3.0 GPA + "F" + 179 LSAT + Columbia Undergrad -- chances?! Forum

[harvardguy2015]

hey guys i'm a senior at columbia undergrad majoring in computer science (ignore my username). i partied a lot freshman year and landed an "F" a "W" as well as Academic Probation. My freshman GPA was around a 1.0. Ever since I got the GPA up to a 3.1 by getting pretty much all A's in a tough science major. I also got a 179 on the LSAT the first time.

Do I have chances at ANY T-14? I'm in love with NYC and would LOVE to be at Columbia for law school - do I have any ED chances? Anyone know about how much CLS admits from their own undergrad?

thanks! i really have no idea if i should even apply to law school in this case. I not a URM.

[taxguy]

Yes, I would bet that you are competitive for most of the T14 schools with the exceptions of HYS and Berkeley, who is very GPA oriented. Congrats on your 179 by the way. For the record, your 179 puts you in the top .2% of test takers. If you write a strong personal statement, you will actually have a good chance at most of these schools.

By the way, if you check out the Law school predictor site,http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com/wp-co ... ograms.htm

You will see that you even have some chance at Chicago and Columbia and be an admit for Cornell , Georgetown and UCLA and Duke. I think your personal statement should be very important here. You could outline why you didn't do well in your freshmen year and highlight what happened in upper-class years.

The bottom line is that if you structure a strong, compelling personal statement, I think you have a good chance at most of the T14 schools, other than HYS and Berkeley.

[09042014]

hey guys i'm a senior at columbia undergrad majoring in computer science (ignore my username). i partied a lot freshman year and landed an "F" a "W" as well as Academic Probation. My freshman GPA was around a 1.0. Ever since I got the GPA up to a 3.1 by getting pretty much all A's in a tough science major. I also got a 179 on the LSAT the first time.

Do I have chances at ANY T-14? I'm in love with NYC and would LOVE to be at Columbia for law school - do I have any ED chances? Anyone know about how much CLS admits from their own undergrad?

thanks! i really have no idea if i should even apply to law school in this case. I not a URM.

You've got a small shot at Michigan, and Penn. A better shot if you apply early decision. You've got a very good shot at UVA but only if you apply ED. Georgetown should take you. If you have post graduate work experience you've got a good shot at Northwestern.

If I were you, I'd apply to CCN, Mich, Penn, Uva, NU (if you have work experience), Cornell, and Georgetown. You may want to try Columbia ED, but I'm not so sure ED does much good at Columbia. Your GPA is way too low, but you are an alum. It think your best bet at a T6 is probably NYU, but I'm not sure.

If you want a less risky strategy, maybe ED at Penn.

[P. Bateman]

I am pretty sure no one below 3.2 GPA got into Penn last cycle ED or not, on LSN at least. Penn did accept a 2.9 couple of years ago, but that might have been an unusual exception. But with a 179 LSAT (good job by the way) you still might have some chance there.

And I think ED at Columbia would be too risky. Go for NYU ED.