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Note: Moderators redacted real name information to protect the identity of the named person. In the future please refrain from posting real names of individuals applying to law schools on this website, unless it is a discussion of an already public figure such as someone featured on AboveTheLaw.com. Thank you for your cooperation.

I just wrote the following e-mail to the admissions department at UT Law:

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Hello - This is [REDACTED BY MODS], and I am an undergraduate political science major at the University of Houston right now.

I know this inquiry may be inappropriate or incorrectly addressed. If such is the case, please inform me of someone I might be able to write to for some relevant information, if at all possible and convenient.


The short of this e-mail is: if I have a very low GPA going into my sophomore year (currently 2.2), would an upward trend showing consistency and good grades (A's, B's) be a criteria sufficient to merit competitive consideration at a school like UT?

The long:

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I recently have become quite interested in going to law school. I have tested myself on the LSAT, and though only scoring slightly above average (1st try 149, 2nd 151, 3rd 158), feel I can dramatically improve my score as I had only invested two days as I took those tests. I'm willing to invest a full year of daily studying if that's what it takes.

I would really like to go to UT Law. However, I have a pitiful 2.2 GPA. In the first two years I managed to make an F 5 times. Some of these courses I retook and got C's and B's in. The honest truth, though it may sound insufficient, is that I was simply unfocused and uninterested in school at that time, and in a new environment having moved from New Jersey to come here to UH. I currently have 85 cumulative credits, 68 of which I have passed. I have calculated my potential GPA, and even if on the remaining 52 credits I need to graduate I make straight A's, my cumulative GPA seems it will only reach 2.9x .

If I could dramatically boost my LSAT and achieved the real potential grades I know I can in my last years at undergrad, would my record be considered in light of the improvement I would show? Would many of the T1/T2 law schools be swayed by such an upward trend?



I have already decided to let nothing stop me from doing my best in the next year or two in college. It would be not only reassuring but useful for me to have a degree of perspective, from a law school admissions office, on the potentialities for a student in such a position. It would help me in forming future plans dramatically.

I apologize if this has wasted someone's time. Honestly.

-[REDACTED BY MODS]


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From that information, can someperson(s) give me some input which might help me to understand the situation better? What I'm aiming for is a final two years of A's and B's and an LSAT score as high as I can get it. In practice I've scored at best 5-8 of the logic games section, but in the other areas I tend to score around 20.

You should edit out your real name immediately, adcomms do read these boards at times.

Also, there is nothing anyone can say at this point in time. Come back after your junior year with your GPA and LSAT score. If your numbers are competitive, then you will have a shot. Otherwise, you won't. Go take some easy classes and study your ass off for the LSAT.

First, you probably ought to remove your real name from your post.

Second, you'll need an awesome LSAT to offset a GPA like that. Even then, UT is a long shot. They tend to like high GPA's.

Would OP even be able to get into UT with a 180?

GettingReady2010 wrote:Would OP even be able to get into UT with a 180?

He's only done 2 years. He could raise his GPA a bit in 1 or 2 more years.

Edited real name information out of OP for the protection of the person named (whether OP is the person who was named or not).

OP, just for your information, a sub-3.0 GPA is almost an automatic ding at UT. I think having F's on your UG transcript is too. I had above a 3.0 but two F's and they dinged me in under a week. You're not going to get into UT.

That doesn't mean you can't get into a solid law school, there are plenty of top law schools (even some ranked above UT) that might take you with a sufficiently high LSAT score and work on your application, but UT is probably a long shot.

Also, why are you asking for advice on the forum after contacting the law school? Isn't that backwards? Since you already contacted them it seems like your best source of information would be their response.

OP is going into sophomore year?

Anyways, an upward trend beats a downward trend but isn't going to change anybody's mind when looking at a sub 3.0. That being said, if you really want UT, or any top school for that matter, take as many courses as you possible can. Even if you only need 56 units to graduate, take the maximum possible that your university allows. On top of that, take local community college courses for easy A's, as many as you can. Bringing your GPA above median is unlikely, heck bringing above the 25th percentile is unlikely. If you can get it above their 25th then go for it, but the bare minimum you should do is get it above 3.0.

If you want UT you better prepared to get straight A's from here on out, that is about your only chance. If you do that you would have what? like a 3.5-3.6? That plus a good LSAT would get you in, but at that point you could go to a better school regardless.

Long story short, aiming for A's and B's from here on out isn't going to help much, it's A's or bust.

2014 wrote:If you want UT you better prepared to get straight A's from here on out, that is about your only chance. If you do that you would have what? like a 3.5-3.6? That plus a good LSAT would get you in, but at that point you could go to a better school regardless.

Long story short, aiming for A's and B's from here on out isn't going to help much, it's A's or bust.

Well OP said "in the first two years I made 5 Fs" so even all A grades isnt going to get him/her a 3.5."

Hello everyone - thank you much for the prompt information thus far posted. I'll keep revisiting if anyone has more to say.

Correction: I'm effectively going into my junior year.
Additional info: I've calculated that if I get straight A's from here on out, my cumulative GPA will be 2.9x. At least, assuming I inputted all the grades and credits into the online calculator I found accurately, and the calculator I used was accurate. I suspect it may be possible to break 3, though, with some minimal extra classes or so.

Would it be beneficial to take time off after completing this degree to work or do some alternative education?

I could also pursue a double degree from my school. It would require 150 credits as opposed to the 120 needed for graduation, and give me 30 credits more of good grades, plus a double degree. This could allow me, assuming all A's and an accurate GPA calculation, to boost the GPA to around 3.2x.

x= unknown number

By the by, would a law school be interested in any of the following?

-I'm a musician
-I've been learning Spanish for almost 6 years now and have a fair vocabulary at my disposal (2300+ words at my command)
-I've been learning Chinese for a year and a half (550+ approximate words/symbols at my command)
-I really have a passion for language learning and have some very specific ideas as to how I'd like to reform language education in the USA. I'd very much like to get involved in some law work relating to languages or international law.

Sorry for any excess. I think this will be one of my last posts in this thread, as I've said everything I can think to say.

Your softs won't really matter.

Just take as many classes as you can get A's in. At least at my school you didn't need to get a double major to do up my unit limit, you could take as many GE classes as you wanted until you hit the upper limit.

A 3.0 looks a damn sight better than a 2.9.

kalvano wrote:A 3.0 looks a damn sight better than a 2.9.

Credited. I would even say a 3.0 is significantly better than a 2.99 assuming you can get an LSAT above the 75th.

You're going to need to get straight A's from here on out and also score at least 170+ on the LSAT to have even a realistic chance of getting waitlisted.