I'm currently a 4th year at UCSD and I'll be finishing up this summer and applying next year.
I did terribly for my first 3.5 years (I know, it's bad) but I was recently diagnosed with mild depression and previously undiagnosed ADHD. Now in my final year I'm pulling As in my PoliSci classes but it's not really ever going to fix my terrible (failed) grades from before. I was in Bioengineering at a world ranked facility but changed my major 3 times until I realised I was really good at PoliSci (AmPol major now).
Basically:
GPA = ~2.6 (my GPA in my Major is a 3.75 but I was screwed with my previous engineering courses)
LSAT = not taken, practice score ~165
not underrepresented minority or low income
no great internships or jobs (I was a bartender.. yeah)
I'm wondering if I should consider going to Australia for my JD. Sydney Law is world ranked QS World ranking #13 (above many top tiers here and even a few T14s) and offers a JD. I've lived in Sydney and looking at the admissions page, getting in shouldn't be too hard. I've also looked into how it would transfer to the states - basically I'd get a JD in Aus, come back to the states and qualify for the bar with an LLM and could sit the bar in a few states, namely CA and NY. It's not the long-way-around process that worries me at all.
I'm really just wondering if the prestige will transfer over in terms of job prospects in the states. If I can't get into a tier1 school stateside, would it be better to try again for a tier1 the next year, settle for a tier2, or go to Australia?
There isn't too much literature on the subject (I've scoured the internet) so I'm hoping someone has some anecdotal evidence. (also looking to see if anyone with my type of grades has had luck breaking into the top tier with drastic improvement in the home stretch of university)
Thanks!
