AA Male who yearns for HLS Forum

[Catsinthebag]

Having worked in essentially the same types of jobs before going to law school, I'm wondering how you have time to be CO'S for a statewide org and intern for the gov and etc.!

[rav17]

As someone who wanted H but failed, shoot for Y. Maybe if I had done that, I would've worked harder on the LSAT and on my GPA. It also seems that an AA male will need around a 3.6 to have a good shot at H

I hope this is a troll post. Admission to YLS is notoriously more competitive than HLS so if you can't get into the latter, you're not getting into the former. Pretty much everyone that goes or got into to YLS, also got into HLS, the same isn't at all true for the reverse. OP, just keep at it, study hard for the LSAT, maybe take some time off after undergrad and get some solid work experience under your belt before you decide to shoot off law school apps.

? What can't you understand? Getting into Y is more competitive so if you make your application competitive for Y, you'll know for sure that you are competitive for H.

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars"

I must have I misinterpreted your post then. We both agree that Yale law is more difficult to get into than Harvard Law, that's a fact. In your response, it seemed that you were trying to sway OP into aiming for Yale, but not Harvard, thus insinuating that he may have better shot of getting into the former which isn't true. I now know what you mean though. If he makes his application competitive for Yale then it will definitely be for Harvard as well, although in my view unless he finishes with at least a 3.7, his GPA will be prohibitive for a Yale acceptance, even if he scores in the 99th percentile on the LSAT, but he should give it his all nonetheless.

[Iam3hunna]

Don't we all yearn for Harvard? I mean, it is Harvard after all. Oh my fair Harvard, where art thou?

[HarveySpecs]

Having worked in essentially the same types of jobs before going to law school, I'm wondering how you have time to be CO'S for a statewide org and intern for the gov and etc.!

The chief of staff stuff is difficult, but time management is key. Also, the internship work isn't very difficult at all.

[HarveySpecs]

As someone who wanted H but failed, shoot for Y. Maybe if I had done that, I would've worked harder on the LSAT and on my GPA. It also seems that an AA male will need around a 3.6 to have a good shot at H

I hope this is a troll post. Admission to YLS is notoriously more competitive than HLS so if you can't get into the latter, you're not getting into the former. Pretty much everyone that goes or got into to YLS, also got into HLS, the same isn't at all true for the reverse. OP, just keep at it, study hard for the LSAT, maybe take some time off after undergrad and get some solid work experience under your belt before you decide to shoot off law school apps.

? What can't you understand? Getting into Y is more competitive so if you make your application competitive for Y, you'll know for sure that you are competitive for H.

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars"

I must have I misinterpreted your post then. We both agree that Yale law is more difficult to get into than Harvard Law, that's a fact. In your response, it seemed that you were trying to sway OP into aiming for Yale, but not Harvard, thus insinuating that he may have better shot of getting into the former which isn't true. I now know what you mean though. If he makes his application competitive for Yale then it will definitely be for Harvard as well, although in my view unless he finishes with at least a 3.7, his GPA will be prohibitive for a Yale acceptance, even if he scores in the 99th percentile on the LSAT, but he should give it his all nonetheless.

I appreciate the advice. I just purchased all of the PowerScore Bibles and hopefully I can do Yale's numbers in hopes of getting into Harvard. I wonder if as an AA with Yale numbers you can get a full ride plus a stipend! That would be ideal.

[HarveySpecs]

I don't really have much insight that others don't, but since your softs question hasn't been covered I will say that they are fine, but other than extreme outliers (think Rhodes Scholar, olympic medal, etc.) softs will neither help nor hinder. This isn't to discount any of your experiences or internships, they sound great and are definitely more impressive than anything I have done, just not something that will give you a boost in admission %. The advice you have gotten regarding LSAT study is great; people swear by the study guides on TLS, and with diligent hard work I'm sure they will pay off for you.

One more thing is that I would just suggest really thinking about why you want to go to law school, from what I have heard dual degrees are not the right call in most cases (as you will often only end up using/needing one or the other). If you are really interested in McKinsey you might want to consider just focusing on building work experience/GMAT and gunning for HBS, nothing wrong with continuing to evaluate your goal of being a lawyer along the way.

You seem nice, hard-working, and open to advice which is a great combination. Good luck on finishing up undergrad/studying for the LSAT/whatever else comes your way!

Thanks a lot! I do believe some introspection is in order. I just noticed that ,in my time around politicians (especially ones here in the South), lawyers seem to be the best at politics. They also don't need legislative counsel to write their bills for them. I also have noticed that the wealthier ones put forth more meaningful legislation seeing as how they don't care about fundraising as much. Lastly, for some reason Southern people seem to have an abnormal admiration for those with business savvy and a true love for a master of the private sector (e.g. Mitt Romney, who happened to have a Harvard JD/MBA). Though, I'm a very liberal Democrat, I want to change my home here in the South. I thought Harvard would be the best place to educate myself.

Do Southern people also acknowledge that Mitt Romney had a father who was a three-time governor and who bankrolled his expensive education? Should someone born into such privilege who accomplished what was only the expected or foreseeable result of such privilege really be so admired or loved? Congratulations, he did not squander what was handed to him....

True. I hadn't considered it that way. I was just musing over what career trajectory would be best.

[QuentonCassidy]

I appreciate the advice. I just purchased all of the PowerScore Bibles and hopefully I can do Yale's numbers in hopes of getting into Harvard. I wonder if as an AA with Yale numbers you can get a full ride plus a stipend! That would be ideal.

Yale, Harvard and Stanford do not give out merit-based aid (so getting higher GPA/LSAT numbers will not lead to higher scholly/stipend). Their aid is need-based and even if you qualify for the maximum aid that they give out, it still necessitates taking out $40,000+ in loans each year. There are some T14 schools that give out stipends beyond their full scholarships, and if you were to receive one of those scholarships it would cost much less than HYS even if you get full need-based aid. The higher your numbers are the more competitive you will be for those scholarships, so definitely work hard on knocking the LSAT out of the park.

[AnMzungu]

I'd generally recommend a T-13 full-ride if you get one, but basically not having grades is pretty sweet.

[Nebby]

You can't mathematically attain a 3.7 GPA from where you are at. However, if you kick butt you can still get to a 3.5 by the time you finish your requirements, and you'll need a 170+ for HLS

[HarveySpecs]

You can't mathematically attain a 3.7 GPA from where you are at. However, if you kick butt you can still get to a 3.5 by the time you finish your requirements, and you'll need a 170+ for HLS

I'll shoot for it. Thanks!