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[69Camaro]

Hi to all:
I was wondering: a few years ago, I attended a 4th tier institution in the Midwest. This particular institution also had a fairly steep attrition rate, around 50-75%.  I was one of the unfortunates who had failed out. Flash forward to today. I would like to attend law school again because it would mean advancing my career with my current employer.  However, with this failure in my past, am I "blackballed" from ever attending law school again? I don't plan on applying for any schools until at least I scored a fairly significant grade on the LSATS. Thanks.

[Mr. Nobody]

I don't have any first hand experience, but I would guess that failing out of a low ranked law school would be a big red flag for many schools.  You could always put something in your personal statement about it, but I don't know how much that helps.

[landonew]

I would take the LSAT again and start sending out applications.  Failing out of law school is a significant factor, but can be overcome with the proper credentials.

If you don't mind me asking, why did you fail out?  Were you not motivated or did you just not have an aptitude for it?  If I were you, I would give this some serious thought before I invested tens of thousands of dollars and three years of my life.

 BTW, I have never heard of a law school with such a high attrition rate.  Would you mind disclosing the name of it? 

Personally, I find that borderline fraudulent to allow allow that many people to invest a year of their life into something that offers such a low probability of success. 

[eslifer]

This may be a dumb question, but did you actually flunk out, or did you leave on your own?  I suspect you could make a much better argument if you chose to leave, for whatever reasons they were, than if you were told to go.

[PatentDave]

He went to Cooley Law School.  I'd be shocked if I am wrong.  They have an attrition rate that high.  They let anyone in, take their money the first year, and send half the students packing. 

[horsechute]

- Cooley - does not have a great rep - I remember reading a long time ago that the students who were trying to leave their after the end of their first year got their transcripts frozen by the school until they sued/threatened to sue. If true about sending people packing (which I don't doubt) it seems like the whole thing is pretty cruel. Take a test like the LSAT which is basically irrelevant unless your name is Erno Rubick or Evelyn wood, and for people who don't figure it out, send them to a school which, I assume, tries to maintain its rep (if not accreditation) by showing large numbers the door. I would rather be an agent (I know plenty of happy agents) than roll the dice on a place like that.
Anyway, Camero, remember that law schools view public service EXTREMELY favorably, so if you can figure out some type of pro bono work, hopefully patent related, you can not only help your career, but also get into law school. I would like landonew said retake the LSAT. You could also try to publish an article. Your essay that accompanies your application will be very important. You should be able to get in, in my view. Anyway, best of luck, and have an enjoyable holiday.
HC

[10YearReg]

Just a different opinion on the LSATs - I find that lawyer aptitude and LSAT score are fairly strongly correlated.  So LSATs may, in and of themselves be meaningless, but if they correlate strongly sufficiently with the desired trait - or moreso than any others - then they serve a purpose.

Let me put it a different way - I knew many straight A students in college who would make crappy lawyers and who would have done really poorly on the LSATs.

Put one more way - - - I have met 10 or so attorneys in my life who I'd consider to be top notch legal minds - all of them went to top law schools.  We can therefore deduce that all of them had high LSATs.

To the OP - the critical question has already been asked.

Did you fail out or did you leave?

Could you go back to the same school?

[jolavoie]

Let me put it a different way - I knew many straight A students in college who would make crappy lawyers and who would have done really poorly on the LSATs.

So true. A friend of mine had a 3.9/4.0 undergraduate GPA, and thought he would make this hot-shot lawyer... but studied his ass off for three months and got a 150 on his LSAT. Case in point.

[AnotherNewExaminer]

Let me put it a different way - I knew many straight A students in college who would make crappy lawyers and who would have done really poorly on the LSATs.

So true. A friend of mine had a 3.9/4.0 undergraduate GPA, and thought he would make this hot-shot lawyer... but studied his ass off for three months and got a 150 on his LSAT. Case in point.

Exactly, I was a CS major who took the test on a whim because my roommate was studying for it like crazy. I didn't study and scored a 172 (he didn't do well). It's a basic logic test so either your brain works that way or it doesn't. I don't think studying for it really helps.

[Lxw]

Let me put it a different way - I knew many straight A students in college who would make crappy lawyers and who would have done really poorly on the LSATs.

So true. A friend of mine had a 3.9/4.0 undergraduate GPA, and thought he would make this hot-shot lawyer... but studied his ass off for three months and got a 150 on his LSAT. Case in point.

Exactly, I was a CS major who took the test on a whim because my roommate was studying for it like crazy. I didn't study and scored a 172 (he didn't do well). It's a basic logic test so either your brain works that way or it doesn't. I don't think studying for it really helps.

Goes to show just how little you know about anything.

[jolavoie]

So Mr. 172 LSAT... what T14 school are you going to attend? Or currently do?

[freepatentbar]

Back to 69Camero's question...   

why did you fail out?  maturity issue i.e. partying too much and not taking it seriously?  What are doing differently now to show you're serious?  have you taken your agent's exam?  are you starting to apply to schools?  retaking the LSAT and doing prep-courses to get that score you want (we're not all 172-LSAT-mozarts?

It's sort of like going back to an ex-girlfriend.  What is different?  Why is it worth it? 

If you have an employer who is on-board with you going back, that's one difference.  Did you just need more support while you were in LS i.e. money, time off, etc.?