Second Opinions Forum

[PN-G bamakid]

I'm a first-time poster and applicant for the class of 2018 looking to compare my notes with some of the more experienced posters on the site.

I've created a series of charts in Excel to help me keep track of all of the information I'll be dealing with as I go through the process of applying to law school. They cover things like cost, admission and scholarship offers, my notes and so on. The first chart on the list gives me all of the relevant application numbers and includes acceptance projections that are my personal best guess based on the data. A link to that chart is posted below (the site wouldn't let me include the image in the post):

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/z37 ... ef6afe.png

There are fifteen schools that I'm strongly considering applying to, and their color codes reflect my rough estimate of the probability of admission. The key for the colors, along with my GPA and LSAT score, can be found below the chart. My prelaw advisor and a few law school admissions officials have told me my resume is very impressive. My personal statement is still in the works, and if all goes well, I should have some very good letters of recommendation.

But the fact of the matter is, I've obviously never done this before, and really don't know what to expect. Nobody in my family is a lawyer, law student, prospective law student or has ever applied to law school. I've spoken with my prelaw advisor about a few of the schools and the colors reflect his input as well, but that's the only other input I've had. What I'd like is a second opinion (or series of second opinions) on what my chances are for getting into the law schools I've listed.

So, without further adieu, any thoughts? All input is appreciated.

[Chrstgtr]

Retake.
Expand the list of T14 schools your applying to.
Use http://lawschoolnumbers.com/ to search for similar applicants to get a better idea of what your chances are.
Search these forums to get the info you need. It is likely already out there unless you are an extremely unique applicant.

[dabigchina]

u should use conditional formatting to automatically color that spreadsheet.

also, retake

[WokeUpInACar]

Spend more time studying for the LSAT and less time making silly charts. Retake.

[MistakenGenius]

Post removed.

[cron1834]

Retake.

[Ti Malice]

The charts are a waste of time. Use LSN and myLSN instead of your (very inaccurate) guesses. But before you do that, study up and retake the LSAT.

All of the advice you need to make an intelligent decision has already been offered in this thread.

[03152016]

can't believe no one mentioned this yet but you should really retake dude

[PN-G bamakid]

Let me elaborate a little on what's gone into the chart.

First of all, I'm not from Alabama. I go to school at Alabama, but I was born and raised in Texas. My permanent residence is and always has been there.

Second, this is a list of schools I may apply to, not that I will apply to. I'm taking all of my options into account, and the schools were selected for consideration based on a wide range of criteria.

My personal preference is to return to my home state, which is why you see Baylor and SMU listed. Florida State is listed because I participated in the Summer for Undergraduates program their law school holds every year. Alabama, of course, is listed because I've done my undergrad there. UA also has a lot of money to work with where scholarships are concerned at virtually every level; the UA administration has a running capital campaign in excess of a billion dollars for academic programs, and I was actually fortunate enough to receive a full scholarship for undergrad out of that money. The rest of the schools were selected based on their national prominence and quality of education, except for Texas, which was only partially selected on those factors. My desire to return home to the state of Texas played a role in that as well.

The ability to gain admission is a factor I'm considering for all of the schools when making the decision about whether or not to apply. The only objective criteria I have in determining that are the schools' LSAT scores and GPAs. I took that data from each of those schools' profiles for their classes of 2016, which is the latest available data at this time. I cross-referenced that data with the information available about the 2014 application cycle on Law School Transparency, which is where MyLSN gets its data from. That, in conjunction with the advice of my prelaw advisor and some email discussion with representatives from a few of the schools, is what I based my assessed probabilities on.

I admit that the assessment may not be holistic because, after all, admissions committees take entire applications into account, not just LSAT scores and GPAs. That said, the numbers are still influential, and I think they give some indication of my chances. My GPA, a 3.63, is artificially low because I spent two years as an engineering major figuring out the hard way that engineering wasn't something I wanted to do. My major GPA is a 3.95, and my honors GPA is a 3.87. I've been told by several admissions representatives that including an addendum in my application explaining that will win special consideration. So, I've weighted the LSAT a little more heavily when making my assessment. With that in mind, my LSAT score is at or above the median at every school where I rated admission probable, except Georgetown. My LSAT score is at or above the 75th percentile at every school where I rated a scholarship probable. A few of the law school representatives have told me that they may give me a variance of a tenth of a point on my GPA because of the engineering issue, which would put it at, above, or within reasonable range of the median at twelve of the fifteen schools.

Also, without trying be braggadocios, I think it's worth reiterating that I have a very strong resume. I've received confirmation from everyone I've requested a letter of recommendation from, and I fully expect those letters to be very favorable to me both because of the influence of the people writing them and the positive relationships I've held with them. If I've accounted for everything, that leaves only my LSAT writing sample and my personal statement for consideration, both of which I feel good about.

So, for those who are wondering, that's what's running through my head. I admit, I've been known to be overconfident at times.

[seespotrun]

Are you a white male?

[PN-G bamakid]

Are you a white male?

Technically, yes. But if I remember correctly, law schools can only consider minority status a "plus" on an application, and can't use race as a determining factor in admission per a couple of Supreme Court rulings.

[Chrstgtr]

Are you a white male?

Technically, yes. But if I remember correctly, law schools can only consider minority status a "plus" on an application, and can't use race as a determining factor in admission per a couple of Supreme Court rulings.

URM status is huge in admissions decisions.

Just look at the admissions decisions of people with similar numbers to you (excluding non-traditionals and URMS) and make guesses on where to apply and what you can expect. If you have a good factors going for you outside of GPA (your LSAC GPA not major or any other distiction you make) and LSAT, look primarily at the more successful cycles of people with about your numbers.

[Clearly]

Let me elaborate a little on what's gone into the chart.

First of all, I'm not from Alabama. I go to school at Alabama, but I was born and raised in Texas. My permanent residence is and always has been there.

Second, this is a list of schools I may apply to, not that I will apply to. I'm taking all of my options into account, and the schools were selected for consideration based on a wide range of criteria.

My personal preference is to return to my home state, which is why you see Baylor and SMU listed. Florida State is listed because I participated in the Summer for Undergraduates program their law school holds every year. Alabama, of course, is listed because I've done my undergrad there. UA also has a lot of money to work with where scholarships are concerned at virtually every level; the UA administration has a running capital campaign in excess of a billion dollars for academic programs, and I was actually fortunate enough to receive a full scholarship for undergrad out of that money. The rest of the schools were selected based on their national prominence and quality of education, except for Texas, which was only partially selected on those factors. My desire to return home to the state of Texas played a role in that as well.

The ability to gain admission is a factor I'm considering for all of the schools when making the decision about whether or not to apply. The only objective criteria I have in determining that are the schools' LSAT scores and GPAs. I took that data from each of those schools' profiles for their classes of 2016, which is the latest available data at this time. I cross-referenced that data with the information available about the 2014 application cycle on Law School Transparency, which is where MyLSN gets its data from. That, in conjunction with the advice of my prelaw advisor and some email discussion with representatives from a few of the schools, is what I based my assessed probabilities on.

I admit that the assessment may not be holistic because, after all, admissions committees take entire applications into account, not just LSAT scores and GPAs. That said, the numbers are still influential, and I think they give some indication of my chances. My GPA, a 3.63, is artificially low because I spent two years as an engineering major figuring out the hard way that engineering wasn't something I wanted to do. My major GPA is a 3.95, and my honors GPA is a 3.87. I've been told by several admissions representatives that including an addendum in my application explaining that will win special consideration. So, I've weighted the LSAT a little more heavily when making my assessment. With that in mind, my LSAT score is at or above the median at every school where I rated admission probable, except Georgetown. My LSAT score is at or above the 75th percentile at every school where I rated a scholarship probable. A few of the law school representatives have told me that they may give me a variance of a tenth of a point on my GPA because of the engineering issue, which would put it at, above, or within reasonable range of the median at twelve of the fifteen schools.

Also, without trying be braggadocios, I think it's worth reiterating that I have a very strong resume. I've received confirmation from everyone I've requested a letter of recommendation from, and I fully expect those letters to be very favorable to me both because of the influence of the people writing them and the positive relationships I've held with them. If I've accounted for everything, that leaves only my LSAT writing sample and my personal statement for consideration, both of which I feel good about.

So, for those who are wondering, that's what's running through my head. I admit, I've been known to be overconfident at times.

My lsn gets it's data from...lsn, not law school transparency

[Clearly]

Also a lot of the things you think matter, don't. At least not in comparison to the lsat that you should retake.

[Nomo]

Are you a white male?

Technically, yes. But if I remember correctly, law schools can only consider minority status a "plus" on an application, and can't use race as a determining factor in admission per a couple of Supreme Court rulings.

That's only true for public schools. Private schools can do what they want.

[Chrstgtr]

Also a lot of the things you think matter, don't. At least not in comparison to the lsat that you should retake.

[BigZuck]

This thread is weird. Is it real?

Also, retake

[03152016]

Also, without trying be braggadocios, I think it's worth reiterating that I have a very strong resume. I've received confirmation from everyone I've requested a letter of recommendation from, and I fully expect those letters to be very favorable to me both because of the influence of the people writing them and the positive relationships I've held with them. If I've accounted for everything, that leaves only my LSAT writing sample and my personal statement for consideration, both of which I feel good about.

i want to smack your prelaw advisor in the face

[sundontshine]

The first thing you should learn before applying to law school is that using PhotoBucket over Imgur is an auto-ding.

Also, the "admissions representatives" that told you an addendum explaining your GPA would help and that you might get a 0.1 bump due to engineering were lying. That addendum doesn't help the GPA they have to report to US News. Also, your "LSAT writing sample matters" to your admissions literally as much as the color shirt you wear to take the LSAT. Also, retake.

[PN-G bamakid]

My lsn gets it's data from...lsn, not law school transparency

You're correct, and that was what I meant. I had a momentary mental lapse. My apologies.

Also a lot of the things you think matter, don't. At least not in comparison to the lsat that you should retake.

Okay. Would you mind elaborating?

That's only true for public schools. Private schools can do what they want.

Yes, I should have stipulated that.

[Mal Reynolds]

LOL you're going to fit right in with law students.

[TheSpanishMain]

This is super weird and neurotic and retake.

[Ramius]

The only things you should care about:
1. Retake
2. Retake
3. Retake
4. Retake
5. Retake
6. LSAT
7. uGPA
8. rest of the app

HTH

[jd20132013]

this topic is strange and you seem strange OP

not necessarily a bad person just a little not all the way there

[ClubberLang]

Dude, all the numbers are meaningless without the LSAT writing sample being fully considered. Sounds like your prelaw advisor knows what's up, way more than these fools on here. Whatever you do, don't use lawschoolnumbers, and when you are applying, the more addendums the better (your story is really convincing).