When you arrive at an LSAT administration center, you meet an assortment of different applicants. There’s the guy who decided he wanted to go to law school 3 weeks ago and feels “pretty good” about the test; after all, he did watch 30 minutes of logic game videos on YouTube last night. There is a girl in a Harvard sweatshirt who just finished up her second prep course and is trying to bump her score up a couple points from her 172. And then there’s me. There’s us. If you get where I’m going then you know I’m talking to you.

We bought the books, and took the practice tests. We worked hard and calculated every scenario. “Well, if I can manage 19 definitively correct answers on three sections and 14 correct on the games and then guess on the rest, then I can touch 160. Maybe I’ll be really hot and guess three out of every five questions right, and I can touch 163!” We get our score back in a month: 15x. We’re disappointed, but not surprised. We’re seated next to Harvard girl, and try again. As we leave the center, we tell her, “Good luck with Harvard!” She responds with a thank you paired with, “I’m sure you’re going to do great at Irvine!” (We told her we were looking at Irvine because we were sure we’d touch 162 this time.) The scores release and we improve two or three points but don’t manage to move that second digit. And we’re just left asking: “where do we go fr…RETAKE!”

If you go on Reddit, LawSchool.life or that place that shall not be named, it quickly becomes apparent that the online population doesn’t reflect that of an LSAT administration center. Online, the Harvard sweater girl is there talking to a recent Stanford admit. Adjacent to them, somebody has just signed the formal acceptance of their Darrow Scholarship, with a Mont Blanc pen upon a desk made of the finest mahogany. If you glance to the right, a man mirrors the pose of Rodin’s The Thinker as he contemplates the merits of $$$ at Vanderbilt over Duke. I want to make it abundantly clear: I am thrilled for everyone who has earned their way into these, and similar, opportunities. Furthermore, I’m certain a large majority of you are genuinely thrilled for the success of those who aren’t going “T20,” and in the spirit of that mutual elation, it is time that our online law school communities reflect a culture that caters to more than the top 14–30 schools and the 90th percentile LSAT scores it takes to get into them.

The majority of law school applicants will score within the 150s, and will attend schools that take the majority of their class from that group of test takers, and produce good lawyers, but that fact just isn’t reflected within our online community. Throughout my application process, I lurked in every forum I could find and painstakingly searched for information about the schools I was applying to. I would type “Loyola Chicago” into the search bar, and be met with “Loyola Chicago is only worth attending if you receive a full-ride, a date with Brittney Spears circa 2001 and a new KitchenAid.” I’d then go back to looking at threads exalting the same 14 schools and try to spiritually connect with somebody who was applying to UConn (…you can get back to me whenever, btw).

So let’s deal with the elephant in the room: “argument, something, statement, absurd dollar amount for a 50 percent chance to be a lawyer.” I believe I have read every permutation of that argument — and I agree. I agree that those not going to top schools have to be cautious about what kind of debt they’re taking on, and what the likely outcome will be from taking on that debt. What I disagree with is the dearth of students in our community sharing and celebrating the non-Top 50 school with 70-plus percent employment and less than 15 percent underemployment that they’re attending at a reasonable cost. A celebration that would be possible because of a 15x. Those situations exist and should be celebrated accordingly. It’s time for outcomes of people in the 150s to stop being Under-Represented Majorities on these forums. (See what I did there? Clever, right? If you scored in the 150s that means you can now ethically put on your apps that you’re a URM. Don’t actually do that though. Seriously.)

I understand that a 16x can open doors that its little brother cannot, but I want to briefly celebrate my 15x. I’ve applied to 12 schools this cycle. A couple in the Top 50, most in the 50–100 range, and a couple below that. A few days ago, I got an email from a school on the upper end of that 50–100 range offering me a scholarship ($$$) that would bring my Cost of Attendance to roughly 22-25k per year. I cried. It’s difficult to convey the sense of joy and pride that I felt in that moment. The law school is in a region I’m confident I’ll enjoy living and eventually practicing in. I still have schools to hear back from, but I think it is very likely I’ll be attending that particular school. My 15x was good enough to help facilitate that outcome. And when I got that scholarship offer and verified that I didn’t need a few extra points to put myself in a good position for law school, I told Judicial Candor to kiss my ass.