AA Female Cumulative GPA concern Forum
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Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are sharing sensitive information about bar exam prep. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.
Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned."
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AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
I attended a 2 year institution to earn my associates and my GPA wasn't too stellar. I went on to earn my bachelors at a good state school, and earned a 3.7 with honors. I was under the impression law schools would only seriously consider the GPA I earned at the institution I received my bachelors from, but LSAC combines them. With them combined I'm at about a 3.0 (I know horrible lower level GPA, so embarrassing). Im attaching an addendum explaining why my grades were not up to par in the beginning. I fear this will mean I have no chance at HYS even if I get an LSAT in the 170's (which is what my practice tests have been). Does anybody have any experience with a situation like this?
- Clearly
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
Yeah they combine them, anything before your first BA. Unfortunately if you are indeed a 3.0 HYS is practically an impossibility. Sorry to say, same boat here. Crush the LSAT, look to NU or UVA.
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
Hmmm any thoughts on staying in undergrad to boost my GPA. It's probably going to end up 3.1/3.2ish to be more specific, now that I do the calculations. But I don't know if staying in undergrad longer will make me look worse on paper.
- Clearly
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
It won't hurt you, but don't expect to raise it to HYS levels, you would have to take a lot of classes to mitigate the damage.lawschoolj1218 wrote:Hmmm any thoughts on staying in undergrad to boost my GPA. It's probably going to end up 3.1/3.2ish to be more specific, now that I do the calculations. But I don't know if staying in undergrad longer will make me look worse on paper.
- JamMasterJ
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
sorry, no shot but a 170 is a real shot at CCN, maybe with some money
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
Bummer, all that hard work! Well, I'm still going to try to get in the 170's with my LSAT and maybe get accepted in to a top 10; and I could always attempt to transfer to HYS, if I maintain great grades my first year. So, I guess all hope is not lost.
- Clearly
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
I didnt realize you were a urm sorry, still a long shot but IF you pull a 170 you should have good options
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
Even for a URM, that's still pretty low. I wish they paid more attention to my upper level course work. Well, if I can get 170's i'll be in the 99th percentile for my race, so hopefully that'll get somebody's attention. Thanks so much for your help!
- dawyzest1
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
Incorrect. The 99th percentile for black folks is a 163. To have HYS chances with your GPA you must score above 170 and ride it out. And by HYS, we are really only talking H. Y and S will not go for a GPA that low . But, even at 165 you will have interesting and good options, I'd say. Make sure you spend a great deal of time and care on your addendum, etc. I'm sure that the more context you can give to your split performances the easier it will be for an adcomm to rely more on your degree granting performance.lawschoolj1218 wrote:Even for a URM, that's still pretty low. I wish they paid more attention to my upper level course work.Well, if I can get 170's i'll be in the 99th percentile for my race, so hopefully that'll get somebody's attention. Thanks so much for your help!
Good luck. Rock the LSAT!
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
Yep...I had 3 absolute SHIT grades from community college classes I took in high school, it all goes into the LSDAS GPA, unfortunately.
Focus on crushing the LSAT and you can still get into a prestigious school.
Focus on crushing the LSAT and you can still get into a prestigious school.
Last edited by californiauser on Sat May 18, 2013 12:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
- Clearly
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
...not technically incorrect, 175+ is still "in" the 99th percentile even of it's not the start of the 99th...dawyzest1 wrote:Incorrect. The 99th percentile for black folks is a 163. To have HYS chances with your GPA you must score above 170 and ride it out. And by HYS, we are really only talking H. Y and S will not go for a GPA that low . But, even at 165 you will have interesting and good options, I'd say. Make sure you spend a great deal of time and care on your addendum, etc. I'm sure that the more context you can give to your split performances the easier it will be for an adcomm to rely more on your degree granting performance.lawschoolj1218 wrote:Even for a URM, that's still pretty low. I wish they paid more attention to my upper level course work.Well, if I can get 170's i'll be in the 99th percentile for my race, so hopefully that'll get somebody's attention. Thanks so much for your help!
Good luck. Rock the LSAT!
- Dr. Dre
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
OP You are AA.
Although your chances at YHS are slim to NONE, you DO have a shot at CCN witH $$.
Just get 170+
Although your chances at YHS are slim to NONE, you DO have a shot at CCN witH $$.
Just get 170+
- dawyzest1
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
Quite right, sir. I just wanted to make sure OP doesn't jump off a building if she doesn't crack 170. That's the 99.94th percentile meaning that only about 6-7 AA have a score that high in a given year. A 175 is just ridiculous, only 1 AA in a year similar to 2011-2012 would get that high.Clearlynotstefan wrote:...not technically incorrect, 175+ is still "in" the 99th percentile even of it's not the start of the 99th...dawyzest1 wrote:Incorrect. The 99th percentile for black folks is a 163. To have HYS chances with your GPA you must score above 170 and ride it out. And by HYS, we are really only talking H. Y and S will not go for a GPA that low . But, even at 165 you will have interesting and good options, I'd say. Make sure you spend a great deal of time and care on your addendum, etc. I'm sure that the more context you can give to your split performances the easier it will be for an adcomm to rely more on your degree granting performance.lawschoolj1218 wrote:Even for a URM, that's still pretty low. I wish they paid more attention to my upper level course work.Well, if I can get 170's i'll be in the 99th percentile for my race, so hopefully that'll get somebody's attention. Thanks so much for your help!
Good luck. Rock the LSAT!
Apologies in advance if I have butchered stats.
- Clearly
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
Hey I'm with ya, I just find the ol' strike through "incorrect" routine to be over-used and rude around here, so if its not technically incorrect, I'll come to the defense haha. Nothing personal.dawyzest1 wrote:Quite right, sir. I just wanted to make sure OP doesn't jump off a building if she doesn't crack 170. That's the 99.94th percentile meaning that only about 6-7 AA have a score that high in a given year. A 175 is just ridiculous, only 1 AA in a year similar to 2011-2012 would get that high.Clearlynotstefan wrote:...not technically incorrect, 175+ is still "in" the 99th percentile even of it's not the start of the 99th...dawyzest1 wrote:Incorrect. The 99th percentile for black folks is a 163. To have HYS chances with your GPA you must score above 170 and ride it out. And by HYS, we are really only talking H. Y and S will not go for a GPA that low . But, even at 165 you will have interesting and good options, I'd say. Make sure you spend a great deal of time and care on your addendum, etc. I'm sure that the more context you can give to your split performances the easier it will be for an adcomm to rely more on your degree granting performance.lawschoolj1218 wrote:Even for a URM, that's still pretty low. I wish they paid more attention to my upper level course work.Well, if I can get 170's i'll be in the 99th percentile for my race, so hopefully that'll get somebody's attention. Thanks so much for your help!
Good luck. Rock the LSAT!
Apologies in advance if I have butchered stats.
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
This number might be lower still. My understanding of the stats (based on this thread) gives me the impression that the cutoff for the 99th might very well be in the 160-162 range (I'd say 160 if I had to guess). Combine that with a GPA above 3.0 (a lot of URM's with good scores fail to meet this standard) and one has a good shot at a T14, though not so much HYS.dawyzest1 wrote:Incorrect. The 99th percentile for black folks is a 163.lawschoolj1218 wrote:Even for a URM, that's still pretty low. I wish they paid more attention to my upper level course work.Well, if I can get 170's i'll be in the 99th percentile for my race, so hopefully that'll get somebody's attention. Thanks so much for your help!
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
If she can score a 170+, with a good PS, and Addendum, I think she has a shot....Apply really early
- dawyzest1
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
This is right, sorry for the sloppy work. 162 was the beginning of the 99th percentile during the 2011-2012 testing cycle, (141.84 mean, 8.68 SD) This means a 162 has a z-score of 2.33, which is the 99th percentile. And I agree 100% a score above 162 will get OP comfortably into the T14 somewhere.Athlone McGinnis wrote:This number might be lower still. My understanding of the stats (based on this thread) gives me the impression that the cutoff for the 99th might very well be in the 160-162 range (I'd say 160 if I had to guess). Combine that with a GPA above 3.0 (a lot of URM's with good scores fail to meet this standard) and one has a good shot at a T14, though not so much HYS.dawyzest1 wrote:Incorrect. The 99th percentile for black folks is a 163.lawschoolj1218 wrote:Even for a URM, that's still pretty low. I wish they paid more attention to my upper level course work.Well, if I can get 170's i'll be in the 99th percentile for my race, so hopefully that'll get somebody's attention. Thanks so much for your help!
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
I did the averaging, and it's actually going to be around a 3.2. I hear Harvard has been known to occasionally accept 3.2's with stellar LSAT'S. I think if I can pull a little above a 170, I may have a shot. Because, there is so much of a difference in the two GPA's, it could possibly prompt them to forgive it? What do you guys think?
- Clearly
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
What do you want to do as a lawyer?lawschoolj1218 wrote:I did the averaging, and it's actually going to be around a 3.2. I hear Harvard has been known to occasionally accept 3.2's with stellar LSAT'S. I think if I can pull a little above a 170, I may have a shot. Because, there is so much of a difference in the two GPA's, it could possibly prompt them to forgive it? What do you guys think?
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
I'm split between two avenues. Criminal prosecutor, and possibly a DA (of course I would want to continue to move up from there). I've also always wanted to be a fathers advocacy lawyer. That choice was due to specific events that've happened in my life; although, I wasn't sure if fathers advocacy would be "big enough" for Harvard.
- Clearly
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
You don't need Harvard to do any of these things. Take money to CCN even if you get in to Harvard. But worry about the LSAT first. Less than 1% will score where you plan on scoring. Cart before the horse and all...
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
Thanks for the advice! In your opinion, what kind of law do you need Harvard for?
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
lawschoolj1218 wrote:Thanks for the advice! In your opinion, what kind of law do you need Harvard for?
Huh?.....I think his point was you can get to where you want to get to with CCN.......and that if you received significant $$$ you go should there vs Harvard
- Clearly
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
Academia, better chance at prestigious clerkships. Other than that CCN will give you similar chances. Also, what do you expect to earn in these positions?lawschoolj1218 wrote:Thanks for the advice! In your opinion, what kind of law do you need Harvard for?
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Re: AA Female Cumulative GPA concern
Lol I know what he was saying. I just wanted to see if he had knowledge of a particular law avenue that would prompt one to chose Harvard over CCN, that's all.