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I am applying to SMU, and all of the other law schools in Texas. My father's uncle got his accounting masters degree from SMU and later became the head of the accounting dept at SMU in the 70s. Additionally my brother and my father both went there. So I am a 3 generation legacy at SMU.

My question is, How much does this weigh into the admission committee's decision?

I am applying for the PT program and have a 3.47 GPA, and a 153 LSAT; but scored in the mid 160s on all of my practice tests.

jgrin wrote:I am applying to SMU, and all of the other law schools in Texas. My father's uncle got his accounting masters degree from SMU and later became the head of the accounting dept at SMU in the 70s. Additionally my brother and my father both went there. So I am a 3 generation legacy at SMU.

My question is, How much does this weigh into the admission committee's decision?

I am applying for the PT program and have a 3.47 GPA, and a 153 LSAT; but scored in the mid 160s on all of my practice tests.

I don't know.

I believe the legacy boosts are more for undergrad or if your relative went through the program you are going to try to go through.

However if you uncle has connections, ask him to exploit them.

(Note that exploiting connections made during employment does not equal legacy).

Well wait did your brother and father go there for law school? That would change things.

Aberzombie1892 wrote:

jgrin wrote:I am applying to SMU, and all of the other law schools in Texas. My father's uncle got his accounting masters degree from SMU and later became the head of the accounting dept at SMU in the 70s. Additionally my brother and my father both went there. So I am a 3 generation legacy at SMU.

My question is, How much does this weigh into the admission committee's decision?

I am applying for the PT program and have a 3.47 GPA, and a 153 LSAT; but scored in the mid 160s on all of my practice tests.

I don't know.

I believe the legacy boosts are more for undergrad or if your relative went through the program you are going to try to go through.

However if you uncle has connections, ask him to exploit them.

(Note that exploiting connections made during employment does not equal legacy).

Well wait did your brother and father go there for law school? That would change things.

No they both went there for accounting.

so basically I have no chance, even for their PT program?

jgrin wrote: I am applying for the PT program and have a 3.47 GPA, and a 153 LSAT; but scored in the mid 160s on all of my practice tests.

?

Ask your rich uncle to buy your way in

swheat wrote:Ask your rich uncle to buy your way in

He's actually dead.

eskimo wrote:

jgrin wrote: I am applying for the PT program and have a 3.47 GPA, and a 153 LSAT; but scored in the mid 160s on all of my practice tests.

?

Maybe he's including that as an addendum.

eskimo wrote:

jgrin wrote: I am applying for the PT program and have a 3.47 GPA, and a 153 LSAT; but scored in the mid 160s on all of my practice tests.

?

Rewrite the LSAT?

bees wrote:

eskimo wrote:

jgrin wrote: I am applying for the PT program and have a 3.47 GPA, and a 153 LSAT; but scored in the mid 160s on all of my practice tests.

?

Maybe he's including that as an addendum.

I wasn't really looking for dorky comments; I was really trying to see if anyone thinks the best avenue from this point would be to take a year off and re-take the Oct. LSAT.

Retake the LSAT, especially if you believe u can get much higher... The LSAT is 50% of your application, so you might as well concentrate your efforts there

jgrin wrote:

bees wrote:

eskimo wrote:

jgrin wrote: I am applying for the PT program and have a 3.47 GPA, and a 153 LSAT; but scored in the mid 160s on all of my practice tests.

?

Maybe he's including that as an addendum.

I wasn't really looking for dorky comments; I was really trying to see if anyone thinks the best avenue from this point would be to take a year off and re-take the Oct. LSAT.

Well you didn't ask if you should take a year off and retake, did you? Your original post was asking about legacies.

Since you've now mentioned a retake as an option, then yes, you should take a year off and retake in October. You're capable of a better score, so just hone in on your weaknesses, and practice simulating actual test conditions. A higher score will help you out a lot, since your GPA, while not bad, is not above average.

Also, how much easier it is to get into a school's PT program? and more specifically, if anyone knows, how much easier is it to get into SMU's or UH's PT programs?

jgrin wrote:Also, how much easier it is to get into a school's PT program? and more specifically, if anyone knows, how much easier is it to get into SMU's or UH's PT programs?

If you did a bit of research, you would find that it is almost always easier to enter into PT programs than FT. For SMU in particular, 2009 medians for FT were 164 and 3.76, while PT were 159 and 3.62. So like I said, considerably easier to get into their PT program than their FT, but with your numbers it is still a bit of a reach.

Your legacy will have very little to no impact on admission, in my opinion.

If you were consistently scoring that much higher on your practice tests, and you are not comfortable with attending a law school that would accept you with your numbers, then I would just wait until next cycle and retake the LSAT.