Older Applicant & Career Military - Help or Hinder? Forum

[ScottRiqui]

Just wanted to get some opinions, since my situation and history seems different from that of many other LS applicants.

Bottom Line Up Front - I really want to go to UT Law, but my ancient undergrad GPA looks to be a significant problem. However, I think that my overall career experience and education might earn me some "diversity" points.

I'm currently on active duty in the U.S. Navy, and will be retiring to Texas after 20 years following my next duty assignment (I'll be 44 at the time). Texas is my "home of record" and where I lived for ten years before joining up, including high school and my undergraduate education. I'm currently a Virginia resident for tax purposes, though, so I may or may not qualify as a Texas resident for the purposes of the 65%/35% admissions rule.

My undergrad (1994) is a B.S. in Computer Science & Engineering, but my UGPA was only 2.9. I also have an M.S. in Applied Physics (2009) with a GPA of 3.92. I haven't officially taken the LSAT yet because I don't want to take it too early/too often, but all the practice tests I've taken indicate that something in the low-to-mid 170s is reasonable.

I enlisted in the Navy Nuclear Power program and completed almost all of the required schools before being picked up for Officer Candidate School in 1996. After my commission, I became a Naval Flight Officer and have had several interesting/challenging assignments during my career, which I'll be sure to describe glowingly on my resume/application.

In short, if you boil down my entire life to a simple figure like "2.9/173", I know my chances at UT Law look pretty bleak, but I'm hoping that challenging graduate work and being a career military officer would count for something, especially since my undergrad degree will be 20 years old when I apply.

Any thoughts/opinions/experiences?

Thanks,
Scott

[tourdeforcex]

welcome to TLS

you are correct in that you are non-traditional and you do add diversity. your graduate work and your military career will definitely add. it definitely will not hinder. the 2.9 is old news. especially considering the 3.92 of your MS which is recent.

my advice: give it all you've got for the LSAT. take it seriously b/c it can open doors. apply as early as possible in the cycle. have at least 5 friends and coworkers read over the PS.

best wishes.

[whymeohgodno]

UT is out. Sorry, they like GPAs.

[dissonance1848]

Take it in June next year and apply next cycle. You should put Georgetown and Northwestern as your two T-14 targets, since they are the only ones that dip below 3.0 in real numbers. Then apply to the midwestern schools, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, WUSTL. UT will be hard to crack with that UGPA, which is what they care about, but throw in the app anyway.

Good luck studying for the LSAT, and thank you for your service.

[arism87]

Take it in June next year and apply next cycle. You should put Georgetown and Northwestern as your two T-14 targets, since they are the only ones that dip below 3.0 in real numbers. Then apply to the midwestern schools, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, WUSTL. UT will be hard to crack with that UGPA, which is what they care about, but throw in the app anyway.

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Good luck studying for the LSAT, and thank you for your service.

And especially this

[ScottRiqui]

Thanks for the welcome and the advice/suggestions. I'll lurk around here and learn more before I ask any more questions, but I wanted to ask this one up front since it's my biggest concern.

I'd actually be testing in June 2013, since I'll be retiring from active duty in May of 2014. I'll bust my ass on the LSAT and apply everywhere I'm interested, including UT, since the worst they can do is reject me. I'm still hoping to find some stories of other applicants in a similar situation (20+ year-old UGPA with significant education/career experience since then).

Thanks again,
Scott

[jas5076]

Thanks for the welcome and the advice/suggestions. I'll lurk around here and learn more before I ask any more questions, but I wanted to ask this one up front since it's my biggest concern.

I'd actually be testing in June 2013, since I'll be retiring from active duty in May of 2014. I'll bust my ass on the LSAT and apply everywhere I'm interested, including UT, since the worst they can do is reject me. I'm still hoping to find some stories of other applicants in a similar situation (20+ year-old UGPA with significant education/career experience since then).

Thanks again,
Scott

Good luck Scott, hope the LSAT goes well for you!!