A low GPA, college options?

[squee116]

-Seattle, Santa Clara, Chicago-Kent
-Paying for college out of substantial savings
-From California, but I don't have significant ties to any place. I'd like to be involved in tech, so being close to Silicon Valley, Seattle, or parts of Texas would ideal
-I'd like to do IP law in the tech industry
-LSAT/GPA: 162/2.85
-Taken the LSAT once

I've been curious as to whether my GPA bottlenecks my application such that retaking the LSAT and raising my score wouldn't matter. To add context, some grades were low because of illness, and there was a general pattern of higher grades as time went on. Would putting law school off and taking community college courses (already graduated with my BS in Management) help raise my GPA to an acceptable level?

If I didn't put ff law school, would the three listed colleges be decent? To put it out there, my ideal colleges would probably be IUB or University of Washington - Seattle

[jingosaur]

Once you get your Bachelor's degree, your GPA is set in stone. You don't have a good GPA, but it can be made up for with a solid LSAT. Study your ass off for a retake and get that LSAT score as high as possible. If you improve a few more points, you can get into schools like WUSTL, GW, and UMinn. If you can make it to 170, Northwestern and Georgetown become options. The only Cali school even remotely worth going to that will accept you with that GPA is UC Irvine so give up on California for now. Going to Northwestern or Georgetown may be able to get you back into California after graduation.

[phillywc]

A TLSer this cycle with a GPA close to yours got UVA. Don't give up.

[splitcity]

With a 2.85, you can still get into a top 20 if you raise your lsat to the 168-172 range. It'll be really difficult to do that by December but it won't be impossible. I went from a 148 diagnostic to a 168 in October, so studying will pay off.

If you December doesn't work out and if you don't want to wait another year to begin school, I think you have a decent chance of getting into Santa Clara with your numbers. Many people on here would advise against it but depending on your circumstances, IP at Santa Clara might not be an absolutely horrible idea.

[IpleadtheFiF]

With a 2.85, you can still get into a top 20 if you raise your lsat to the 168-172 range.

I did a lot of research when my GPA was <3.0 and found that 173 is the magic number at which T20 schools started to take applicants seriously. You should aim for a 99% LSAT score, which is 173-180.

[Attax]

With a 2.85, you can still get into a top 20 if you raise your lsat to the 168-172 range.

I did a lot of research when my GPA was <3.0 and found that 173 is the magic number at which T20 schools started to take applicants seriously. You should aim for a 99% LSAT score, which is 173-180.

From my research it seems different now. Some places such as GWU and Emory both seem to not care about GPA once you hit around 166-167.

[IpleadtheFiF]

From my research it seems different now. Some places such as GWU and Emory both seem to not care about GPA once you hit around 166-167.

Seems legit. I was looking more at NU/GULC/UCLA/Vanderbilt.

[Attax]

Seems legit. I was looking more at NU/GULC/UCLA/Vanderbilt.

Oh yeah, them and Texas seem to care. Although UCLA seems to at least waitlist you once at 168

http://ucla.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/1314