Realistic chance at tier 1? Forum

[Boilers9]

The Numbers:

2.2 UG GPA
175 LSAT
4.0 Masters in Biotech from Georgetown (want to go into patent law)
3 Years work experience in top ten consulting firm

What should I shoot for?

[dabbadon8]

The Numbers:

2.2 UG GPA
175 LSAT
4.0 Masters in Biotech from Georgetown (want to go into patent law)
3 Years work experience in top ten consulting firm

What should I shoot for?

Cue the ED to Northwestern posts.

[ZachOda]

The Numbers:

2.2 UG GPA
175 LSAT
4.0 Masters in Biotech from Georgetown (want to go into patent law)
3 Years work experience in top ten consulting firm

What should I shoot for?

Cue the ED to Northwestern posts.

+1
Thanks for that, just laughed out loud at work

OP, focus on Northwestern, they will love your application. The GPA may be a little weak, but perhaps you can explain the situation? Any circumstances during your UG that led to a lower GPA?

[Bumi]

OP, we have similar numbers, so I have been doing a bunch of research on this. If by "tier 1" you mean "top 50" then yes, you can get in to a top 50 law school. As people are indicating, you even have a good look at a T14 at Northwestern.

Incidentally, does anyone know how much ED really helps for a splitter at Northwestern? Is that truly going to make the difference for us between admittance and rejection?

Some other T50 schools that typically are mentioned in these threads are WashU-St.Louis, Illinois, and Minnesota. I have also seen Washington and Lee to be friendly to splitter stats. There are others that are a great bet. Schools are inconsistent about this, so it's best to apply to many of them. As a general rule, you're going to have a tough time on the west coast and a better shot in the Midwest.

Schools like Michigan, Virginia, and Penn have been known to take splitters with high LSAT scores if the reason for the low GPA was spectacular - brain tumor, started a nationally known company in college - or if the applicant is otherwise exceptional, like being a published author, curing cancer, etc.

[bk1]

ED won't hurt your chances at NU, it can only help. So why not take it considering you have pretty much no shot at other T14's?

Data for this is scarce considering the rarity of near 2.0's with 170+ LSATs.

[Bumi]

ED won't hurt your chances at NU, it can only help. So why not take it considering you have pretty much no shot at other T14's?

Data for this is scarce considering the rarity of near 2.0's with 170+ LSATs.

It's not that I think I have a shot at another top 14, it's that I would happily go to Washington University or Illinois if I knew I'd exit with $50k in debt vs. going to NU and exiting with $200k. Splitters have been known to get merit aid at those places and I'd like to be able to consider that in making my decision of a school.

[bk1]

ED won't hurt your chances at NU, it can only help. So why not take it considering you have pretty much no shot at other T14's?

Data for this is scarce considering the rarity of near 2.0's with 170+ LSATs.

It's not that I think I have a shot at another top 14, it's that I would happily go to Washington University or Illinois if I knew I'd exit with $50k in debt vs. going to NU and exiting with $200k. Splitters have been known to get merit aid at those places and I'd like to be able to consider that in making my decision of a school.

Point taken, but it seems rare for splitters to get much money, it usually seems to go to people above both medians. If you did get money, I wouldn't expect it to be much.

[Lonagan]

Carpet bomb the T25, make sure you have a few safeties in the lower T1 (that you would be happy attending and graduating from), and toss a few long shot bids to NU, Cornell, Michigan, Penn. Your LSAT will get you fee waivers so make the most of those $12 applications. You'll get something, but there is minimal predicting to be done here or via the regression models available online. The sample size for people like you is just too small. The volatility normally involved in predicting splitter cycles is simply magnified in your case.

[KMaine]

The GPA may be a little weak

Ya' think?

[Bumi]

Point taken, but it seems rare for splitters to get much money, it usually seems to go to people above both medians. If you did get money, I wouldn't expect it to be much.

It's rare, but it happens. Take a glance at http://www.hourumd.com/?lsat=170-180&gp ... o&range=no. Seems worth a shot, especially since I'm not a biglaw-or-nothing gunner.

I agree with the carpetbomb-the-T25 sentiment. Shock and awe! Operation Rolling Thunder!

[General Tso]

IBDF

[Lonagan]

I don't think money is out of the question here. Any T1 school that admits someone with a 2.2 is doing so because they want the 175 badly. If they want it badly enough to overlook the GPA they probably want it badly enough to throw some money at it. There is good money to be had with a sub 3.0 in the T25 from a few predictable schools. Illinois, Wash U., Minnesota, Iowa, etc. come to mind. Plus, this applicant has work / life experience to both round out the application and give some distance from the lower UGPA.

I don't mean to come off sounding like anything is a given. It's just not possible to predict this cycle. There is, however, cause for hope, or at least sufficient justification for spending the money on applying.

[Nicholasnickynic]

ED won't hurt your chances at NU, it can only help. So why not take it considering you have pretty much no shot at other T14's?

Data for this is scarce considering the rarity of near 2.0's with 170+ LSATs.

It's not that I think I have a shot at another top 14, it's that I would happily go to Washington University or Illinois if I knew I'd exit with $50k in debt vs. going to NU and exiting with $200k. Splitters have been known to get merit aid at those places and I'd like to be able to consider that in making my decision of a school.

Point taken, but it seems rare for splitters to get much money, it usually seems to go to people above both medians. If you did get money, I wouldn't expect it to be much.

Depends on school. I applied mostly in 30s-50s, so maybe its not applicable for top schools, but I got 30-60% schollies at some schools while being a classic splitter (1-2lsat points above 75th, .2-.3gpa below 25th). I think it depends how bad the school wants your lsat.

[yhezel]

Carpet bomb the T25, make sure you have a few safeties in the lower T1 (that you would be happy attending and graduating from), and toss a few long shot bids to NU, Cornell, Michigan, Penn.

+1, the Internet predictors were very unreliable for me (2. something GPA, 170 LSAT).

I once read that a school on which you're just above their 75th percentile LSAT is more likely to give you $$$, worked for me.

Good luck

[Bumi]

Carpet bomb the T25, make sure you have a few safeties in the lower T1 (that you would be happy attending and graduating from), and toss a few long shot bids to NU, Cornell, Michigan, Penn.

+1, the Internet predictors were very unreliable for me (2. something GPA, 170 LSAT).

I once read that a school on which you're just above their 75th percentile LSAT is more likely to give you $$$, worked for me.

Good luck

Would you mind sharing where you got in that maybe surprised you? I'm not sensitive to geography (I've given up on that) so I had been using internet predictors to try and limit my applications. I'd love to know if I'm excluding a school that I shouldn't be excluding. PM me if you want.

Even so, thanks for the encouragement. I'm going to put a few applications in places where I'm unlikely to get in, just in case some school decides to make an aggressive push on their LSAT this year. I wouldn't want to be left out!

[Boilers9]

Thanks for all of the responses. Money would not really be a deciding factor for me just that I get into a top school I would rather take a T14 pay full tuition rather than get into one below the Top 50 and getting money for it.

How much does legacy count? My father is a large donor to one of the T14 schools but does not have affiliation to the law department but does donate a lot to the school's general fund itself.

[byunbee]

How much does legacy count? My father is a large donor to one of the T14 schools but does not have affiliation to the law department but does donate a lot to the school's general fund itself.