At a funny place.... Forum

[solice]

Hey,

I've spent the past 3 years thinking that I wanted to go to medical school. As I wind down now and finish off school in December, I've been giving it a lot of thought and I decided (a while back) that I wanted to do law. So I took the LSAT and got a 172. I also took the MCAT and got a 35. I'm a double major (Biochemistry and Microbiology) at a top 15 public school. However, my GPA isn't that great (3.3). However, I do have a ton of hospital volunteering experience, a BUNCH of research (including a research publication) and I preach at my church. I am also a Puerto Rican male. I was wondering what my chances would be if I applied early decision to any of the top three law schools. More importantly, would it be wise to drop my current medical path if I were to be accepted at Colombia? I know this is something I should decide on my own, but I don't really have all that much insight on how law school admissions work. Thanks!

[straxen]

If I were even remotely scientifically inclined and could get into a halfway decent med school, I would run as fast as I could from law the way the profession is going. If you're still debating between med school and law school, it doesn't seem like you're entirely sure what you want. Before committing, I would definitely take some time and decide whether law is really what you want to do, or if you'll get into it and see it's not really what you expected it to be. I'm not really sure how it works with med school to know how quickly you need to make up your mind, but a gap between undergrad and law school should it come to that is not looked down upon, in fact it seems to be viewed positively increasingly.

HYS is a big reach with a 3.3 even being URM though not entirely in the realm of the ridiculous and I'd throw an app to Harvard and maybe Stanford. Conventional wisdom is that URM status helps more on the LSAT than the GPA but there's still a boost. Your softs are solid but nothing game-changing. URM cycles are more unpredictable, particularly for the high LSAT semi-splitter URM, but I would say CCN is more likely and you should be in at several of the T14, should you choose not to go to med school.

If I could do it over again, I'd work much harder (and pad) to increase my GPA before I graduated forever solidifying my LSDAS GPA. The more you can move up that 3.3 the better. (And beware of LSDAS GPA calculations unexpectedly lowering that number).

[Jacktone]

If I were even remotely scientifically inclined and could get into a halfway decent med school, I would run as fast as I could from law the way the profession is going. If you're still debating between med school and law school, it doesn't seem like you're entirely sure what you want. Before committing, I would definitely take some time and decide whether law is really what you want to do, or if you'll get into it and see it's not really what you expected it to be. I'm not really sure how it works with med school to know how quickly you need to make up your mind, but a gap between undergrad and law school should it come to that is not looked down upon, in fact it seems to be viewed positively increasingly.

HYS is a big reach with a 3.3 even being URM though not entirely in the realm of the ridiculous and I'd throw an app to Harvard and maybe Stanford. Conventional wisdom is that URM status helps more on the LSAT than the GPA but there's still a boost. Your softs are solid but nothing game-changing. URM cycles are more unpredictable, particularly for the high LSAT semi-splitter URM, but I would say CCN is more likely and you should be in at several of the T14, should you choose not to go to med school.

If I could do it over again, I'd work much harder (and pad) to increase my GPA before I graduated forever solidifying my LSDAS GPA. The more you can move up that 3.3 the better. (And beware of LSDAS GPA calculations unexpectedly lowering that number).

TITCR Only thing I would add is to note that you cannot apply ED to HYS

[birdmann783]

go be a doctor...please

and tutor to pay for some expenses..

[matt2010]

I find myself in much the same situation as you, just a little farther along the path. I pursued both directions and ended up accepted to two medical schools and two of HYS. It's a gutvwrenching decision, and I understand your desire to reach out to anyone for advice. For me, I finally decided that, at this point, I didn't have the commitment to medicine that I needed and I was interested in too many things related to law and outside of the practice of medicine. I think it's important that you keep in mind that if you decide to go to law school you can always go to medical school afterward. This certainly isn't common but also isn't unheard of. Medical school will require at least 7 but up to 14 or 15 years of commitment after undergrad before you're truly a professional, practicing physician. If you can't get into a top school, do your best to take on as little debt as possible so that you can have more options after law school. These sorts of gambles aren't in any way ideal, but you have to keep in mind that you're young and this one decision doesn't have to define you for the next 50 years.

As far as more practical advice goes, I didn't find myself hindered at all by my premedical background. In fact, it may have made me slightly more interesting to adcoms. There are other people on here much more qualified to ascertain your chances at top schools, but I would wager that you certainly have a shot. If you've yet to apply to any of these schools, I'd certainly take a year off and give some concerted thought to your decision. Perhaps you could find a job in a field that's at least peripherally related to the law so that you can see if it stokes your passion as much as medicine.