Trying to Hedge My Bets Pre-October LSat Forum

[GoingForGold]

I'll try to make my thought process concise. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I have been out of school for six years. I had a 3.6 GPA. I have some (hopefully) solid softs including multiple successful startup companies that are still in existence and competing in an international athletic environment after college. My transcript likely screams that I can have a tendency to blow off classes as I Aced capstone econ, philosophy, and math courses but got middling grades in required classes like foreign language.

I plan on taking the LSat in October. I have been scoring between 173-177 on practice tests. Historically, I have tended to do well on standardized tests. I still have 6ish weeks to study and will be taking practice tests daily.

I plan on blanketing the T14. I realize I have no chance at Yale or Stanford. If I score on the high side of my LSAT range and have some luck, according to law school numbers, I could get Harvard.

Here's the rub; if Harvard is out, I'm content applying to NW's ED program as I would rather go their on a full ride then anywhere else in the T14 - HYS. I don't have a firm feel for the quantification in my head. Coinflip? Definitely shoot for Harvard. 2%? I'll pass and be content on shooting for the scholarship as best case.

So, at what LSAT score do I say, "No shot at Harvard, I will ED at NW and blanket the rest."

I ask because I am applying to NW regardless and the ED requires an applicant to interview on campus. As that is a trip across the country for me I really only want to make it in place of a regional interview if it's essential. Taking it at the extremes, if I had a lot of luck and managed a 179+ I would most assuredly shoot for Harvard and be content with the still relatively small shot and (hopefully) money, but not a full ride, elsewhere. At the other end, if I got a 170, Harvard is for sure out. But, am I even competitive for NW ED at that point?

The gist: Is there a LSAT range whereby I would say, "I have an OK shot at NW ED but no shot at Harvard?" If that range seems to carry with it a high enough percentage of realization I need to go ahead and schedule the trip to interview on campus.

As to why I simply would not wait to get my score and decide where to interview, it would seem that at that point it would be too late to interview on campus.

Any thoughts appreciated.

[soj]

I'd say 175 or lower gives you no shot at Harvard. Take a look at lawschoolnumbers.com for how splitters tend to do at H.

[2014]

Yep 176+ and even then it WILL be off the WL and your chances are well below 50/50.

E - For NU the lowest ED acceptance was 171, looks like 171+ and you would be very competitive. Given your circumstances I would lean that direction. I really don't think your 20% or w/e chance at Harvard is worth the 60-90k scholarship dollars you would be giving up doing NU RD.