163/3.6/Military/Triple-Major/Awful LSAT Conditions Forum

[BDMPKT]

I've been waiting in application purgatory for way too long. Figured to alleviate boredom and/or make myself far more stressed I'd have fun on here.

-3.6 from a good public university
-Triple majored, double minored. Took above the max course load every semester. Only real ding on GPA was Spanish.
- 4 years military experience as an officer. Deployment and leadership positions.
- 163 LSAT. Took the test while in the middle of a training exercise. 14 hour work days for 1-2 months leading up to it; 16 hour work days in the week leading up to it. Minimal study and prep time. Took it again during time as acting rear-d commander (200+ Soldiers). Again, minimal prep time, 12-14 hour work days in the month leading up to it and was at work until 8pm the night before (only note this because I communicated it in an addendum and emails)
- Leadership positions throughout college, diverse activity set (athletics, fraternity, ROTC, etc)
- Very good personal statement/diversity statement. Strong and multi-faceted letters of rec.
- Good communication with admissions agents at all schools. Just enough to communicate interest, not overdone though.

Applied to GULC, UVA, Vandy, Penn, UGA, 'Bama.

[cbbinnyc]

The only important facts here are: 163, 3.6, Military

Schools will only care about your LSAT addendum if you have a notable difference between scores. If you were to retake - which seems advisable since you've never taken with the proper preparation, based on what you wrote - and get a 170, they would take your addendum into account when seeing your earlier, lower scores.

Use mylsn.com and check your chances there. You might slightly outperform your numbers because of decent softs (military background).

You said you wrote a diversity statement. Are you a URM? Obviously that will help your chances a good deal as well.

[TheSpanishMain]

It's not going to matter that you were in the middle of an exercise when you took the LSAT. A 163 is a 163. If a soldier came to you and said, "Well, I got a 195 on my PT test, but to be fair to me, I didn't really train for it because I was really busy, and also I was pretty hungover, so you should probably treat me as though I got a 270" that wouldn't work.

A 163 isn't awful or anything, but it's still a 163. You need to retake after studying properly. If you got a 163 with bad prep, you're definitely capable of getting a 170 after prepping properly.

[ArmyRN]

I may be wrong, but I feel as though you may have hurt yourself with the addendum.

[BDMPKT]

I may be wrong, but I feel as though you may have hurt yourself with the addendum.

I actually did it on the advise of some admissions personnel. They were aware of my circumstances and made a note of telling me that I should annotate that on my application. Whether or not that helps or hurts me, we'll see. Wish I could've actually been in a situation where I could've prepped, but that was not going to happen.

[BDMPKT]

The only important facts here are: 163, 3.6, Military

Schools will only care about your LSAT addendum if you have a notable difference between scores. If you were to retake - which seems advisable since you've never taken with the proper preparation, based on what you wrote - and get a 170, they would take your addendum into account when seeing your earlier, lower scores.

Use mylsn.com and check your chances there. You might slightly outperform your numbers because of decent softs (military background).

You said you wrote a diversity statement. Are you a URM? Obviously that will help your chances a good deal as well.

The main issue with retake is that it would be under poor circumstances as well- I can't catch a break. Diversity statement was a common request and I wrote something to the extent that being a veteran would add an extra experience to the class that wouldn't otherwise be present. That took a decent amount of word-smithing but I think the final product did the trick. If you're in a similar boat I can send you something.

[TheSpanishMain]

I can't catch a break.

Nah dude, things actually look pretty good for you. An unprepped for 163 shows you are capable of cracking the LSAT. You just have to train properly. With a 170+ LSAT score, a decent GPA, and the veteran boost, you could end up going to a pretty great school and give yourself a ton of options. Hopefully you have the GI Bill, so you can just go to the best school you get into without worrying about scholarships. HYS are probably out, but pretty much everything else is on the table. If that means you wait a year, wait a year. Don't shoot yourself in the foot by going before you're ready. The school you go to can determine the course of the rest of your career.

[cbbinnyc]

I can't catch a break.

Nah dude, things actually look pretty good for you. An unprepped for 163 shows you are capable of cracking the LSAT. You just have to train properly. With a 170+ LSAT score, a decent GPA, and the veteran boost, you could end up going to a pretty great school and give yourself a ton of options. Hopefully you have the GI Bill, so you can just go to the best school you get into without worrying about scholarships. HYS are probably out, but pretty much everything else is on the table. If that means you wait a year, wait a year. Don't shoot yourself in the foot by going before you're ready. The school you go to can determine the course of the rest of your career.

This. Take time off before law school to focus exclusively on getting a good LSAT score. Getting even just a 6 or 7 point increase will change your entire career.

Re:diversity statement, yeah that makes sense. Was just wondering about URM status in terms of chances. I'm not in the same boat, but thanks for the offer!

[MichiganMan87]

As a fellow military officer applying this cycle, I would say you have a good shot at all of them. Your numbers are significantly better than mine and I have outperformed my numbers substantially. I've been accepted, with scholarship money, at schools that I am well below the 25 percentile on both LSAT and GPA. Being a military officer seems to be a huge advantage in the application process. While your LSAT score is still quite good, I think you have a compelling circumstance to write a solid addendum.

[BigZuck]

retake