3.65/169 to t14 Forum

[Rlabo]

What are my odds if I apply this week to t14 with a 169 and 3.65 gpa? should i even bother applying to harvard/stanford/columbia?

[sinfiery]

http://myLSN.info/1oln7b


Since you asked, I'd throw an app at Columbia/Stanford because it's obviously on your mind and it's worth the $200 to get it off your mind for good.

[Rlabo]

I know its a 0-5% chance at those. What about a school like Upenn? Been looking over those numbers and they don't seem to have a lot of data for the past 3-4 years. Also, I received waivers from duke and cornell so i'm guessing that's a good sign.

[wert3813]

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[BigZuck]

Michigan and Cornell and maybe Duke and Georgetown are the only schools you have a chance at with those numbers baring something exceptional like URM status or special softs.

Literally no chance anywhere else unless you hit 170. I would retake in February if you can still sign up, if not sit out a cycle and retake in June.

[UnamSanctam]

Where do you want to go after you graduate?

[sinfiery]

Literally no chance anywhere else unless you hit 170. I would retake in February if you can still sign up, if not sit out a cycle and retake in June.

I would advise a retake if you were PTing higher and have the chance:

a 170 makes your chances go up at T7 and down
A 171 opens up so much:
http://myLSN.info/uk1nx7

[Rlabo]

My reach/dream is nyu/Columbia as I'm from NYC and would like to stay. Im graduating in 3 years and want to go straight through, rly not looking to wait another year. If I take February and get a 169- I'm screwed for anything t14 and I don't have enough time now to reprepare for it. Is it rly tht impossible without breaking the 170s?

[nebula666]

My reach/dream is nyu/Columbia as I'm from NYC and would like to stay. Im graduating in 3 years and want to go straight through, rly not looking to wait another year. If I take February and get a 169- I'm screwed for anything t14 and I don't have enough time now to reprepare for it. Is it rly tht impossible without breaking the 170s?

You aren't getting NYU or CLS this cycle, unless it's off the waitlist. If you want New York, Cornell is your best bet at this point.

[Rlabo]

I know it's a far reach but I gotta apply for my sanity. What about penn though? Is tht in/Wl or Wl/out?

[BigZuck]

My reach/dream is nyu/Columbia as I'm from NYC and would like to stay. Im graduating in 3 years and want to go straight through, rly not looking to wait another year. If I take February and get a 169- I'm screwed for anything t14 and I don't have enough time now to reprepare for it. Is it rly tht impossible without breaking the 170s?

So you're like 21? Come on bro, this is your life here, don't screw it up. I'm pushing 30 and took the test three times. Retake if you want CCN, literally impossible with a 169 and your GPA.

[suralin]

My reach/dream is nyu/Columbia as I'm from NYC and would like to stay. Im graduating in 3 years and want to go straight through, rly not looking to wait another year. If I take February and get a 169- I'm screwed for anything t14 and I don't have enough time now to reprepare for it. Is it rly tht impossible without breaking the 170s?

So you're like 21? Come on bro, this is your life here, don't screw it up. I'm pushing 30 and took the test three times. Retake if you want CCN, literally impossible with a 169 and your GPA.

[Rlabo]

Haha actually I'm 20. I'm really not open to pushing off a year unfortunately. If it comes to not getting into anything t14 (which I don't think it should/will), I'll go to a lower school on probably a good scholarship and transfer after a year.

[Rlabo]

And by lower I mean something like Fordham or bu

[sinfiery]

If I take February and get a 169- I'm screwed for anything t14 and I don't have enough time now to reprepare for it.

This is not true. The only negative of retaking is time and $160. If you end up with a 169-->167 you will get into the same schools as you will get into with just a 169.

Your dream school is 2 points on the LSAT away from being a very real possibility. What is that worth to you?

[Rlabo]

Besides retaking the test isn't optimal as it reflects poorly on an application and there's a chance of doing worse which would sink my chances at any t14

[TripTrip]

Besides retaking the test isn't optimal

Wrong.

it reflects poorly on an application

Only at Yale.

there's a chance of doing worse which would sink my chances at any t14

Also wrong. Any school that takes a 169/3.65 only looks at the highest score. Do worse and you won't hurt your chances in the least. Do better and you could save hundreds of thousands of dollars and/or ensure future job prospects.

The retake mantra exists for a reason.

[Rlabo]

It such an awkward score as I feel very secure in schools out of t14, but once I start to hit those my chances drop dramatically

[TripTrip]

It such an awkward score as I feel very secure in schools out of t14, but once I start to hit those my chances drop dramatically

Here's you with a 171 instead of a 169: http://myLSN.info/lpfxmm

It's all about the medians, and you're so very close to them.

[Tiago Splitter]

Haha actually I'm 20. I'm really not open to pushing off a year unfortunately. If it comes to not getting into anything t14 (which I don't think it should/will), I'll go to a lower school on probably a good scholarship and transfer after a year.

Do you really think CLS or NYU will just take any idiot from Fordham or BU? Don't ever go to a school expecting to transfer.

[BigZuck]

Besides retaking the test isn't optimal

Wrong.

it reflects poorly on an application

Only at Yale.

there's a chance of doing worse which would sink my chances at any t14

Also wrong. Any school that takes a 169/3.65 only looks at the highest score. Do worse and you won't hurt your chances in the least. Do better and you could save hundreds of thousands of dollars and/or ensure future job prospects.

The retake mantra exists for a reason.

Sat in on a webinar with an adcom from Yale, she said retake if you can do better. Twice in the webinar she said taking the test more than 3 times would look "kind of goofy."

So even Yale says go ahead and retake. Let 3 times be your limit.

Agreed that no schools will care if you do worse. Literally everything to gain and nothing to lose. Even if you have to take a year off you could have a year of fun, which honestly sounds better than law school to me.

[nebula666]

You aren't going to transfer to NYU or CLS. 95% of the people who go into law school with that mentality are wrong.

If you want to go to a school in NYC, retake. If you want to go to Cornell, Michigan, or Duke, don't retake.

[Rlabo]

Trip trip, supposedly some schools average scores such as nyu. Ur also saying tht doing worse wont hurt my app so I have nothing's lose takin feb, but it's not only doing worse which could hurt but also compounded by the loss of time by taking feb and applying then. I also lose a few schools whose app deadlines are feb1. For these reasons along with the slim amount of time i would have to prepare for feb as I'm still taking a heavy course load at school and only have a few weeks, I can't see feb being a very viable option. If anything, I would take June but I really don't want to push off a year.

[Tiago Splitter]

Trip trip, supposedly some schools average scores such as nyu. Ur also saying tht doing worse wont hurt my app so I have nothing's lose takin feb, but it's not only doing worse which could hurt but also compounded by the loss of time by taking feb and applying then. I also lose a few schools whose app deadlines are feb1. For these reasons along with the slim amount of time i would have to prepare for feb as I'm still taking a heavy course load at school and only have a few weeks, I can't see feb being a very viable option. If anything, I would take June but I really don't want to push off a year.

You can apply with what you've got and retake in June. If things go well you might get off a waitlist at CLS/NYU (if you make the waitlist in the first place) or you can apply next cycle with stronger numbers. The other advantage of waiting is that you can improve your GPA over this last semester.

[Rlabo]

Tiago, I personally know someone who scored a 165 went to Fordham for a year and transferred to Harvard and now currently works in one of the top law firms in NYC, so yes I do think they will take transfers. I'm obviously not relying on tht as I do think I have a decent to old shot at cornell/duke and the others are gonna be hopefully on my app, it's a last option.