Why are top 25 schools contacting me, a 155 LSAT? Forum

[poorkidfromca]

I scored a 155 (64th percentile) on the LSAT, yet I received and am still receiving emails from out of state schools in the 20-25 range saying that I am (A) a competitive applicant and often (B) that they will wave my application fee.

If they weren't waving the fees I would just think they were after my $70 or so dollars, but as it stands, their reasoning escapes me. Do they just want more applications to deny in order to reduce their percent of admits, thus making themselves appear more selective? (Possibly paranoid, I know, but I'm a poor kid from a toxic community. Low self-esteem, etc.)

Things the schools know about me through LSAC:
1) 3.70 UGPA (BA in history from Tier 3, California public school)
2) 3.97 GGPA (MA in liberal studies from Tier 3, California public school)
3) Dean and Honors list

Things the schools couldn't (I think) know about me, but might explain interest (i.e. softs):
1) Two time writing scholarship winner
2) Military experience, honorable discharge, documented disabled veteran (PTSD)
3) Possible URM (Roma. I look white and based on American notions of race/ethnicity, if spotted on the street most would say I am not a URM. In my LSAC profile I left my race as unidentified.)
4) Dyslexic (purposely undocumented) with a history of only slightly above mean test scores (SAT-59th percentile, GRE-65th percentile) (That said, on the ASVAB/AFQT and a formally administered Stanford-Binet IQ test I scored in the 99.9th percentile)
5) 2 years of work experience in PR/Advertising/Healthcare

As long as it's free I figure I’ll apply to the schools that have contacted me. But still, I am wondering if anyone might know (or have any good guesses) why these schools might want me to apply in the first place. My LSAT is well below the mean and even the 25th percentile for most. Should I apply to other schools in the 20-25 range that haven’t contacted me, or higher or lower ranked schools?

I appreciate your input.

[chicagolaw2013]

I was gonna say "they just want your app fee" but now I'm just flummoxed. Well, unless they don't consider your UG a T3 because your GPA is phenomenal.

[Anastasia Dee Dualla]

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[kajosa]

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[NewHere]

Two things:

1. You actually may have a shot, because you have a high GPA.

2. If you don't have a shot, they do increase their applicant numbers. It looks good for a school to increase their applicant pool, because the more students they can reject, the more selective they appear (it's an element in the US News tables).

Either way though, if it doesn't cost you anything and it's a school that you would be happy to attend, give it a try!

[Zojirushi]

I don't know if its military experience. I have it too and was not contacted by any top 25 schools. My GPA is lower than your, but my LSAT is a bit higher. Good luck either way, and I do think veteran status is a great soft.

[SandyC877]

Veteran Status > URM Status

[vanwinkle]

Veteran Status > URM Status

This. And thank you for serving, OP.

[FunkyJD]

Veteran Status > URM Status

This. And thank you for serving, OP.

+1. Good luck.

[Jay-Electronica]

Veteran Status > URM Status

unless you have both

[YCrevolution]

..

[Zojirushi]

Veteran Status > URM Status

Ehh, the data I have on this would suggest there's a veteran's boost, but nothing as substantial as that for URMs. A few veterans significantly outperformed their respective LSP predictions, but others basically met predictions or did slightly worse.

Note: I'm not making a judgment on whether veteran status should be >, =, < URM status.

What are the chances of you compiling that data?

[YCrevolution]

..

[Zojirushi]

Either way, thanks for your work on LSP, easily the most valuable contribution to come out of TLS.