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Greetings Everyone,

A little background, I’m a Mexican on both sides of my family and served in the Marine corps for 5 years.

Although embarking on this law school journey is something foreign to my families wealth of experience and knowledge, so was being a Marine but success there gave me confidence for this life goal I’ve been incredibly passionate about. My family doesn’t generally have much education. Some have some college and most don’t. Much of my extended family is incarcerated. And that’s been the only experience I’ve really had with the law. Although no convictions of my own.

I would like to ask you guys for some advice on what law school I should consider beyond what I’ve thought about through my own research.
Current PT AVG LSAT/UGPA
162/2.92
I began with a cold 150 diagnostic and worked my way up to an avg 162 over the summer and only getting better. I want to make it to 168-170 range by next spring to have as many opportunities as needed to get the official score I want.
By sept 2019 for ED. I can work my UGPA up to a 3.29 - 3.32 range. All of my bad grades were 3 years ago when I was an overly cocky young man. Now I’m getting 3.8 - 4.0. I am a dual Economics and Finance major.

I really want to go to Georgetown in D.C to go for big law. But definitely would love to go to American or George Washington as well.
After crunching in a few calculators, I see that’s its possible for me to get there but I feel kinda skeptical. I’ve seen a few other encouraging post. Does this plan sound realistic? Does being URM help all that much?

What year of undergrad are you currently in? Also, will you still have GI Bill eligibility to use for law school? Also, did you go to college before the military (like community college)? I only ask because LSAC will compute all college courses attended for your LSAC GPA, not just your undergraduate school.

I think you already know the answer here. You want GT and to get there you really want to boost both the GPA and the LSAT.


I think you ideally want that GPA to be over 3.5 and an LSAT closer to 170.

burner wrote:What year of undergrad are you currently in? Also, will you still have GI Bill eligibility to use for law school? Also, did you go to college before the military (like community college)? I only ask because LSAC will compute all college courses attended for your LSAC GPA, not just your undergraduate school.

I’m beginning my junior year. I did the math and calculated that the highest LSAT GPA I could get is 3.32 if I got A in all my classes , but 3.28 if I continue making a 3.8. I did college before the military where I was grossly underprepared for it and accumulated tons of mediocre and bad grades because I thought it’s all I needed. I took all the courses I have taken into account. Unfortunately e, it puts me in a tough spot. so I’m trying to make it up on the LSAT and hoping my softs land me a spot. I have the GI Bill and yellow ribbon to cover the cost of school.

albanach wrote:I think you already know the answer here. You want GT and to get there you really want to boost both the GPA and the LSAT.


I think you ideally want that GPA to be over 3.5 and an LSAT closer to 170.

Thanks, I was hoping my research would yield realistic answers. Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to bring up my GPA to a 3.5, but I’ll definitely keep working towards that 169-170.

Yeah, you know what you need to do- get As the rest of your time in UG and crush the LSAT. Being a Veteran gets you a good bump, and it helps that school will be paid for too. You just need to execute now.

S/F

Remember every college course still counts. Evening. January. Summer. People have even delayed graduation to maximize their GPA.

I worked for years helping with undergrad and law school applications as well as seeing the law school application process from inside an administration. Yes, don't let your grades slide, but the LSAT nearly always far outweighs GPA. Schools are really looking for that LSAT score for their own stats. Also, if you are considering Georgetown, consider applying to the part-time program. And please take American off your list. It isn't worth it.

Sushi wrote:I worked for years helping with undergrad and law school applications as well as seeing the law school application process from inside an administration. Yes, don't let your grades slide, but the LSAT nearly always far outweighs GPA. Schools are really looking for that LSAT score for their own stats. Also, if you are considering Georgetown, consider applying to the part-time program. And please take American off your list. It isn't worth it.

I would say the GPA and LSAT are about equally important, but GPA tends to be hard to change by the time most candidates start getting ready to apply, whereas it's much easier to retake for a higher LSAT (esp. since schools generally only consider the highest LSAT). Certainly a candidate like the OP could still get into a top law school with a 3.28/3.32 GPA, assuming a high enough LSAT. But that doesn't mean GPA isn't important, just that it can be compensated for by a terrific LSAT.

(The reverse is true as well, a great GPA can compensate for a lower LSAT... but due to the relative ease of improving LSAT score, TLS usually advises such candidates - correctly - to still maximize LSAT in order to maximize merit aid.)