Am I doomed? GMU Law prospective student Forum

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terrychocolate

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Am I doomed? GMU Law prospective student

Post by terrychocolate » Tue Oct 02, 2018 9:59 am

I already know what everybody is going to say - "retake the LSAT", which I know I need to do but unfortunately I may not have time... As for my background, I'm a female Hispanic with a master's degree in economics from GMU (still attending) and an undergraduate degree in political science and economics. I currently have a 3.95 GPA at GMU with fellowship awards, scholarships from various institutions and organizations, and I have been on the Dean's List every semester. I work as a consultant full time at a big law firm, and spend half my time in our European office working directly with the EU Commission and the other half working with the U.S. government. I speak multiple languages and have great recommendations, along with a pretty solid (I think) personal statement. Unfortunately, I have quite possibly the worst LSAT score I have ever seen. What confuses me the most is that I received a 155 on my diagnostic test BEFORE I started self-studying and then received a 167 on my last PT test prior to the Sept. exam. I thought worst case scenario is I would get a 155 because of nerves, but nope, I got a 144... I am still completely baffled by this but it is what it is. I think I tried to juggle too much at once - work, travel for work, and full-time night school graduate student. The reason why I can't retake the test anytime soon is because I'll be going back to Europe for work from Oct - early Aug (before law school), and my employers want me to attend law school part-time as soon as possible. The plan is I would eventually become a law clerk, summer associate, then associate at the firm.

I know I may barely get in with my LSAT, but could my other stats help me slide through admissions? 2 of my recommenders are GMU professors and the 3rd is a partner. My other option is to just take an actual LSAT course next year when I get back from Europe and try to apply for the Fall of 2020. However, I would rather not delay this process since I wouldn't probably graduate until 2024.

Thanks!

albanach

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Re: Am I doomed? GMU Law prospective student

Post by albanach » Tue Oct 02, 2018 10:32 am

terrychocolate wrote: I know I may barely get in with my LSAT, but could my other stats help me slide through admissions? 2 of my recommenders are GMU professors and the 3rd is a partner. My other option is to just take an actual LSAT course next year when I get back from Europe and try to apply for the Fall of 2020. However, I would rather not delay this process since I wouldn't probably graduate until 2024.

Thanks!
Is your employer paying for school? Will they commit in writing to employ you after graduation?

If not, you need to retake. Either fly back for a couple of days or take it next year.

terrychocolate

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Re: Am I doomed? GMU Law prospective student

Post by terrychocolate » Tue Oct 02, 2018 10:38 am

albanach wrote:
terrychocolate wrote: I know I may barely get in with my LSAT, but could my other stats help me slide through admissions? 2 of my recommenders are GMU professors and the 3rd is a partner. My other option is to just take an actual LSAT course next year when I get back from Europe and try to apply for the Fall of 2020. However, I would rather not delay this process since I wouldn't probably graduate until 2024.

Thanks!
Is your employer paying for school? Will they commit in writing to employ you after graduation?

If not, you need to retake. Either fly back for a couple of days or take it next year.
Regarding paying for school - I would actually receive in-state tuition since I live/work in VA and my employer will pay up to 50% of the tuition. I would probably be paying $40k out of pocket for the entire program. Per your second question, yes. My biggest fear is getting rejected and not so much the tuition or career prospects post-JD.

albanach

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Re: Am I doomed? GMU Law prospective student

Post by albanach » Tue Oct 02, 2018 12:23 pm

terrychocolate wrote:
albanach wrote:
terrychocolate wrote: I know I may barely get in with my LSAT, but could my other stats help me slide through admissions? 2 of my recommenders are GMU professors and the 3rd is a partner. My other option is to just take an actual LSAT course next year when I get back from Europe and try to apply for the Fall of 2020. However, I would rather not delay this process since I wouldn't probably graduate until 2024.

Thanks!
Is your employer paying for school? Will they commit in writing to employ you after graduation?

If not, you need to retake. Either fly back for a couple of days or take it next year.
Regarding paying for school - I would actually receive in-state tuition since I live/work in VA and my employer will pay up to 50% of the tuition. I would probably be paying $40k out of pocket for the entire program. Per your second question, yes. My biggest fear is getting rejected and not so much the tuition or career prospects post-JD.
This still seems to assume that you will be accepted into GMU with a 144. The 25th percentile is a 157. Your score is in the bottom 23% of all LSAT results. Has the school indicated that you would be accepted? I don't think you've given us your undergraduate GPA?

Obviously, acceptance to part-time programs is different, but this would still require a fairly sizable departure from the norm.

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Duckhat

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Re: Am I doomed? GMU Law prospective student

Post by Duckhat » Tue Oct 02, 2018 1:58 pm

Do you want us to tell you that you are in peril of not getting into GMU? Cause you are in peril of not getting into GMU.

Can you work at the US office until the November LSAT? Can you take it in Europe? Here is a handy link for testing sites/dates outside the US:

https://www.lsac.org/lsat/published-tes ... and-canada

Make your study time part of your routine and you'll be alright, good luck!

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