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What are my chances with no work experience and lower gpa?

Posted: Sun May 05, 2019 3:31 pm
by mazzy21
Hi everyone! First post, so I'm sorry if this is the wrong forum. I'm currently a junior at a well-known public university. My GPA has been tumultuous since I started as a biology major and did not do well in a lot of the classes. I changed my major to Information Systems and have been averaging about a 3.6 GPA, but I'm guessing my lsac gpa will be lower with my biology classes counted in. I am concerned how my application will look with this lower gpa and lack of work experience. I have no summer internships lined up as I plan to be taking summer classes all throughout, and my only work experience has all been community-based volunteering and extracurricular board positions in various student clubs. I'm also an URM, so I was wondering with all of this information what score I should be aiming for on my LSAT to be competitive for T-13. Also, if anyone has advice on whether to address the gpa on my personal statement or addendum I'd love to hear it.

Re: What are my chances with no work experience and lower gpa?

Posted: Sun May 05, 2019 9:43 pm
by QContinuum
The answer is, you should always aim for the best LSAT possible. A higher LSAT is always better than a lower LSAT. It's not really possible to develop a study strategy around getting a specific score on the LSAT, so I wouldn't even bother trying to do so. Just do the best you can, retaking if warranted (schools only care about your highest LSAT score).

What's your overall GPA? (Including any classes you took at any previous colleges you attended.) Law schools don't care about your major GPA.

I will say that if your overall GPA is anywhere close to a 3.6, the T13 is well within reach for you (especially with the URM boost) - if you do well on the LSAT.

Re: What are my chances with no work experience and lower gpa?

Posted: Mon May 06, 2019 10:17 am
by LSATWiz.com
mazzy21 wrote:Hi everyone! First post, so I'm sorry if this is the wrong forum. I'm currently a junior at a well-known public university. My GPA has been tumultuous since I started as a biology major and did not do well in a lot of the classes. I changed my major to Information Systems and have been averaging about a 3.6 GPA, but I'm guessing my lsac gpa will be lower with my biology classes counted in. I am concerned how my application will look with this lower gpa and lack of work experience. I have no summer internships lined up as I plan to be taking summer classes all throughout, and my only work experience has all been community-based volunteering and extracurricular board positions in various student clubs. I'm also an URM, so I was wondering with all of this information what score I should be aiming for on my LSAT to be competitive for T-13. Also, if anyone has advice on whether to address the gpa on my personal statement or addendum I'd love to hear it.
The lack of work experience is irrelevant but go for the highest UGPA possible as that's the only part of your app that can't be redone. 3.6 is solid by URM standards.