Could you please help me with interpretation of my record? Forum

Cash · Post by **Cash** » Fri May 09, 2014 6:25 pm

I attended two years of bible college just out of high school and performed very poorly (1.9 GPA). Lost faith, dropped out, etc.

Took four years off to grow up/get a trade.

Started degree over at State. Now finishing third year in Honors Humanities with GPA of 4.2 (from the past 3 years).

GPA including bible college is 3.17.
173 LSAT.
Weak softs (2x pt volunteer, 1x community organization)

I would like to know whether I should apply to HYS. Specifically, I would like to know the chances of my application not being turfed at the outset simply because of my accumulative GPA - and should my application sneak by the gatekeepers, how is this record going to be interpreted by the decision makers?

Especially interested in hearing from someone with a similar situation.

Much thanks for your time.

(numbers have been slightly tweaked to protect the innocent)

alicepaul · Post by **alicepaul** » Fri May 09, 2014 6:36 pm

You should plug in your numbers at mylsn.info, but you probably won't get into HYS given your numbers. My K-JD buddy had very similar numbers- 3.3 GPA and a 171 LSAT- and got into Columbia ED (no money) so you may have some luck a little bit further down the list if you apply as soon as apps open up as he did.

Cash · Post by **Cash** » Fri May 09, 2014 6:41 pm

Thank you alicepaul, I appreciate your feedback.

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Fri May 09, 2014 7:06 pm

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MistakenGenius · Post by **MistakenGenius** » Fri May 09, 2014 7:13 pm

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MistakenGenius · Post by **MistakenGenius** » Fri May 09, 2014 7:15 pm

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Pneumonia · Post by **Pneumonia** » Fri May 09, 2014 7:20 pm

Lol

Leeway helps with a 3.8 (lol again), but not with a 3.2.

OP: you maybe have a snowballs chance at H if you perfectly execute the rest of your app and apply day 1. No way at YS though. You'll get NYU and would probably be competitive at CC if you ED.

salad.law · Post by **salad.law** » Fri May 09, 2014 7:23 pm

I would apply either way. Two people I know applied with similar GPA and LSAT, and had the same issue as you. Not sure what Bible Study School is, but they applied with a low GPA from their first school, but grew-up later on and aced all their classes afterwards. Both got into Harvard, one Yale the other Stanford.

They wrote an addendum, and it seems HYS understood.

First person: 1.4 GPA (first), 4.0 (second), 175, non-urm

Second person: 1.2 GPA (first), 3.9 (second), 176, non-urm

anyriotgirl · Post by **anyriotgirl** » Fri May 09, 2014 7:27 pm

I would also recommend loading up on some community college classes this summer if its feasible for you.

Cash · Post by **Cash** » Wed May 14, 2014 1:58 pm

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful replies. I think I may apply to H for the hell of it, if all else fails I can frame my rejection letter and hang it next to my arts degree.

If any future readers of this thread have especially relevant experience I would very much welcome your thoughts.

Tiago Splitter · Post by **Tiago Splitter** » Fri May 16, 2014 5:48 pm

I'm sure you don't want to wait but applying in the fall of 2015 instead of this year would allow you to get A's and A+'s for another year and continue to pull that GPA up. A few more tenths could at least make Harvard somewhat realistic, especially if you could snag a few extra LSAT points on a retake.

Cash · Post by **Cash** » Sat May 17, 2014 12:07 am

Tiago,

I appreciate your comment. It's an interesting point. If I were to wait until the end of my degree to apply it would be possible to hit a 3.40 cumulative. It certainly looked better than 3.2, but on its own it's far from competitive. I suspect my only chance is in trying to convince them that the old grades don't reflect my ability or drive, and as that's a long shot it's probably not a good idea to delay a year just to reapply with very similar stats.

SnakySalmon · Post by **SnakySalmon** » Sat May 17, 2014 5:10 am

On LSN, Harvard's low GPA seems to be about 3.55. Is there any way you could hit that?