Top Law Schools

Hi there,

I am an international student from Europe and would like to go to an Ivy League Law School for a JD program. I hold a bachelor's degree in liberal arts.

I just got back a 165 score on the June LSAT (93% percentile).
How good is this score to get into the top JD programs?

If not sufficient, I would consider taking it again or apply for some other schools, but which ones would be happy with international students with this score?

Thanks for your advice!

I don't think your score will be sufficient for a T14 school. That being said, schools around and under the T18 would probably be a good match, depending on your gpa.

Thanks. What score should I try to get on the next LSAT in order to get close to the T14?

My GPA is 3.71

Thanks

I would say high 160s for lower T14, low 170s for middle T14, and mid 170s for places like yale and harvard. check out lawschoolnumbers.com to look at students who have been admitted to each school and their numbers. also look at each schools median lsat score, which you can do at the us news ranking. if you are above the median your chances will be good. if you are at the 75th percentile you´ll be even better. you can also look at last years rankings and the corresponding scores on this site.

Of the T14, only Yale and Duke actually publish a breakdown of their applicant profiles.

Yale:
1 of 185 applicants with a 3.5-3.74/160-164 was admitted
15 of 306 applicants with a 3.5-3.74/165-169 was admitted

Duke:
24 of 401 applicants with a 3.5-3.74/160-164 was admitted
134 of 491 applicants with a 3.5-3.74/165-169 was admitted.

So it is possible for you to get into a T14 with a 165. The tendency is to attribute those occurences to URM status, but the truth is that we don't know for sure whether that is the case. You would be doing yourself a great disservice if you did not at least apply.

Of course it would be better for you to retake the LSAT and score 170+. A better LSAT score would greatly increase your chances of getting into a T14.

serenity... can you link me to Duke's applicant profile thing?

Here you go!

Thanks a bunch! Wow... a 95 percent acceptance rate at duke if you have a 3.75+ and 170+.

I think you'd be on the fence at lower T14 schools with those numbers. You might get into Cornell or Georgetown if you have some really interesting soft factors, but if I were you I'd think about taking the Sept/Oct LSAT and seeing if you can push up your score to 167+

They don't seem to give any preferential treatment to int'l students. Still, if you apply really early to Cornell you may have a shot. Also, there are schools just outside of the T14 that you'll have a shot at, like USC, Vandy & Minnesota.

Thanks for all you advice. I will definitely try to boost my LSAT score up to close to 170.

Does any one know the percentage of international students admitted as freshmen to the T14 Law Schools? Thanks again.

Cornell is definitely possible with a 165/3.71 (that's not to say likely). So yes, Ivy law school is within your reach.

I don't know the percentage admitted, but here's the percentage of each school from a foreign nation-

Yale-3.8
Stanford-2.8%
Harvard-4.1%
NYU-3.7%
Columbia-9.2%
Chicago-0.8%
Penn-4.6%
Berkeley-0.0%
Michigan-3.6%
Duke-1.0%
UVa-0.5%
NU-4.2%
Cornell-7.5%
GTown-3.2%

There seem to be three distinct tiers of 'friendliness' toward international students, though there are obviously several factors at work here. I just hope you aren't intent on Berkeley.

Tier 1: Columbia and Cornell
Tier 2: Yale, Stanford, Harvard, NYU, Michigan, Northwestern, GTown
Tier 3: Chicago, Berkeley, Duke, UVa

Thanks for the info. Could you please tell me the source of this information?

The ABA?

I guess my take on the app process is a little different. I'm not sure I would retake the LSAT if I scored a 165 LOL . I'd have to score 170+ on consequent practice tests in order to put myself through 4 more months of LSAT prep.

It's a tough call. Go with the general consensus.

165 is really good.

Here you go!

Somtimes, I see applicants without GPA "No GPA", how could that be possible for the admission process?

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