you have work experience after college). WUSTL, Minnesota, GWU, and UIUC are safeties for you if you apply early in the cycle.

You might also consider applying ED somewhere. With your GPA, you’re probably not going to get much/any scholarship money, so you won’t be foregoing scholarships by applying ED, at least in the top 14. With ED, you could save yourself the headache of sitting on a waitlist until May or June and, more importantly, it could be your only way into a top six school. I know – with a 178, it seems surprising that you wouldn’t be a lock at Penn or NYU or anywhere in the top 10, but you’re just not. ED could be your best chance at cracking the upper top 14. Just make sure to target your ED appropriately. ED to Columbia or Chicago would probably be a waste, but would be more realistic at NYU/Penn.