Undergraduate GPA not so impressive, Graduate GPA Excellent Forum

[kmh504]

I'm applying to law school this fall - I plan on applying to all of the Top 20 schools but am unsure how my varying scores will factor into my acceptance.

Facts:
AA Female, 23
Undergrad: Northwestern University, 3.3 BS.Ed (Social Policy/Legal Studies)
I got accepted to a teaching fellowship after graduation called New York city teaching fellows and they assign you a university to attend for your masters since they pay for it - I was assigned to Pace University which is definitely much lower in rank (and tier) than Northwestern but I have a 3.8 GPA (MS.Ed) and recently received endorsement from the provost for the Rhodes.

I took the LSAT while I had swine flu (thought I'd be fine lol) and scored 150 but my retake this year was 166.

I'm a teacher of students with severe cognitive disabilities (autism) thus, I feel I have a unique perspective to talk about in personal statements etc. and have an interest in education law. But with all these varying numbers...and a lot of the schools I want to get into are very much "numbers schools," how will they take this?

[robotclubmember]

your graduate gpa will not seriously be considered. it's not reported to usnwr so it doesn't matter. the idea that it matters is a myth. and its well known that master's programs rampantly inflate grades, so a ugrad 3.3 is a fairer indication of your academic ability than a 3.8.

here are the three things that matter: 3.3 GPA, 166 LSAT, URM. your entire application can be summed up as that. everything else you mentioned (work experience, graduate degree and GPA) will ultimately be weighted as 10% of your application. 90% is GPA LSAT and URM. law school admissions is the most numbers driven process of any graduate admissions program really.

that said, you still have strong odds with some T14, but i can't comment on $$$ chances.

[kmh504]

Wow. Thanks for the response - guess I can't do anything else but go for it really

[dkt4]

would guess you certainly have a good chance at a T14. craft a good application and you'll likely get some bites - what schools are you interested in? keep in mind, most schools are relatively regional (even within the T14). i would think HYS is less likely...but if you have fee waivers or can afford it, it's probably worth throwing them apps.

[kmh504]

Yes - those were my thoughts exactly. LSAC granted me the fee waiver which allows me to apply to 5 schools for free but most other law schools waive the application cost if you are granted an lsac fee waiver as well. So I figure why not apply HYS. But the ones I'm most interested in and excited to apply to are: UCLA, NYU, Columbia, Michigan, Penn and Cornell.

[KingMenes]

Go to http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com.
Create an account so that we can follow your cycle this fall.
Congratulations on scoring 166, only 100-115 AA URMs achieve over 165 each year.
Trust me, you will have plenty of schools sending you free applications to apply over the course of the next three months.

Do yourself a favor and blanket the TOP 30 law schools.

Good luck with your cycle.

[Toronto6]

.

[Bildungsroman]

Spam

Does it bother you that you're reduced to spamming law student internet message boards to try and reach clients, you sad husk of a human being?

[dkt4]

Yes - those were my thoughts exactly. LSAC granted me the fee waiver which allows me to apply to 5 schools for free but most other law schools waive the application cost if you are granted an lsac fee waiver as well. So I figure why not apply HYS. But the ones I'm most interested in and excited to apply to are: UCLA, NYU, Columbia, Michigan, Penn and Cornell.

best of luck, i'd bet you'll get a few of those to choose from

also, don't blanket the top 30. that's just excessive.

[glewz]

Yes - those were my thoughts exactly. LSAC granted me the fee waiver which allows me to apply to 5 schools for free but most other law schools waive the application cost if you are granted an lsac fee waiver as well. So I figure why not apply HYS. But the ones I'm most interested in and excited to apply to are: UCLA, NYU, Columbia, Michigan, Penn and Cornell.

best of luck, i'd bet you'll get a few of those to choose from

also, don't blanket the top 30. that's just excessive.

Apply to T20 only.

[kmh504]

haha thanks everyone! and I'm definitely going to check that site out