Will this negatively affect my chances? Forum

[Dr. Strangelove]

If I do well enough on the LSAT, I'll be a heavy splitter.
I'm tempted to send emails to law school admissions deans and asking for an honest evaluation of my chances.
It makes sense to be completely confused since my GPA is below 25th percentile for the schools I'm looking at and I'd only apply to places where my LSAT is above 75th percentile and I'll say that's why I'm sending the email.
Would doing this have any effect on my chances? I know it won't have a positive effect but I'm worried it could have a negative one.
For some of the schools, I'll make it very clear that it's one of my top choices. (e.g: UVA)

[bk1]

You will most likely get a "We don't categorically throw out anybody. We evaluate our applicants in a holistic fashion." message.

Why bother asking, you won't gain anything and you will have the fear that it will hurt. I highly doubt it will hurt you (it is not like they are going to link this email you use to the one in your application), but if there is nothing to gain and nothing to lose I don't see a point.

[Barolo]

Better use of time would be studying for LSAT, working up a killer PS, and, perhaps, a grade addendum. How long have you been out of school? Any good spinable WE? What kind of numbers are we looking at? Use LSN to see where you have a shot.

But don't write the deans about this. You'll find out soon enough. Just get a great application in early.

[jks289]

You will most likely get a "We don't categorically throw out anybody. We evaluate our applicants in a holistic fashion." message.

Why bother asking, you won't gain anything and you will have the fear that it will hurt. I highly doubt it will hurt you (it is not like they are going to link this email you use to the one in your application), but if there is nothing to gain and nothing to lose I don't see a point.

I disagree, I think it CAN hurt by seeming in poor judgement and a little grasping.

I think in a "Why X" or PS essay you can address that you understand your GPA is a liability and talk specifically about the mitigating factors or how you think you compensate for the weakness (by bringing diversity, serious mindedness, WE, whatever). And always let your first choice know they are your first choice. I know many people on this site are anti-GPA addendum, but I think mine helped push me onto waitlists that should have been dings. So that is another way to highlight upwards trends, or distance yourself from a few bad grades.

Good luck.

[09042014]

Emailing them with a hypothetical LSAT. I'd tell you to fuck off. If I recall correctly you don't even have a set GPA?

Get your GPA to 3.00, get 170+ and ED to Uva. You are out at HYSCCNB, and probably duke.

[kdw94780]

just take the lsat

[imchuckbass58]

Emailing them with a hypothetical LSAT. I'd tell you to fuck off.

Emailing with a real LSAT I would tell OP the same thing.

An admissions office will NEVER, ever answer a question like this. Not only because is it impossible to answer without the rest of your application (or so they will say) or because they don't want to give you false hope/discouragement, but because if they give you a straight answer to this they are opening themselves up to being sued.

Will sending such an email hurt your chances? Probably not. But you have absolutely nothing to gain. You will not get an answer to this question. And, since there is a small chance an adcom might see this as a lapse in judgment (asking your chances is a pretty dumb question), it is blatantly not worth it.

If you want an honest evaluation of your chances, submit an application.

[09042014]

Furthermore he has asked about his chances at least once on TLS, and was given very detailed answers. I gather he doesn't like his answers.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Furthermore he has asked about his chances at least once on TLS, and was given very detailed answers. I gather he doesn't like his answers.

I like my answers fine enough- I just was curious about whether talking to an adcom (someone who makes decisions) would give me a good idea of what my chances are but my gut feeling is that sending such emails would probably be useless.

[Tautology]

Furthermore he has asked about his chances [strike]at least once[/strike] every day for the past two weeks on TLS, and was given very detailed answers. I gather he doesn't like his answers.

ftfy

[Dr. Strangelove]

I guess I'm just terrified. Splitters are harder to predict than other kinds of LS applicants.
(Obviously if I bomb the LSAT- the answer would be kinda obvious.)

[09042014]

I guess I'm just terrified. Splitters are harder to predict than other kinds of LS applicants.
(Obviously if I bomb the LSAT- the answer would be kinda obvious.)

Come back with a set GPA, and an LSAT. If you get above 3.0 and above 170, you've got a good shot at UVa. HYSCCNB are dead anyway.

[memaha]

The question is, how many threads will you have made by the time you actually send in your final seat deposit somewhere in a year....

go study for the lsat.

[malfurion]

The question is, how many threads will you have made by the time you actually send in your final seat deposit somewhere in a year....

If you set the line at 30, I'll take the over.

go study for the lsat.

Yeah, I mean we all think about this stuff to some extent, but you've gotta realize that right now every minute you spend worrying about schools is a minute that would've been better spent studying for the LSAT. After the LSAT, you've got months that you can spend making spreadsheets and computing your chances at each school and whatnot, but for the next 3 weeks it makes no sense to spend any energy on it when you could instead be doing something that actually helps your chances.

[d34d9823]

The question is, how many threads will you have made by the time you actually send in your final seat deposit somewhere in a year....

If you set the line at 30, I'll take the over.

go study for the lsat.

Yeah, I mean we all think about this stuff to some extent, but you've gotta realize that right now every minute you spend worrying about schools is a minute that would've been better spent studying for the LSAT. After the LSAT, you've got months that you can spend making spreadsheets and computing your chances at each school and whatnot, but for the next 3 weeks it makes no sense to spend any energy on it when you could instead be doing something that actually helps your chances.

TITCR

And even beyond this, sitting around worrying about life is far inferior to actually doing life. Do your best, then be mature enough to handle whatever result you get.