How Formulaic - It's Only Numbers Forum

[emhellmer]

Barbie here got into UIUC with a decent scholly, below both medians and I think below one 25th. She has two huge softs though.

*waits for joke*

Oh, excellent point! I'll keep that in mind when I draft my LOCI's

[stheskier]

Folks - trying to keep this on point. I am focusing on exceptions to auto rejects (below both medians, non URM), not anything else. Not splitters, reverse splitters or softs. ANYONE below both medians and a non URM who has an acceptance?

I think the people in this category are still waiting for answers. Their apps are most likely sitting in maybe piles right now.

[kazu]

Folks - trying to keep this on point. I am focusing on exceptions to auto rejects (below both medians, non URM), not anything else. Not splitters, reverse splitters or softs. ANYONE below both medians and a non URM who has an acceptance?

Like Hanni said, TLS user Barbie. Below both medians at UIUC, non-URM, got in. She did have exceptional softs though. PM her for more info.

[paulinaporizkova]

Folks - trying to keep this on point. I am focusing on exceptions to auto rejects (below both medians, non URM), not anything else. Not splitters, reverse splitters or softs. ANYONE below both medians and a non URM who has an acceptance?

What are you on about?

Are you seriously asking for someone below both medians who has no softs that got in? Someone who has literally nothing going for them?

OK, JLR, the only reason I wrote in this thread was because it's a generally accepted notion that the LSAT is worth a lot more weight than a GPA. If you have a GPA AND an LSAT below both medians, you probably wouldn't be a very good fit at that school anyway

[ScarryBakhtin]

Paulina, in the schools you just mentioned you are above at least one of their medians.

To the OP. Most Law Schools have reasonably large class sizes and want to ensure those graduating end up with jobs. Law is a profession. Numbers allow law schools to give themselves a statistical indicator of how students will perform. Similarly, those same numbers affect school's ranking and, thus, how their graduates will be placed. Like the LSAT itself, the entire process is reasonably transparent, ruthless, and simplistic. If an applicant with numbers below medians worked for TFA or received a prestigious scholarship (Rhodes, Fullbright, etc.) schools are more convinced that said applicant has an edge when it comes to finding something to do after law school.

If you are looking for a more subjective, less "formulaic," option, I would strongly encourage you to apply to graduate programs in the humanities. PhD programs especially are so small that they look for students whose unique narratives and strong recommendations convince schools that a student will finish the program and spend years after doing whatever it takes to find a job.

Finally, and I'm not sure how well this will be received. Many, if not most, of the applicants who are on TLS aren't the few select students below medians being accepted. Those students couldn't have written such heartfelt PS's and gotten such serious recs if they even caught a scent of some of the cynicism present on these pages. The hand full of applicants who make it though do so because they believe they can, not because they are pragmatic.

[JLR]

bk187 - no. I am simply suggesting that no matter how good one's softs are, they cannot overcome being below both medians.

[bk1]

So no, I don't have MS's and PhD's and my LSAT (95th percentile when I took it) was on the low end of most schools I applied to, but I think the fact that I worked so damn hard in college really reflects my ability to succeed in graduate school, which is why I think I was accepted to these schools with a "subpar" LSAT.

Your hard work in college is reflected in your GPA, which they like. You're acting like the average 4.0/167 has a hard time snagging lower T14's, which is not true.

[Hannibal]

bk187 - no. I am simply suggesting that no matter how good one's softs are, they cannot overcome being below both medians.

I wasn't joking about Barbie.

[paulinaporizkova]

JLR, I agree. I think it would be a rare case if this were to happen. Or the person ED'd.

[kazu]

bk187 - no. I am simply suggesting that no matter how good one's softs are, they cannot overcome being below both medians.

I wasn't joking about Barbie.

This...

[bk1]

JLR, I agree. I think it would be a rare case if this were to happen. Or the person ED'd.

Even ED doesn't save you from the kiss of death (below both medians).

[09042014]

Barbie should have been autodinged for her TTT book. Truly atrocious.

[Shooter]

bk187 - no. I am simply suggesting that no matter how good one's softs are, they cannot overcome being below both medians.

I'm sorry. Did everyone completely disregard my comment?

Harvard accepts white males below both medians. Done, end of discussion. Softs (provided they are exceptional) can make a difference. It is just extremely rare.

[Hannibal]

Barbie should have been autodinged for her TTT book. Truly atrocious.

Did you guys actually read it?

[paulinaporizkova]

Maybe this is a topic for another thread, but in a battle between a white male and a white female, all other things constant in their application, does the female really get the advantage?

[bk1]

Harvard accepts white males below both medians. Done, end of discussion. Softs (provided they are exceptional) can make a difference. It is just extremely rare.

Extremely rare is an understatement.

It happens, but so infrequently that it isn't worth mentioning.

[09042014]

Barbie should have been autodinged for her TTT book. Truly atrocious.

Did you guys actually read it?

I was read excerpts. It was clear it wasn't even edited.

[bk1]

Maybe this is a topic for another thread, but in a battle between a white male and a white female, all other things constant in their application, does the female really get the advantage?

I doubt it.

On top of that, all other things are never constant. I mean even if the adcomms were forced to pick between two 3.5/170's with almost no softs, there is at the very least the PS to pick through which would be a heck of a lot more of a deciding factor than gender.

[kazu]

Barbie should have been autodinged for her TTT book. Truly atrocious.

Did you guys actually read it?

I was read excerpts. It was clear it wasn't even edited.

Whether or not her book was horrible, it's still true that she got into UIUC while being below both medians, and non-URM.

[paulinaporizkova]

Wait, what is everyone talking about? I wanna knowwww

[09042014]

Barbie should have been autodinged for her TTT book. Truly atrocious.

Did you guys actually read it?

I was read excerpts. It was clear it wasn't even edited.

Whether or not her book was horrible, it's still true that she got into UIUC while being below both medians, and non-URM.

Would you like to make other true but nonresponsive relies to my post?

[bookofcarpetsamples]

i was admitted to a school with a one point below median lsat (but still above 25th), and a well below 25th gpa. it happens, but i think everyone on here knows it's very, very rare.

[kazu]

Would you like to make other true but nonresponsive relies to my post?

Eh, that wasn't directed at you, I was just annoyed that OP kept ignoring a valid answer to his question.

[09042014]

i was admitted to a school with a one point below median lsat (but still above 25th), and a well below 25th gpa. it happens, but i think everyone on here knows it's very, very rare.

That's a pretty huge win. Which school. It could people applying.

[09042014]

Would you like to make other true but nonresponsive relies to my post?

Eh, that wasn't directed at you, I was just annoyed that OP kept ignoring a valid answer to his question.

Gotcha. It's exactly what he was looking for but doesn't want to hear it for some odd reason.