What have you learned through this 2010 application cycle? Forum

[tru]

.

[AdmiralNelson]

Apply early.

[Thirteen]

Go to class, or at least turn in assignments and show up for tests.

[cutiewiddlebebe]

The whole process is wonderfully predictable.

[Bert]

Paying the application fee does not guarantee a decision on my application will be reached.

[09042014]

There is not a GPA too low that can't be mitigated by a 171, 18 months of working in an office, and one ED form to NU.

[hellokitty]

That a really high GPA and great softs don't mean anything when you have a shiteous LSAT score.

[msch0i]

A "rolling" admissions cycle actually means they look at your numbers in the order received, and "roll" over to the next applicant if yo #s be ugly.

[JCougar]

There is not a GPA too low that can't be mitigated by a 171, 18 months of working in an office, and one ED form to NU.

Damn you and your three extra points!

[JCougar]

Do not take until February to reach your target LSAT score.

[OmbreGracieuse]

April 16 is here, which means that most of us have made a decision to attend some T-14 already. What have you learned about the legal field, employment, schools, etc?
I'll start.

1) Schools do not try to hide their contempt for us, which is in an ironic sense honest. (See Duke's 100% employment rate)
2) Schools hate each other and try to fuck each other out of the race as fastest and hardest way possible, at the expense of our hopes. (See: Free fee-waivers for auto rejects for selectivity boost)
3) Applicants are wary about USNWR rankings more than I had ever imagined.
4) I've never been so cynical over an application process.
5) 3 points more in LSAT triumphs over saving 3 children's lives as a soft.
6) Undergrad prestige or achievements matter little to none.
7) Most people thinks US News is actually a news reporting agency.

I am more bumping this than anything, but I find that line particularly funny.

[Generic20101L]

That 80 percent of it is your LSAT score, 15 percent is your GPA, and 5 percent is "soft" factors.

Anyone who tries to argue with that hasn't been through the process or is a Senator or a Sudanese child soldier who somehow ended up applying to an American Law School.

[09042014]

There is not a GPA too low that can't be mitigated by a 171, 18 months of working in an office, and one ED form to NU.

Damn you and your three extra points!

I had more than a 171, but several others didn't. 2.1/171 was in.

[r6_philly]

Apply early.

+1 doesn't quite do it.

Apply early.

[r6_philly]

That a really high GPA and great softs don't mean anything when you have a shiteous LSAT score.

I am almost tempted to say that a really high GPA and great softs don't mean anything. Period. Even with a workable LSAT score. Hey wait I just said it

[09042014]

Apply as early as you can get your best application package.

Don't rush with a poor LSAT or with a hastily written PS.

[09042014]

That a really high GPA and great softs don't mean anything when you have a shiteous LSAT score.

I am almost tempted to say that a really high GPA and great softs don't mean anything. Period. Even with a workable LSAT score. Hey wait I just said it

Being above the GPA median is huge in terms of scholarships, and terms of getting into schools where you are below the lsat median.

[Lieut Kaffee]

I've learned I'm not as great a guy as I thought I was.

[hellokitty]

Also don't some schools have like these LSAT/GPA walls? I've never seen anyone get into UCLA for example with less than a 160. However, Berkeley has some fairly low LSAT scores but I don't see too many GPAs below 3.5.

[Lieut Kaffee]

Also don't some schools have like these LSAT/GPA walls? I've never seen anyone get into UCLA for example with less than a 160. However, Berkeley has some fairly low LSAT scores but I don't see too many GPAs below 3.5.

Officially? No.

[Nom Sawyer]

Also don't some schools have like these LSAT/GPA walls? I've never seen anyone get into UCLA for example with less than a 160. However, Berkeley has some fairly low LSAT scores but I don't see too many GPAs below 3.5.

Officially? No.

Unofficially? Yes.

[romothesavior]

I've learned I'm in for a life of debt and misery because I'm not going to a T14.

[Lieut Kaffee]

Also don't some schools have like these LSAT/GPA walls? I've never seen anyone get into UCLA for example with less than a 160. However, Berkeley has some fairly low LSAT scores but I don't see too many GPAs below 3.5.

Officially? No.

Unofficially? Yes.

But it would be next to impossible to figure out where the line really is. If you're white, young, and boring with no softs like I am, you come to consider those 25th numbers to be the cutoff.

[romothesavior]

Also don't some schools have like these LSAT/GPA walls? I've never seen anyone get into UCLA for example with less than a 160. However, Berkeley has some fairly low LSAT scores but I don't see too many GPAs below 3.5.

Officially? No.

Unofficially? Yes.

But it would be next to impossible to figure out where the line really is. If you're white, young, and boring with no softs like I am, you come to consider those 25th numbers to be the cutoff.

If you're white, young, and boring, you can pretty much consider the medians your cutoff. Seems like W,Y, & B (like me) results in:

At/Above both medians: In with $$$
LSAT way above/GPA below: In with $
LSAT at median/GPA below: Probably WL or In
LSAT below/GPA above: WL
Both Below: Have a good time attending somewhere else

Obviously it depends on the school, but this seems to be the standard practice at most schools. As someone said above, cycles are far more predictable than I would have imagined before this whole process started.

[Lieut Kaffee]

Yeah, I didn't mean you could get by with both numbers around the 25th. I meant you can get by with one number there as long as the other number is considerably higher. I'm a white, young, boring semi-splitter with an atrocious retake history and no softs. My cycle came out accordingly.