Applying with a GRADUATE DEGREE Forum

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Lonestar87

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Applying with a GRADUATE DEGREE

Post by Lonestar87 » Sun Feb 14, 2010 4:52 pm

Hi Guys!! I graduated the University of Washington last year with a 3.1 GPA and I decided to get my Masters in Public Administration at the University of Texas at San Antonio. My Masters GPA is a 4.0 and I will be one semester away from graduating, when I apply this fall in the early decisions. My LSAT score is a 170 and the reason why my GPA was low in college was because my father had severe heart issues which caused him to stop working and it left me to support the family. Towards the end at UW, I was scoring very good grades....but the damage of poor grades and many withdrawals in my early years hurt me. I will state all of this in my personal statement and I have documentation for everything. I even did internships with senators and congressmen.....WHAT ARE MY CHANCES IN GETTING INTO A TOP 20 LAW SCHOOL??? By living in Texas right now, I do qualify for University of Texas at Austin's 70% in state law admissions requirements!!! Keep in mind my GPA is very high in grad school....and I am only 23 years old with an almost Masters....

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bees

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Re: Applying with a GRADUATE DEGREE

Post by bees » Sun Feb 14, 2010 4:54 pm

GPA from grad school doesn't matter. Your GPA is a 3.1. So go plug 3.1 and 170 into some law school calculators and see what comes out.

Lonestar87

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Re: Applying with a GRADUATE DEGREE

Post by Lonestar87 » Sun Feb 14, 2010 4:55 pm

Yeah but shouldnt it play a factor somewhere to prove that I am good student who deserves a chance...

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JordynAsh

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Re: Applying with a GRADUATE DEGREE

Post by JordynAsh » Sun Feb 14, 2010 4:57 pm

Lonestar87 wrote:Yeah but shouldnt it play a factor somewhere to prove that I am good student who deserves a chance...
Whether it should or shouldn't has no effect on the fact that it doesn't. Your master's degree and GPA will be "soft" factors. Write a brief addendum explaining the reason for your withdrawals and low GPA and hope for the best.

Lonestar87

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Re: Applying with a GRADUATE DEGREE

Post by Lonestar87 » Sun Feb 14, 2010 5:02 pm

Thank you JordynAsh....I know it doesnt play a factor.....but atleast it is proof of some excellence....IS THE MAIN THING ALWAYS LSAT????

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bees

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Re: Applying with a GRADUATE DEGREE

Post by bees » Sun Feb 14, 2010 5:05 pm

Lonestar87 wrote:Thank you JordynAsh....I know it doesnt play a factor.....but atleast it is proof of some excellence....IS THE MAIN THING ALWAYS LSAT????
LSAT and GPA.

http://www.hourumd.com/

This will give you a good idea of your chances.

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kittenmittons

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Re: Applying with a GRADUATE DEGREE

Post by kittenmittons » Sun Feb 14, 2010 5:05 pm

Lonestar87 wrote:Thank you JordynAsh....I know it doesnt play a factor.....but atleast it is proof of some excellence....IS THE MAIN THING ALWAYS LSAT????
UTSA MPA is not proof of any excellence

hth

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UFMatt

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Re: Applying with a GRADUATE DEGREE

Post by UFMatt » Sun Feb 14, 2010 5:06 pm

I have a PhD, but my cycle has largely reflected my GPA/LSAT. Based on your numbers, I'd expect a half scholarship or better to schools around #20 +/- a few spots. Maybe you'll get lucky and get some money to a lower T14.

Lonestar87

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Re: Applying with a GRADUATE DEGREE

Post by Lonestar87 » Sun Feb 14, 2010 5:39 pm

Thank you UF Matt....I really dont care about the scholarship part....admissions is the main criteria....UPenn and Cornell (high emphasis) is my goal....

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lawman2010

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Re: Applying with a GRADUATE DEGREE

Post by lawman2010 » Sun Feb 14, 2010 6:04 pm

It's a soft factor as stated above and I think it plays a bigger factor than others are suggesting it does.

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gymboree

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Re: Applying with a GRADUATE DEGREE

Post by gymboree » Mon Feb 15, 2010 11:05 am

it seems to depend on the school... i also have a graduate degree and obviously some schools care (Boalt:18% have a graduate degree, Irvine:Advanced degrees: 20% of the class, Harvard:13% hold advanced degrees) and some schools don't (unc, w&m: Advanced Degrees: 7% ).

If you look at a school's website and they bother to list the % of students with graduate degrees as a statistic in the class profile, that's a good indicator of their perspective. Many schools don't list this at all.

http://www.law.berkeley.edu/37.htm
http://www.law.uci.edu/about_the_inaugural_class.html
http://www.law.harvard.edu/prospective/ ... ofile.html
http://www.law.unc.edu/documents/admiss ... heet09.pdf
http://law.wm.edu/admissions/enteringclass/index.php

eljay

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Re: Applying with a GRADUATE DEGREE

Post by eljay » Mon Feb 15, 2010 11:14 am

I concur with the grouping of a grad degree as a good soft. Ancedotally, when the adcomm from my ls called to offer me a seat, he mentioned my "solid work in grad school." So, it can help, I think.

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NayBoer

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Re: Applying with a GRADUATE DEGREE

Post by NayBoer » Mon Feb 15, 2010 11:40 am

With your LSAT score and GPA, you can most definitely get into a Top-20 school. You might even be able to sneak into the T-14. Even though your undergrad GPA is low, breaking that 3.0+ barrier really helps you.

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chadwick218

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Re: Applying with a GRADUATE DEGREE

Post by chadwick218 » Mon Feb 15, 2010 11:50 am

Unless you are applying with a PhD, graduate degrees really don't matter in admissions cycles. It's a soft that is right up there with "going to Church on Sundays."

therealfp

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Re: Applying with a GRADUATE DEGREE

Post by therealfp » Wed Feb 17, 2010 1:36 pm

has everyone forgotten about the personal statement...sounds like you can totally spin your undergrad circumstances and subsequent post-grad endeavors into a solid, feel-good PS. Couple that with your numbers, and I don't see why you wouldn't crack the top-20 with scholarships and top-10 without.

To give you a frame of reference: I have a grad degree and 3 yrs work experience, and although my GPA is higher than yours, your LSAT kills mine, and I've received significant scholarships from schools in the 20-30 range (and still waiting on t-20 acceptances).

180lawstudent

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Re: Applying with a GRADUATE DEGREE

Post by 180lawstudent » Wed Feb 17, 2010 4:41 pm

I'm an older student my Undergrad GPA was 2.9 and I'm halfway through my graduate degree which was 3.75 (although, I'm not going to finish my Grad degree).

I'm hoping my GPA improvement will assist me in getting into a T20 grad school.

But anything is possible it can't hurt to try.

therealfp

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Re: Applying with a GRADUATE DEGREE

Post by therealfp » Wed Feb 17, 2010 5:23 pm

180lawstudent wrote:I'm an older student my Undergrad GPA was 2.9 and I'm halfway through my graduate degree which was 3.75 (although, I'm not going to finish my Grad degree).

I'm hoping my GPA improvement will assist me in getting into a T20 grad school.

But anything is possible it can't hurt to try.
I wouldn't count on that...especially if you don't earn the degree. Being older, I would suggest you try to push previous work experience as an indicator of your potential. You're going to need a really high LSAT score to put you into contention as a splitter for T20 schools.

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