Harvard 2010! Forum

[BioEBear2010]

is harvard even going to maintain its 170-173-176 LSAT split this cycle? granted that i'm biased as an LSAT splitter, but it seems pretty clear they're selling out for GPAs this cycle. i would rather have a 4/171 than a 3.75/178 for H this year, but there's not a chance i would have said that at the beginning of this cycle; LSP and last year's LSN both favor the 178 heavily.

check out the 4/171 neighborhood for last year's LSN and it's a sea of yellow, bit of red, bit of green http://harvard.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/0809/. on the same graph, a 178 seems auto-admit all the way down to 3.7, a long row of greens (the one red must have been a very strange case because he got boned by everyone down to duke/northwestern).

this year, there's already a solid cluster of 4/171 acceptances (as a bit more anecdotal evidence, i can add two more "greens" from my UG with 3.9+/below median LSAT). there are a couple 3.75/178 acceptances, but based on how many greens are in that area for last year you have to figure a bunch of those are floating around in hold purgatory still (there are at least 3 for whom this is true on TLS). in any case, it really seems that 3.75/178 is no longer auto-admit, and 4/171 has gained the ground that the 178 has lost.

Maybe they're just looking for 3.8/172s . Also, have any hold people heard back yet?

[4910]

I have a high gpa and a 171 and I didn't even get a JR1. Still waiting in hold purgatory.

[englawyer]

is harvard even going to maintain its 170-173-176 LSAT split this cycle? granted that i'm biased as an LSAT splitter, but it seems pretty clear they're selling out for GPAs this cycle. i would rather have a 4/171 than a 3.75/178 for H this year, but there's not a chance i would have said that at the beginning of this cycle; LSP and last year's LSN both favor the 178 heavily.

check out the 4/171 neighborhood for last year's LSN and it's a sea of yellow, bit of red, bit of green http://harvard.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/0809/. on the same graph, a 178 seems auto-admit all the way down to 3.7, a long row of greens (the one red must have been a very strange case because he got boned by everyone down to duke/northwestern).

this year, there's already a solid cluster of 4/171 acceptances (as a bit more anecdotal evidence, i can add two more "greens" from my UG with 3.9+/below median LSAT). there are a couple 3.75/178 acceptances, but based on how many greens are in that area for last year you have to figure a bunch of those are floating around in hold purgatory still (there are at least 3 for whom this is true on TLS). in any case, it really seems that 3.75/178 is no longer auto-admit, and 4/171 has gained the ground that the 178 has lost.

the mysterious red dot is Nelly, who actually posts on TLS. he was an international applicant w/ only one semester of US grades, and was also a LSAT retaker.

it does seem like H is favoring 3.8+ this year. The folks below that have some sweet softs:

"Significant athletic accomplishments at the national and world level. Five years of professional work experience. "
"3 years work experience at a non-profit " + "Ivy"

etc etc.

[CoaltoNewCastle]

If I don't get into Harvard with my numbers I'll be very angry at myself for every mistake I've made in my college career that has caused my GPA to drop. I'll get over it, but it'll still suck. At least I'm getting a cortisone injection today so that my brain can stop destroying my body LOL!

[englawyer]

If I don't get into Harvard with my numbers I'll be very angry at myself for every mistake I've made in my college career that has caused my GPA to drop. I'll get over it, but it'll still suck. At least I'm getting a cortisone injection today so that my brain can stop destroying my body LOL!

if you don't get HYS or a full ride at CCN, you should figure out something cool/interesting/useful to do and apply next year. i think the time after u-grad will strengthen your app. hopefully you do get one of those offers though!

[CordeliusX]

If I don't get into Harvard with my numbers I'll be very angry at myself for every mistake I've made in my college career that has caused my GPA to drop. I'll get over it, but it'll still suck. At least I'm getting a cortisone injection today so that my brain can stop destroying my body LOL!

if you don't get HYS or a full ride at CCN, you should figure out something cool/interesting/useful to do and apply next year. i think the time after u-grad will strengthen your app. hopefully you do get one of those offers though!

you think HYS = free ride at CCN? Not arguing just curious

[englawyer]

If I don't get into Harvard with my numbers I'll be very angry at myself for every mistake I've made in my college career that has caused my GPA to drop. I'll get over it, but it'll still suck. At least I'm getting a cortisone injection today so that my brain can stop destroying my body LOL!

if you don't get HYS or a full ride at CCN, you should figure out something cool/interesting/useful to do and apply next year. i think the time after u-grad will strengthen your app. hopefully you do get one of those offers though!

you think HYS = free ride at CCN? Not arguing just curious

i don't think they are equal necessarily, but still a damn good opportunity that would make it worth it to attend this year.

With a 179/3.8, I am not sure I would be happy paying sticker at CCN and would wait it out.

[Kronk]

His best bet is a Hamilton from Columbia. I would imagine he'd be in the running. If not that, certainly a Butler. NYU isn't known for being too liberal with scholarships, and Chicago does give up the whole boat to anyone.

[CoaltoNewCastle]

I appreciate all this speculation about me (seriously), and I am really hoping for either Harvard, Yale, or a Hamilton. With any of those three results I will be completely happy with my cycle and regret nothing. I know if I don't get a Hamilton that I should be able to bargain at least 70kish from Columbia, which I would choose over Stanford because I want to live in a major city (unless I get Yale) rather than Palo Alto, though if I had to choose between Stanford and Columbia both at sticker I would choose Stanford. The appeal of playing Ivy League rugby is really strong too, especially at Harvard (my top rugby choice) or Yale, whose graduate school rugby captains I've already talked to. We'll know within a week or two most likely if I got a Hamilton, since I haven't gotten anything in the mail from Columbia yet and from what I've heard they only give out named scholarships with the initial acceptance.

Waiting and applying next year is a thought, but it's not really an option for me because 1) there will be nothing significantly different about my application by October of next year besides whatever summer job I do, while schools usually say you should only reapply if something is significantly different and 2) I shouldn't count on my GPA remaining at 3.77 LSDAS by the time I graduate.

I've been entertaining the idea of retaking the LSAT in June just to see if I can get a 180. I had about ten different serious things working against me on test day and it was pretty terrible. I was surprised that my score was so high.

Hopefully this cycle will work out though and I won't have to think about this.

Edit: I also got the cortisone injection and it was weird seeing this big lump grow on my wrist as the physician assistant pumped juice into it.

[of Benito Cereno]

I appreciate all this speculation about me (seriously), and I am really hoping for either Harvard, Yale, or a Hamilton. With any of those three results I will be completely happy with my cycle and regret nothing. I know if I don't get a Hamilton that I should be able to bargain at least 70kish from Columbia, which I would choose over Stanford because I want to live in a major city (unless I get Yale) rather than Palo Alto, though if I had to choose between Stanford and Columbia both at sticker I would choose Stanford. The appeal of playing Ivy League rugby is really strong too, especially at Harvard or Yale, whose graduate school rugby captains I've already talked to. We'll know within a week or two most likely if I got a Hamilton, since I haven't gotten anything in the mail from Columbia yet and from what I've heard they only give out named scholarships with the initial acceptance.

Waiting and applying next year is a thought, but it's not really an option for me because 1) there will be nothing significantly different about my application by October of next year besides whatever summer job I do, while schools usually say you should only reapply if something is significantly different and 2) I shouldn't count on my GPA remaining at 3.77 LSDAS by the time I graduate.

I've been entertaining the idea of retaking the LSAT in June just to see if I can get a 180. I had about ten different serious things working against me on test day and it was pretty terrible. I was surprised that my score was so high.

Hopefully this cycle will work out though and I won't have to think about this.

Edit: I also got the cortisone injection and it was weird seeing this big lump grow on my wrist as the physician assistant pumped juice into it.

are you planning to bargain with columbia based solely on merit or does need factor in. I'm curious because people with my numbers seem to have been able to get nice chunks of money from columbia but there is no way I will qualify as in need of aid (thanks so much for leaving me some stock grandpa).

[CoaltoNewCastle]

are you planning to bargain with columbia based solely on merit or does need factor in. I'm curious because people with my numbers seem to have been able to get nice chunks of money from columbia but there is no way I will qualify as in need of aid (thanks so much for leaving me some stock grandpa).

Mainly merit, though need may come into it. I'm not sure what the income situations of people who get into Columbia are usually like. My dad is a union-side labor lawyer so he makes a respectable, but not exorbitant living, and my mom is a homemaker. They've made it clear that I won't be getting any help to pay for law school.

[JollyGreenGiant]

is harvard even going to maintain its 170-173-176 LSAT split this cycle? granted that i'm biased as an LSAT splitter, but it seems pretty clear they're selling out for GPAs this cycle. i would rather have a 4/171 than a 3.75/178 for H this year, but there's not a chance i would have said that at the beginning of this cycle; LSP and last year's LSN both favor the 178 heavily.

check out the 4/171 neighborhood for last year's LSN and it's a sea of yellow, bit of red, bit of green http://harvard.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/0809/. on the same graph, a 178 seems auto-admit all the way down to 3.7, a long row of greens (the one red must have been a very strange case because he got boned by everyone down to duke/northwestern).

this year, there's already a solid cluster of 4/171 acceptances (as a bit more anecdotal evidence, i can add two more "greens" from my UG with 3.9+/below median LSAT). there are a couple 3.75/178 acceptances, but based on how many greens are in that area for last year you have to figure a bunch of those are floating around in hold purgatory still (there are at least 3 for whom this is true on TLS). in any case, it really seems that 3.75/178 is no longer auto-admit, and 4/171 has gained the ground that the 178 has lost.

If it's any consolation to you... I have a high, high GPA with a meh LSAT (but better than the one you're using for an example) and I haven't heard anything. I think Harvard is relying more on softs this year than previously.

[CordeliusX]

If it's any consolation to you... I have a high, high GPA with a meh LSAT (but better than the one you're using for an example) and I haven't heard anything. I think Harvard is relying more on softs this year than previously.

171 is "meh"

[Nom Sawyer]

If it's any consolation to you... I have a high, high GPA with a meh LSAT (but better than the one you're using for an example) and I haven't heard anything. I think Harvard is relying more on softs this year than previously.

171 is "meh"

173 is "meh" for Harvard, just the way things work

[APimpNamedSlickback]

given their ridiculously high lsat median, that 172 you managed to swing is just as good to them as a 150. to the extent that usnews still runs the show, its only whether you're above or below median that matters

[cae]

I was contacted recently about a JR1. More info below for those interested.

For those of you who've had the JR1s, I'm looking for a bit more info and would very much appreciate any responses.

I'm curious as to whether JR asked you specific questions about a point on your resume, like "Can you tell me what you do in your job at X on a day-to-day basis"? Or were the questions more broad, ie: "So what have you been up to since you graduated"?

For me, broad = tendency to babble aimlessly. So I just want to be prepared.


My stats are:
Applied mid-Dec
GPA: 3.9x
LSAT: just above median
Several years of slightly unusual WE

[Nom Sawyer]

I was contacted recently about a JR1. More info below for those interested.

For those of you who've had the JR1s, I'm looking for a bit more info and would very much appreciate any responses.

I'm curious as to whether JR asked you specific questions about a point on your resume, like "Can you tell me what you do in your job at X on a day-to-day basis"? Or were the questions more broad, ie: "So what have you been up to since you graduated"?

For me, broad = tendency to babble aimlessly. So I just want to be prepared.


My stats are:
Applied mid-Dec
GPA: 3.9x
LSAT: just above median
Several years of slightly unusual WE

3 Questions, very broad:

Why Law School?
Why Harvard?
What are you doing now? (in school or otherwise)

Then you can ask your questions. It's all pretty straight forward.

[knola002]

He only asked me "Why law school immediately after UG?", "Why Harvard?", and "Do you have any questions?".

[APimpNamedSlickback]

I was contacted recently about a JR1. More info below for those interested.

For those of you who've had the JR1s, I'm looking for a bit more info and would very much appreciate any responses.

I'm curious as to whether JR asked you specific questions about a point on your resume, like "Can you tell me what you do in your job at X on a day-to-day basis"? Or were the questions more broad, ie: "So what have you been up to since you graduated"?

For me, broad = tendency to babble aimlessly. So I just want to be prepared.


My stats are:
Applied mid-Dec
GPA: 3.9x
LSAT: just above median
Several years of slightly unusual WE

rehearse concise answers to the following:

why harvard, why law, what do you plan to do after law school. also have a couple decent questions for him.

it'll be over before you know it

[Nom Sawyer]

He only asked me "Why law school immediately after UG?", "Why Harvard?", and "Do you have any questions?".

clearly he found you too boring to after the first two questions to even ask the third... i'd panic immediately.


(actually he only spent about 4 minutes talking to me too)

[knola002]

He only asked me "Why law school immediately after UG?", "Why Harvard?", and "Do you have any questions?".

clearly he found you too boring to after the first two questions to even ask the third... i'd panic immediately.


(actually he only spent about 4 minutes talking to me too)

I did that for a week, then he called back to confess undying love.

[DoubleChecks]

I appreciate all this speculation about me (seriously), and I am really hoping for either Harvard, Yale, or a Hamilton. With any of those three results I will be completely happy with my cycle and regret nothing. I know if I don't get a Hamilton that I should be able to bargain at least 70kish from Columbia, which I would choose over Stanford because I want to live in a major city (unless I get Yale) rather than Palo Alto, though if I had to choose between Stanford and Columbia both at sticker I would choose Stanford. The appeal of playing Ivy League rugby is really strong too, especially at Harvard (my top rugby choice) or Yale, whose graduate school rugby captains I've already talked to. We'll know within a week or two most likely if I got a Hamilton, since I haven't gotten anything in the mail from Columbia yet and from what I've heard they only give out named scholarships with the initial acceptance.

sry to hijack but lolwut? seriously? if you have received 0 mail from CLS you might be in the running for a named scholarship?

[Nom Sawyer]

He only asked me "Why law school immediately after UG?", "Why Harvard?", and "Do you have any questions?".

clearly he found you too boring to after the first two questions to even ask the third... i'd panic immediately.


(actually he only spent about 4 minutes talking to me too)

I did that for a [strike]week[/strike] 5 days, then he called back to confess undying love.

That was me too.

[JollyGreenGiant]

given their ridiculously high lsat median, that 172 you managed to swing is just as good to them as a 150. to the extent that usnews still runs the show, its only whether you're above or below median that matters

25%.. if all the < median scores were 150s.. that'd be a helluva 25 percentile.

[CoaltoNewCastle]

I appreciate all this speculation about me (seriously), and I am really hoping for either Harvard, Yale, or a Hamilton. With any of those three results I will be completely happy with my cycle and regret nothing. I know if I don't get a Hamilton that I should be able to bargain at least 70kish from Columbia, which I would choose over Stanford because I want to live in a major city (unless I get Yale) rather than Palo Alto, though if I had to choose between Stanford and Columbia both at sticker I would choose Stanford. The appeal of playing Ivy League rugby is really strong too, especially at Harvard (my top rugby choice) or Yale, whose graduate school rugby captains I've already talked to. We'll know within a week or two most likely if I got a Hamilton, since I haven't gotten anything in the mail from Columbia yet and from what I've heard they only give out named scholarships with the initial acceptance.

sry to hijack but lolwut? seriously? if you have received 0 mail from CLS you might be in the running for a named scholarship?

LOLWUT!!! Good question. I have an admissions index of 47 at Columbia and I applied in mid-December so yes I have a good chance at a named scholarship.