165 LSAT, 3.94 uGPA, Top14? Forum

[ddsbutler]

I went to a big west coast public undergrad (Oregon) as a pre-med student, and after graduating and working in a medical practice have decided to pivot to law instead. Took the February LSAT at 165, and have a 3.94 uGPA. I had a double major (Hard Science/Political Science), and my GPA was 4.04 in my Poli Sci major. Graduated with honors, PBK, magna cum laude. Other softs include being a 4-year athlete (club level) and running that club (50+ students, $100000/yr budget).

Goals are to get into a t14 school, probably one with a MPH (masters in public health) dual degree program. I think I want to do something related to health law, but that's still tbd. Outside of the t14 would probably shoot for UCLA and Emory. Any other suggestions?

So what are my chances? I know I don't have much of a shot at $$$ from the t14 schools, but it's hard to gauge my admissions chances being such a hard splitter

Thanks for the thoughts!

[CanadianWolf]

Duke.

[Clearly]

Could you do better on the lsat? It seems silly to take your current options when a few questions on a multiple choice test puts hys and ccnp money on the table...

[Clemenceau]

Retake in June. And september if needed.

[BigZuck]

Duke.

Awesome post

OP- check out http://www.mylsn.info for chances. I wouldn't expect you to outperform what it says there. I would retake the lsat if you want to get into T14s. I would probably drop the MPH thing, I doubt it will help you get a legal job. I wouldn't bother applying to UCLA/Emory unless you have a burning desire to practice in CA or GA respectively (and, ideally, are from there).

Are you from Oregon and wanting to get back there after law school?

[CanadianWolf]

Duke for MPH joint program.

[zombie mcavoy]

Duke for MPH joint program.

why

retake, OP

[anyriotgirl]

would be unconscionable not to retake op

[CanadianWolf]

Because OP wants to pursue a joint JD-MPH program as stated in his original post in this thread.

[AnMzungu]

Because OP wants to pursue a joint JD-MPH program as stated in his original post in this thread.

Are you sure that Duke has an MPH program? I know that Chapel Hill does, but I've never heard of Duke's.

[ddsbutler]

Are you from Oregon and wanting to get back there after law school?

I grew up in Oregon, and am looking to get away for a while. I wouldn't be surprised if I end up back in the PNW someday, but I want to spend some serious time elsewhere (Ideally major east coast city/LA/SF).

Thanks for the tip on mylsn, its a lot easier to navigate than the LSN website.

As far as the LSAT goes, I spent about 2.5 months studying using only the LSAC practice tests, for ~5-12 hours per week. I hit what I was practice testing at right on the nose, so I didn't really feel like I underperformed on test day

[Clyde Frog]

What is your lsac gpa? I know Oregon offers A+ grades and was wondering if you factored those in as 4.3 points instead of 4.

[BigZuck]

Are you from Oregon and wanting to get back there after law school?

I grew up in Oregon, and am looking to get away for a while. I wouldn't be surprised if I end up back in the PNW someday, but I want to spend some serious time elsewhere (Ideally major east coast city/LA/SF).

Thanks for the tip on mylsn, its a lot easier to navigate than the LSN website.

As far as the LSAT goes, I spent about 2.5 months studying using only the LSAC practice tests, for ~5-12 hours per week. I hit what I was practice testing at right on the nose, so I didn't really feel like I underperformed on test day

I wouldn't bother with Emory then

I think you're going to find that you need to either retake or aim lower, even if you get into some of the school's you mentioned it'll be prohibitively expensive.

Problem with aiming lower is you'll be looking at regional schools in areas where you don't have ties which isn't ideal but so it goes I guess.

[CanadianWolf]

To the poster above who asked about Duke's joint public policy health options: Duke has at least a couple of joint degree options in this area for JD candidates. One is the MPH program with UNC; the other is on their website plus they offer a highly selective joint JD/MD option. Duke is pretty flexible with joint degrees for JD students.

[OhBoyOhBortles]

Are you from Oregon and wanting to get back there after law school?

I grew up in Oregon, and am looking to get away for a while. I wouldn't be surprised if I end up back in the PNW someday, but I want to spend some serious time elsewhere (Ideally major east coast city/LA/SF).

Thanks for the tip on mylsn, its a lot easier to navigate than the LSN website.

As far as the LSAT goes, I spent about 2.5 months studying using only the LSAC practice tests, for ~5-12 hours per week. I hit what I was practice testing at right on the nose, so I didn't really feel like I underperformed on test day

Keep studying. You have a gpa that could get you t6. Why settle for an lsat that will make the t14 a stretch?

[CanadianWolf]

Are you considering Emory due to a joint program with the CDC or medical school ?

[Clemenceau]

Are you considering Emory due to a joint program with the CDC or medical school ?

Considering he said "decided to pivot to law instead" I'm gonna assume he's not doing med school

Who the hell does those jd/md programs anyway. I'll never understand

[CanadianWolf]

I understand, but there are other joint degree programs involving science and medicine. OP wrote that he's interested in a JD/MPH joint degree.

[zombie mcavoy]

I understand, but there are other joint degree programs involving science and medicine. OP wrote that he's interested in a JD/MPH joint degree.

I've never really seen a tls poster not attack someone's interest in doing a dual degree

why is a dual mph from duke a good investment? you're saying it's generally worth a fourth year of tuition and no biglaw salary?

[CanadianWolf]

This is OP's interest. Some are 4 years, some are 3 years. Ask OP what his career plans are.

[middlebear]

I understand, but there are other joint degree programs involving science and medicine. OP wrote that he's interested in a JD/MPH joint degree.

I've never really seen a tls poster not attack someone's interest in doing a dual degree

why is a dual mph from duke a good investment? you're saying it's generally worth a fourth year of tuition and no biglaw salary?

Could go either way. I worked in a BigLaw healthcare section and we had a couple attorneys with MPHs, and it might have been sliiiiightly helpful when they were doing policy/Hill stuff. But the majority of the attorneys, both partners and associates, did not have an MPH.

Maybe since OP has that hard science background, if he/she truly believes they need a dual, they should go for... well, a harder science degree than the MPH?

[Broncos15]

As far as the LSAT goes, I spent about 2.5 months studying using only the LSAC practice tests, for ~5-12 hours per week. I hit what I was practice testing at right on the nose, so I didn't really feel like I underperformed on test day

While you didn't under perform relative to your practice tests,......I don't think you spent enough time studying. A typical TLSer will study approx. 30 hours a week for several months.

No shortcuts to a 170

[Mack.Hambleton]

Retake in June. And september if needed.

[rwe13]

You'd get in some forsure but retake for that $$$

[Blueprint Ben]

As far as the LSAT goes, I spent about 2.5 months studying using only the LSAC practice tests, for ~5-12 hours per week. I hit what I was practice testing at right on the nose, so I didn't really feel like I underperformed on test day

While you didn't under perform relative to your practice tests,......I don't think you spent enough time studying. A typical TLSer will study approx. 30 hours a week for several months.

No shortcuts to a 170

Agreed. The fact that you didn't underperform on test day compared to your PTs doesn't imply that you studied enough or that you hit your ceiling. With that GPA, you absolutely must retake. If you got to 165 with a couple months of lackluster studying, you can definitely break 170 with the right training. The LSAT subforum is full of great prep tips and high scorers willing to help. Join us, study hard, and go to a T14 for free.