URM, great TOEFL and GPA - Low LSAT score Forum

[camilaval]

Hi all

I took the LSAT on June and got 162 points, not bad for someone whose 1st language isn't English, but not that great for top law schools.

I don't have a US GPA but I got 6.57 on a scale from 1 to 7 and ranked top 1% of my 300 people class. My TOEFL score is 115.

My major is law (law is an undergradute program in Chile) and I attended the most prestigious Law School in the country.

I am an URM since I fiit into the Hispanic/Latino category.

I have volunteered providing legal help for low income people, did an internship for a top tier law firm, was a Teacher Assistant for commercial law and have worked translating 2 books from English to Spanish (one about antitrust law and one about civil procedure).

Do you think a T14 school will accept me? Do you think a Tier 1 school will give me a scholarship? I know it's asking for a lot but it would be encouraging to hear from someone with similar antecedents and sucessful experiences

Thank you very much for your advice. I don't know anyone on my situation so I am lost.

[cinephile]

Well, your school doesn't really matter as it isn't taken into consideration. They don't consider volunteer work either--this is not a holistic admissions process. Your GPA won't really matter either since they can't report it. So all that matters now is the LSAT. That's not bad at all for someone whose first language isn't English, and since it sounds like this is your first try, you have the opportunity to take it again in October (or December if you need to) and try to improve upon it. It's unlikely that being Chilean will give you a boost for admissions as it's not one of the URM categories, but it might help somewhat. Still, retaking the LSAT is the best thing you can do for yourself. Good luck!

[InferenceOptional]

If your first language isn't English and you don't have the type of work ethic to retake the LSAT you are going to get crushed on exams. However, the language thing might help with employers.

[twenty]

Yeah, unfortunately, you're not a URM. You're also going to have a very difficult time financing law school, because you won't qualify for federal loans.

This guy, for example was able to ED to Boston University for the full ride. However, you're going to need 5-6 more points on the LSAT.

The biggest problem you're going to be faced with is that your tremendous accomplishment as tippy-top of your undergrad law class isn't going to mean as much for US law school admissions. Sure, they'll think it's great, but they'll be protecting their medians even moreso.

The rest is more or less up to you. If you can manage to get in the 170's, a T14 full ride becomes an option. If the best you can do is mid-high 160's, you'll still probably be looking at a T1 full ride. Either way, retake the 162.