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Hey everyone, thanks for (hopefully) helping me out, I am in the third year of undergraduate with a gpa of 3.38 but after this semester hopefully in the 3.43 range. I plan to take the LSAT in October but after having a terrible freshman year I want to boost my gpa as high as possible, do you think that the 3.43 and 3.5 after an anticipating fall semester will make a difference. Also any suggestions of scores that I would need for t 14. Hopefully this post isn't too much too ask, but thanks so much for anyone help and hopefully in the future I can provide help as well.

With a 3.5ish you'll want around a 169-170 to be competitive for T14. 168 is sometimes good enough too, but it's iffier.

are you special?

My gpa is similar (3.46), so I can give you a little advice on what LSAT to shoot for and everything. I scored a 168, and really, unless you have unusual softs, you're probably going to need a 169 or above to crack the t-14. If you can get that gpa to above a 3.5, that can actually be huge. A few schools I applied to had a 3.5 cutoff (looking at lawschoolnumbers). With my numbers I'm deferred at Cornell, WL at Georgetown's PT program, WL at UCLA, WL at Texas. I didn't apply to any schools ranked higher than Cornell. I didn't apply to SC or Vanderbilt, but I'm in at pretty much everywhere in the 20-30 range, minus ND...which is really lame because ND was my first choice anyway, hope that gives you some perspective. Basically: shoot for above a 168, and get that gpa above a 3.5!

thanks to everyone who replied already, if I raise my GPA to above a 3.5 during next fall semester, does that count when they are reviewing applications, or is it years 1-3 only and you can send in your fall transcripts if you want?
Thanks again

bp123088 wrote:thanks to everyone who replied already, if I raise my GPA to above a 3.5 during next fall semester, does that count when they are reviewing applications, or is it years 1-3 only and you can send in your fall transcripts if you want?
Thanks again

If you hold off on applying till january or february, when those marks are on your transcript, then that could conceivably happen. It's a bad idea though. You'd be better off getting all your LORs and marks into LSAC over the summer, taking either the june or sept. lsat, getting at leeeassst a 168 for the T-14, 166 for T30, and applying the FIRST DAY early decision.

Also, as I mentioned before, if you have some stuff that's gonna make you stand out on a personal statement or resume, that's a plus for you, to help offset your average GPA. If you have no resume, get building. I volunteered at a few choice places (tutoring, big brother-esque stuff) to build up mine.

bp123088 wrote:thanks to everyone who replied already, if I raise my GPA to above a 3.5 during next fall semester, does that count when they are reviewing applications, or is it years 1-3 only and you can send in your fall transcripts if you want?
Thanks again

Take a gap year. So that when you apply you have your senior grades. 3.6 puts CCN in your reach.

But if you lsat isn't going to be 168 plus, 3.45 to 3.6 isn't that big of a deal.

bp123088 wrote:thanks to everyone who replied already, if I raise my GPA to above a 3.5 during next fall semester, does that count when they are reviewing applications, or is it years 1-3 only and you can send in your fall transcripts if you want?
Thanks again

If you apply in the fall of your senior year before you receive your grades for that fall, they will initially only see your grades from years 1-3 (although you can send in an updated transcript later). However, if I were you I'd take a gap year so you'll have all your college grades when you apply -- that's what I did with a similar GPA, and I got into my top choice schools. Also, I'd say you need a 170+ to be legitimately competitive for the T14.

Also beware of the LSDAS GPA conversion. It can be a killer for those that had a rocky start freshman year. W's; WF's; INC's; and other miscellaneous grades (even if you retook the class and got a higher grade) will lower your LSDAS GPA