My "special circumstances" could possibly be only in my head Forum

[danitt]

I suppose I would fall under URM because I'm a black female but I'm not American so I'll still be an international applicant. I don't think that helps me. I'm also a non-traditional applicant because by the Fall of 2012, which is when I intend to start school, I would have been five years out of grad school though I've worked in public service for every one of those years. Right now I'm PTing at around 160 but I'm taking the LSAT in December so I feel like I have time to bring that number up. My GPA is around a 3.4 (and that's a conservative guesstimate because I was educated under the British system with no actual GPA).

I'm applying at:

• Georgetown
  GWU
  American
  UT Austin
  Berkeley
  BU
  Cardozo
  UVA
  Northwestern

Is this an unrealistic list? Am I aiming too high or to low? Am I missing anything anyone that I should take a look at?

[rgndvo]

Hello OP.

In which cycle are you applying? December is an exceedingly late application time. You would likely do well to wait another year to apply, and that is what I would recommend.

You can identify as African-American, and get the URM boost, because AA is a racial rather than geographic category (it is only geographic insofar as it refers to the continent in which a certain group of people originated). The "American" part is incidental.

URM is a truly colossal boost (see: lawschoolnumbers.com), and International Student status will also help. If you can crack 160, I would lay a heavy wager that you get accepted at a T-14. It would probably be worth sending an application to the T4 (i.e. Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and columbia) as well-- if you can get up to 165ish, you'd have a very viable shot at the T4 given your URM status. As I say, your International status will also likely be viewed favorably; it's clear that you would add both racial and experiential diversity to the class.

Your best option, I reiterate, is to apply next year, and focus exclusively on preparing for the Dec LSAT in the meanwhile. Dish out the money for an expensive prep course; it will be an economical decision in the long run.

[danitt]

I know that I'm pushing it with the December test but the nearest testing centre for October was 40 miles away and I really, really couldn't get there so I had to re-evaluate. Unfortunately, if I could wait a year and aim for a Fall 2013 start I would but a number of circumstances have sort of aligned to the point that it's Fall 2012 or not being able to do it for at least 3 more years which I'm not prepared to do.

I admit that I did look at the T4 but suffered a crisis of confidence and became convinced that it would be a waste of $80 to even attempt it without a 4.0 and an LSAT over 170. But I still might. I've got this small window of opportunity that will be closed by the end of summer next year but by then I'll know if I'll be in law school or not so that's why I'm kind of trying to get everything in by January. (Obv not doing ED anywhere).

[rgndvo]

If you can hit the mid-160's, you would be selling yourself short by not applying to T-4's. The average LSAT at columbia might be 171, but they admit loads of AA's in the low-mid 160's.

As for grades, you will not be assigned a GPA by a school to which you apply, but rather by LSAC, which uses an unswerving methodology to calculate it. If your grades correspond to the A-B-C-D-F types used in America, you can calculate it below:

http://www.lawpad.com/gpa_calculator/

[20121109]

Im fairly certain that international applicants do not receive substantial URM boosts.