Top Law Schools

I have a 2.8 ug gpa at university of georgia
-First year 3.32 (first semester 3.0 second semester 3.7)
-2nd and 3rd year - total of 23 hours earned, but attempted a lot more...... lots of D's and F's due to severe depression... grade addendum will be added
-took year off
-returned to school, last 67 hours completed with 3.8 gpa
-Total gpa 2.8

Lsat - 163

what are my chances at: (planning on applying to all of these, making sure if i should eliminate any of these)

Georgia State (full time or part time) - this is my first choice bc the instate tuition
South Carolina
Pennstate
Temple
Baylor (spring admission - only 800 applicants to compete with)
Pitt
Florida
Florida State
Miami
Rutgers Camden
Uconn
Houston
Loyola - Chicago and Los Angeles


backups:
Syracuse
Kentucky
Louisville
UNLV
Mercer
LSU

male indian but not a urm
1 yr of work exp - assistant manager at a hotel during the year i took off
3 yrs of membership in multicultural fraternity
1 yr of membership in phi alpha delta

anybody?????? kind of anxious to hear what you have to say

gandhi10 wrote:anybody?????? kind of anxious to hear what you have to say

You might need to give people more than 6 minutes

URM?

You're going to have a great deal of trouble. Most schools want to see at least a 3 in front of the GPA.

You're going to get acceptances, but also a lot of WL's and sticker price.

kalvano wrote:You're going to have a great deal of trouble. Most schools want to see at least a 3 in front of the GPA.

You're going to get acceptances, but also a lot of WL's and sticker price.

Nice edit: I was just about to quote you and say that most of his schools seem reasonable

Quick like ninja.

I think he (or she) will have decent luck with lower T1's because of the LSAT score, but scholarship may be a bit hard to come by.

I know it will be at UConn, Houston, Penn State, and probably Baylor.

But I wouldn't advise Baylor anyway.

thanks for the reply. curious, why advise against baylor?

By almost all accounts, it's not a very pleasant school.

Also, where do you want to live? Pretty much everything you listed is a very regional school.

well i would love to attend gsu and live in atlanta, but bc of my gpa i'm open to live in any of the major cities around the law schools i listed above. any opinions on my chances at any of those?

Not really, I only applied to one.

Have you checked Law School Predictor? It's a pretty good guide and will give you an idea where you stand.

Don't go to any of these schools! Your GPA and poor LSAT make you a bad job candidate at these places, trust me

I did go to law school predictor, however that wont take into account my upward trend in gpa

Neither will the schools, not substantially.

really? i've heard otherwise.. but thanks for your reply. Anyone else have opinions?

Top14orGoHome wrote:Don't go to any of these schools! Your GPA and poor LSAT make you a bad job candidate at these places, trust me

can't wait to see more posts from this guy

I had a very similar story. 2.74/164 tanked college at 20, went back at 30 and got straight As. Wrote an addendum pointing out my "upward trend" and got into every TT school I applied to (including Pitt, where I go now) and waitlisted/rejected at BC.

The moral: I'd be very surprised if you didn't get into at least some of those schools.

reverendt wrote:I had a very similar story. 2.74/164 tanked college at 20, went back at 30 and got straight As. Wrote an addendum pointing out my "upward trend" and got into every TT school I applied to (including Pitt, where I go now) and waitlisted/rejected at BC.

The moral: I'd be very surprised if you didn't get into at least some of those schools.

thank you... any other similar stories or opinions of my chances at these schools?

anyone else? any response will help

2.6x / 165

I've gotten into:

RU-C (with $$$)
RU-N (with $$$)
Quinnipiac (with $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$)

W/L'd at:

Temple
Villanova

Pending:

UMiami
Hofstra
Pace
BLS
NYLS
Seton Hall


I had a staggeringly upward GPA trend (1.2 my freshman year, 3.89 my senior), a killer PS, and very solid LOR's. I've also worked at a respectable mid-size firm in NJ for almost a year, and the head partner taught @ RU-C/N for 20+ years.

I think you'll get into GaSt, SC and Pitt. I don't know enough about the rest to tell you either way. Although Penn State has always liked high GPAs over high LSATs.

I think you're shooting for the right type of schools.

Good Luck!!

will the work experience make much of a difference?

gandhi10 wrote:will the work experience make much of a difference?

Not really. I have 4 years we and i'm not sure if it helped. I would say my cycle contained no surprises, good or bad.

Do not listen to TLS posters who say that schools don't factor strong upward trends into the equation when a GPA is subpar. I have spoke to several adcomm's and law students at several different schools that have all told me that strong, upward trends in GPA's are definitely taken into consideration. I have heard this from enough reputable and respected adcomm’s to know that it is true.

MTaylor25 wrote:Do not listen to TLS posters who say that schools don't factor strong upward trends into the equation when a GPA is subpar. I have spoke to several adcomm's and law students at several different schools that have all told me that strong, upward trends in GPA's are definitely taken into consideration. I have heard this from enough reputable and respected adcomm’s to know that it is true.

I agree, it is taken into account. It won't make a considerable difference, but it will put you above people with your GPA who don't have an upward trend and will likely make you competitive with applicants just above you in the GPA category.