General and Slightly Unusual Law School App Questions Forum

[PearsonSpecterLitt]

Been browsing this forum for the past few months and wanted to pose some questions. Thanks in advance!

Here's some background:
Rising Junior @ Top LAC School
GPA: 3.8*
Most Recent Practice LSAT: 166 (planning to take the September one; don't want to take later due to other commitments)
Major: (leaving out b/c I want to stay anonymous)*
Not URM; First Gen
Recommendations: Strong recs from a law professor. Potentially another from econ or govt.

Extracurriculars:
1) Co-Captain for a campus performance group
2) Founder/President of a community service organization since Freshman year but stopping this Fall because it wasn't too much of a success. I will be joining a professional organization (Kiwanis/Rotary) to replace.
3) Student govt for a semester
5) Staff for a state-based political interest group related to fundraising during last two summers

*GPA/Major: Major is P/F; therefore 60% of my courses were P/F. It's a major with an especially rigorous course load and required courses to be taken P/F. I'm not sure how law schools will interpret this (one of the aspects I'm uncertain about). University does not report any GPA on transcript.

Questions
Extracurriculars: how would law schools assess extracurricular activities? I'm unsure of how dropping to EC's will look. Replacing one and perhaps joining another.

GPA/Major: Does anyone know of outcomes of my situation? I'm not sure what to make of this in the larger scheme of applications because most of my current courses are P/F and ~45% of them will be by the time I apply.

I am also looking to increase my LSAT score substantially, enough to be competitive for HYS. Realistically, what are the typical/average scenarios of LSAT score increases that people see in two months, and what might be the top 25% range in increases? What would be a good number of tests to do in any given week?

[rpupkin]

I only skimmed your pointlessly long post, but I didn't see anything unusual in there. Your 3.8* GPA is good. Try to get as high of an LSAT score as you can. Once you get an actual LSAT score, go to LSN to get a sense of your chances at different schools.

Good luck.

[stego]

What is your major?

[PearsonSpecterLitt]

I only skimmed your pointlessly long post, but I didn't see anything unusual in there. Your 3.8* GPA is good. Try to get as high of an LSAT score as you can. Once you get an actual LSAT score, go to LSN to get a sense of your chances at different schools.

Good luck.

Thanks! I cut down the post a bit.

Forgot to mention that my school doesn't officially report a GPA (I know LSAC doesn't calculate) but I technically don't have a GPA at my undergraduate institution. Previous interactions with admissions officers at Columbia said they deal with my major in a special way. My main concern is this, and since I am an undergrad, I am concerned about dropping to extracurricular activities in the same year.

[PearsonSpecterLitt]

What is your major?

It's government related. Can't really say what it is because it's unique to my university and would make it identifiable to anyone that knows me.

[rpupkin]

I only skimmed your pointlessly long post, but I didn't see anything unusual in there. Your 3.8* GPA is good. Try to get as high of an LSAT score as you can. Once you get an actual LSAT score, go to LSN to get a sense of your chances at different schools.

Good luck.

Thanks! I cut down the post a bit.

Forgot to mention that my school doesn't officially report a GPA (I know LSAC doesn't calculate) but I technically don't have a GPA at my undergraduate institution. Previous interactions with admissions officers at Columbia said they deal with my major in a special way. My main concern is this, and since I am an undergrad, I am concerned about dropping to extracurricular activities in the same year.

Ah, got it. That does make your situation unusual. So long as you have a few extracurricular activities on your resume spread out over your four years of undergrad, it's probably fine to drop a couple activities this year if you want.

Because you don't have a LSAC GPA, your LSAT score will be especially important. I wouldn't worry about "typical/average scenarios of LSAT score increases that people see in two months." Everyone is different; even if people could tell you the typical score increase over two months (which they cannot), learning that number wouldn't have any impact on how you approach studying. Also, because you're a rising junior, you have a lot of time. There's no reason to compress your prep into a two-month period.

[mrcfa1995]

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