3.9 GPA Corporate Executive Forum

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brooklynmom

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3.9 GPA Corporate Executive

Post by brooklynmom » Wed Sep 26, 2018 9:36 pm

I have a 3.9 undergrad GPA from a state school (graduated 2008). I've worked my way up the corporate ladder at a Fortune 50 tech company and run a practice group in NYC. I'm interested in pivoting into law (I always have been). I haven't taken the LSAT yet. If I were able to get a 170+, what would my chances be as a Latina woman with significant corporate business experience? Harvard, Yale, Columbia, NYU would be top choices.

albanach

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Re: 3.9 GPA Corporate Executive

Post by albanach » Wed Sep 26, 2018 10:35 pm

Visit mylsn.info select URM excluding AA. Play with numbers.

It's all speculation until you get an actual lsat score. The GPA won't hold you back. The corporate experience won't make a whole lot of difference.

QContinuum

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Re: 3.9 GPA Corporate Executive

Post by QContinuum » Thu Sep 27, 2018 12:50 am

brooklynmom wrote:I have a 3.9 undergrad GPA from a state school (graduated 2008). I've worked my way up the corporate ladder at a Fortune 50 tech company and run a practice group in NYC. I'm interested in pivoting into law (I always have been). I haven't taken the LSAT yet. If I were able to get a 170+, what would my chances be as a Latina woman with significant corporate business experience? Harvard, Yale, Columbia, NYU would be top choices.
I have to ask: Have you seriously weighed the costs/benefits of attending law school? You're already a corporate exec at a Fortune 50 company. You have an entire group reporting to you. What do you expect to happen out of law school? You're currently ~31 (estimating based on your 2008 college graduation). The quickest you'd be able to start law school is fall 2019, at 32. You won't graduate until you're 35. Are you prepared to:
  • Give up three years of high pay as a F50 executive?
  • Incur three years of debt (tuition, fees, living expenses)?
  • Start all over again at the very bottom of the totem pole at 35?
Most likely, from a T13 law school you'd go to a large law firm upon graduation, starting out as a first-year associate. Sometime between years 3-6, you'd likely leave - possibly going back to your F50, this time as a lawyer. You'd be a junior/midlevel in-house attorney at that point. Even in a best-case scenario, you wouldn't regain a similar management position at your F50 until you're ~40.

I'm not trying to discourage you from going into law. I just want to double-check to make sure you realize the full cost of this - it's not just a 3-year detour, it's more of a ~9-year journey before you'd be back in management at a F50 company.

Redrobbin2018

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Re: 3.9 GPA Corporate Executive

Post by Redrobbin2018 » Thu Sep 27, 2018 8:33 am

Is there not enough upward potential in your current role?

DPW interviewers among others gave my friend slack for being too old (he's 35ish): "we would've wanted you ten years ago", "when did you graduate high school?," "your my age." Be ready for such comments. He did get big law but is top of class at lower ranked school, so super tough.

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nealric

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Re: 3.9 GPA Corporate Executive

Post by nealric » Thu Sep 27, 2018 9:31 am

brooklynmom wrote:I have a 3.9 undergrad GPA from a state school (graduated 2008). I've worked my way up the corporate ladder at a Fortune 50 tech company and run a practice group in NYC. I'm interested in pivoting into law (I always have been). I haven't taken the LSAT yet. If I were able to get a 170+, what would my chances be as a Latina woman with significant corporate business experience? Harvard, Yale, Columbia, NYU would be top choices.
It would be pointless to go anywhere but Harvard/Yale/Stanford. You will almost certainly get into one of them with a 170+. But, I'd echo others and question why you want to do it. Why go from the top of the totem pole to the bottom?

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QContinuum

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Re: 3.9 GPA Corporate Executive

Post by QContinuum » Thu Sep 27, 2018 1:14 pm

nealric wrote:
brooklynmom wrote:I have a 3.9 undergrad GPA from a state school (graduated 2008). I've worked my way up the corporate ladder at a Fortune 50 tech company and run a practice group in NYC. I'm interested in pivoting into law (I always have been). I haven't taken the LSAT yet. If I were able to get a 170+, what would my chances be as a Latina woman with significant corporate business experience? Harvard, Yale, Columbia, NYU would be top choices.
It would be pointless to go anywhere but Harvard/Yale/Stanford. You will almost certainly get into one of them with a 170+. But, I'd echo others and question why you want to do it. Why go from the top of the totem pole to the bottom?
Depending on her goals, Columbia/NYU could be well worth considering if she gets substantial $ - a real possibility if she aces the LSAT.

JohnnieSockran

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Re: 3.9 GPA Corporate Executive

Post by JohnnieSockran » Thu Sep 27, 2018 1:24 pm

Take the GMAT and go to b-school. Your company might even pay for it/subsidize the cost, or let you get the Executive MBA from like Wharton or something where I think you can continue working your current job.

In b-school admissions, your work experience will likely help a lot for HBS/Stanford/Wharton. It will make almost 0 difference for law school admissions.

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nealric

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Re: 3.9 GPA Corporate Executive

Post by nealric » Thu Sep 27, 2018 2:07 pm

QContinuum wrote:
nealric wrote:
brooklynmom wrote:I have a 3.9 undergrad GPA from a state school (graduated 2008). I've worked my way up the corporate ladder at a Fortune 50 tech company and run a practice group in NYC. I'm interested in pivoting into law (I always have been). I haven't taken the LSAT yet. If I were able to get a 170+, what would my chances be as a Latina woman with significant corporate business experience? Harvard, Yale, Columbia, NYU would be top choices.
It would be pointless to go anywhere but Harvard/Yale/Stanford. You will almost certainly get into one of them with a 170+. But, I'd echo others and question why you want to do it. Why go from the top of the totem pole to the bottom?
Depending on her goals, Columbia/NYU could be well worth considering if she gets substantial $ - a real possibility if she aces the LSAT.
I suppose it depends on goals, but I really don't see the point in going to Columbia/NYU and going to work as a grunt in a random biglaw firm. Going to Yale and clerking for a feeder judge might make sense if one is looking for a totally different career direction (though still somewhat questionable in my mind).

barkschool

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Re: 3.9 GPA Corporate Executive

Post by barkschool » Thu Sep 27, 2018 2:18 pm

brooklynmom wrote:I have a 3.9 undergrad GPA from a state school (graduated 2008). I've worked my way up the corporate ladder at a Fortune 50 tech company and run a practice group in NYC. I'm interested in pivoting into law (I always have been). I haven't taken the LSAT yet. If I were able to get a 170+, what would my chances be as a Latina woman with significant corporate business experience? Harvard, Yale, Columbia, NYU would be top choices.
In Big law, we can switch jobs if you’d like.

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kellyjohnson

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Re: 3.9 GPA Corporate Executive

Post by kellyjohnson » Thu Sep 27, 2018 2:27 pm

nealric wrote:
It would be pointless to go anywhere but Harvard/Yale/Stanford. You will almost certainly get into one of them with a 170+. But, I'd echo others and question why you want to do it. Why go from the top of the totem pole to the bottom?
Not sure where you get "almost certainly" from. With a 170 / 3.9 she'd be below both medians at HY and probably S (new medians not available yet). Unless she is Mexican American or Puerto Rican, the Latina part doesnt matter that much and the work experience, while good, is still a soft and there will be a lot of people with impressive work experience applying to HYS.

To the OP: Take the LSAT, then you will have an idea of your options. Think about why you want to go to law school instead of grad school/business school (where your work experience would probably count for more).

ImaginaryDay

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Re: 3.9 GPA Corporate Executive

Post by ImaginaryDay » Thu Sep 27, 2018 5:20 pm

Unless she is Mexican American or Puerto Rican, the Latina part doesnt matter that much and the work experience, while good, is still a soft and there will be a lot of people with impressive work experience applying to HYS.

What difference will a Mexican American or Puerto Rican heritage make versus any other Latina heritage?

AJordan

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Re: 3.9 GPA Corporate Executive

Post by AJordan » Thu Sep 27, 2018 5:32 pm

The former are considered URM. The latter are not.

brooklynmom

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Re: 3.9 GPA Corporate Executive

Post by brooklynmom » Thu Sep 27, 2018 9:53 pm

kellyjohnson wrote:
nealric wrote:
It would be pointless to go anywhere but Harvard/Yale/Stanford. You will almost certainly get into one of them with a 170+. But, I'd echo others and question why you want to do it. Why go from the top of the totem pole to the bottom?
Not sure where you get "almost certainly" from. With a 170 / 3.9 she'd be below both medians at HY and probably S (new medians not available yet). Unless she is Mexican American or Puerto Rican, the Latina part doesnt matter that much and the work experience, while good, is still a soft and there will be a lot of people with impressive work experience applying to HYS.

To the OP: Take the LSAT, then you will have an idea of your options. Think about why you want to go to law school instead of grad school/business school (where your work experience would probably count for more).
I am Mexican-American FWIW.

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brooklynmom

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Re: 3.9 GPA Corporate Executive

Post by brooklynmom » Thu Sep 27, 2018 10:00 pm

Redrobbin2018 wrote:Is there not enough upward potential in your current role?

DPW interviewers among others gave my friend slack for being too old (he's 35ish): "we would've wanted you ten years ago", "when did you graduate high school?," "your my age." Be ready for such comments. He did get big law but is top of class at lower ranked school, so super tough.
I do have significant upward potential in my current role, but I'm kind of at the crossroads where it seems, at least to me, that I'm approaching the point of no return for a career pivot given my age, my current role, and my life situation. I'm not intimidated by the questions you pose above--I feel like I could articulate compelling reasons why I would be an asset wherever I went--and I'm sure I'm far from the first nontraditional candidate to have to reckon with their age and experience.

brooklynmom

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Re: 3.9 GPA Corporate Executive

Post by brooklynmom » Thu Sep 27, 2018 10:04 pm

QContinuum wrote:
brooklynmom wrote:I have a 3.9 undergrad GPA from a state school (graduated 2008). I've worked my way up the corporate ladder at a Fortune 50 tech company and run a practice group in NYC. I'm interested in pivoting into law (I always have been). I haven't taken the LSAT yet. If I were able to get a 170+, what would my chances be as a Latina woman with significant corporate business experience? Harvard, Yale, Columbia, NYU would be top choices.
I have to ask: Have you seriously weighed the costs/benefits of attending law school? You're already a corporate exec at a Fortune 50 company. You have an entire group reporting to you. What do you expect to happen out of law school? You're currently ~31 (estimating based on your 2008 college graduation). The quickest you'd be able to start law school is fall 2019, at 32. You won't graduate until you're 35. Are you prepared to:
  • Give up three years of high pay as a F50 executive?
  • Incur three years of debt (tuition, fees, living expenses)?
  • Start all over again at the very bottom of the totem pole at 35?
Most likely, from a T13 law school you'd go to a large law firm upon graduation, starting out as a first-year associate. Sometime between years 3-6, you'd likely leave - possibly going back to your F50, this time as a lawyer. You'd be a junior/midlevel in-house attorney at that point. Even in a best-case scenario, you wouldn't regain a similar management position at your F50 until you're ~40.

I'm not trying to discourage you from going into law. I just want to double-check to make sure you realize the full cost of this - it's not just a 3-year detour, it's more of a ~9-year journey before you'd be back in management at a F50 company.
I really appreciate the honest and sobering reply, @QContinuum.

nylon_law

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Re: 3.9 GPA Corporate Executive

Post by nylon_law » Fri Sep 28, 2018 12:06 pm

Hi. I am a Latina, former banking MD, who is applying to law school. In my opinion, 9 years is nothing in the grand scheme of life. So if you want to make a change do it. I would think that another 9 years in a career that you do not like, could possibly be more painful than starting from scratch. Take the LSAT, then you will have a better benchmark for what schools are a possibility for you. Also, do not just apply to HYP for the brand recognition. Apply to schools that may be a good fit for your post-law school ambitions and your background / personality. Best of luck.

JohnnieSockran

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Re: 3.9 GPA Corporate Executive

Post by JohnnieSockran » Fri Sep 28, 2018 2:57 pm

nylon_law wrote:Hi. I am a Latina, former banking MD, who is applying to law school. In my opinion, 9 years is nothing in the grand scheme of life. So if you want to make a change do it. I would think that another 9 years in a career that you do not like, could possibly be more painful than starting from scratch. Take the LSAT, then you will have a better benchmark for what schools are a possibility for you. Also, do not just apply to HYP for the brand recognition. Apply to schools that may be a good fit for your post-law school ambitions and your background / personality. Best of luck.
Why wouldn't a banking MD that wants out just sock away cash, live frugally and just retire?

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QContinuum

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Re: 3.9 GPA Corporate Executive

Post by QContinuum » Fri Sep 28, 2018 4:36 pm

brooklynmom wrote:
QContinuum wrote:
brooklynmom wrote:I have a 3.9 undergrad GPA from a state school (graduated 2008). I've worked my way up the corporate ladder at a Fortune 50 tech company and run a practice group in NYC. I'm interested in pivoting into law (I always have been). I haven't taken the LSAT yet. If I were able to get a 170+, what would my chances be as a Latina woman with significant corporate business experience? Harvard, Yale, Columbia, NYU would be top choices.
I have to ask: Have you seriously weighed the costs/benefits of attending law school? You're already a corporate exec at a Fortune 50 company. You have an entire group reporting to you. What do you expect to happen out of law school? You're currently ~31 (estimating based on your 2008 college graduation). The quickest you'd be able to start law school is fall 2019, at 32. You won't graduate until you're 35. Are you prepared to:
  • Give up three years of high pay as a F50 executive?
  • Incur three years of debt (tuition, fees, living expenses)?
  • Start all over again at the very bottom of the totem pole at 35?
Most likely, from a T13 law school you'd go to a large law firm upon graduation, starting out as a first-year associate. Sometime between years 3-6, you'd likely leave - possibly going back to your F50, this time as a lawyer. You'd be a junior/midlevel in-house attorney at that point. Even in a best-case scenario, you wouldn't regain a similar management position at your F50 until you're ~40.

I'm not trying to discourage you from going into law. I just want to double-check to make sure you realize the full cost of this - it's not just a 3-year detour, it's more of a ~9-year journey before you'd be back in management at a F50 company.
I really appreciate the honest and sobering reply, @QContinuum.
Happy to help. Just to add, I don't want to be overly negative: It is a long journey, but 1) nylon_law is right that if you're miserable in your current career and are truly passionate about being a lawyer, then this could be worth it. And 2) While being a junior associate would be a large change from your current managerial role, the pay may not be that much worse - current starting salary at NYC market is (as you probably know) $190k. So it's not impracticable, although definitely much more work than staying on in your current career.

nylon_law

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Re: 3.9 GPA Corporate Executive

Post by nylon_law » Sat Sep 29, 2018 8:43 pm

JohnnieSockran wrote:
nylon_law wrote:Hi. I am a Latina, former banking MD, who is applying to law school. In my opinion, 9 years is nothing in the grand scheme of life. So if you want to make a change do it. I would think that another 9 years in a career that you do not like, could possibly be more painful than starting from scratch. Take the LSAT, then you will have a better benchmark for what schools are a possibility for you. Also, do not just apply to HYP for the brand recognition. Apply to schools that may be a good fit for your post-law school ambitions and your background / personality. Best of luck.
Why wouldn't a banking MD that wants out just sock away cash, live frugally and just retire?
I loved my career; it was awesome but I needed to take a break for personal reasons. When some people get older, their priorities change and money may no longer be the primary motivator for career choices. In theory, a front office MD should know how to build and to run a business, how to calculate risks and how to intelligently save and invest those big bonus checks/stocks. If an MD has done it well, he or she should have more than enough to live a very comfortable life (with no need to live frugally) until death and should be able to provide for their kids. I have no intention of retiring anytime soon as it would bore me. Instead, I devote my time to charitable pursuits. For me, I can do so much more for the community with a law degree.

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