Math major from top public school on West Coast

Purely interested in Biglaw (if that matters at all); as a result, I want to get into the highest ranking school as possible.

Due to my dismal gpa, I'm thinking the best school I could possibly get into is UVA or GULC??? I think NYU has a GPA floor of 3.3 and Penn has a small class size so I'm probably out there. I hate Michigan and Berkeley cares too much about GPA.

The help I need from you guys is: should I ED to UVA? The best case scenario for me is NYU so I would like to ED to NYU but I'm worried the next-best school (=UVA) might not accept me.

Stats-wise, I'm okay for UVA but I'm an international student so I might be held to higher standards of admission

UVA's ED process is known as being very formulaic. Since you're well above the 75th there with your LSAT, you're as close to a lock as you can be. However, I wouldn't ED anywhere since you probably don't need the boost and it lessens your chance of getting scholarship money. I'd possibly be prepared to ride some waitlists though.

Don't forget about Northwestern either.

I think you have a shot at NYU ED; looks like there are some people with your numbers getting in this year. It's not a lock by a long shot, but I think the risk is worth it. FWIW, I think you have a decent chance at Penn ED too, which is also better for NYC big law than UVA.

Just write all the extra essays and get everything in on day one, and I think you'll end up with at least one option.

NYU ED > PENN ED > UVA

You have time to ED to your preference of NYU or Penn and if that fails to still ED to UVA. Your chances are probably marginally better at Penn than NYU so I would probably do that.

I don't remember if you're still allowed to do this, but you can ED more than one school as long as you do so one at a time. Wait until you hear back from one ED school, and if you don't get in, you can ED somewhere else. Some schools like Northwestern don't let you do this (i.e. they won't let you ED if you already EDed somewhere else, even if you've already been deferred/waitlisted/rejected), though, so check each school's ED policy. You might be able to ED NYU and then UVA if necessary.

It used to be that schools like UVA would let you change an RD app to an ED app anytime. I don't remember if you're still allowed to. If not, the best strategy might be to not apply to UVA until you hear back from NYU.

thanks everyone for the help.

one question: i know nyu is ranked higher than penn but with my statistics, I have a higher chance of getting into either school through nyu ED than penn ED right? anyone know what penn ED is like?

i'll probably go with nyu ED ---> uva ED if nyu doesn't work out.