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Hi everyone,

Upcoming senior - University of Maryland, College Park
22 y/o African American male (URM)
Econ major
3.87 GPA (Univ. of Maryland cumulative)

Im taking the LSAT in December & praying to each & every "god" that I perform well. My diagnostic was a 165. However, I do have a few blemishes in my academic history. I have a horrible transcript from a community college that’s pulling down my LSAC GPA. I went to a junior college in 2006 & was going through a rough patch in my life. I didn’t care much about anything & it reflected in my studies. Somehow I got into a campus in the University of Maryland system. From there, I got the ball rolling & performed well enough to get into the flagship school.


Academic Trajectory:
Maryland Community College
12 Credits 2.0 GPA

University of Maryland, Eastern Shore
Freshman Year (2007-2008)
30 Credits 4.0 GPA

University of Maryland, College Park
Sophomore Year (2008-2009)
33 Credits 3.8 GPA

Junior Year (2009-2010)
33 Credits 3.82 GPA


Assuming I have a comparable senior year, according to the LSAC, my final GPA should be:
Cumulative GPA (by graduation) - University of Maryland: 3.86 GPA
Cumulative GPA (by graduation) - Including JUCO Transcript: 3.7 GPA

As of Today:
Current Cumulative GPA (as of today) - University of Maryland: 3.87 GPA
Current Cumulative GPA (as of today) - Including JUCO Transcript: 3.68 GPA


I've been dreaming of attending Stanford Law School for the last few years. I'm applying to the entire T-14 but, if I find a way into SLS, I won't entertain any other options. What score on the LSAT will I need to have a “shot” at Stanford? Also, when I apply to Law School, how much of a factor will my JUCO transcript have on my application?


Sorry for writing so much..

If you scored a 165 diagnostic, you could easily be in the 170s by December. If you can get in the 172-174 range, you'll have a really good shot to get into Stanford.

Don't apply, I don't want you to take my spot!

romothesavior wrote:If you scored a 165 diagnostic, you could easily be in the 170s by December. If you can get in the 172-174 range, you'll have a really good shot to get into Stanford.

I've heard from a few people that Stanford has more of a holistic approach & that it's not as numbers based as say HLS. Is that true?

Maalik wrote:

romothesavior wrote:If you scored a 165 diagnostic, you could easily be in the 170s by December. If you can get in the 172-174 range, you'll have a really good shot to get into Stanford.

I've heard from a few people that Stanford has more of a holistic approach & that it's not as numbers based as say HLS. Is that true?

I've heard the same thing.

Maalik wrote:

romothesavior wrote:If you scored a 165 diagnostic, you could easily be in the 170s by December. If you can get in the 172-174 range, you'll have a really good shot to get into Stanford.

I've heard from a few people that Stanford has more of a holistic approach & that it's not as numbers based as say HLS. Is that true?

When they say this, they just mean that GPA and softs matter more at Stanford and LSAT matters more at Harvard. They're both still fucking hard to get into.

Absolutely no one, URM or otherwise, has gotten into Stanford this year with a 3.6-3.7 gpa and LSAT score of 165-170 on LSN.

Get that score up to a 171+, and your chances improve significantly.

OP, you have a shot, but I would feel a lot better if that LSAT was above 170.

Don't take the LSAT without some solid practice, if your diagnostic is 165, you should be able to push to at least 170 with practice. (Practice = taking and redoing PTs)

Take a look at lawschoolnumbers.com if you get a chance.

d34dluk3 wrote:OP, you have a shot, but I would feel a lot better if that LSAT was above 170.

Don't take the LSAT without some solid practice, if your diagnostic is 165, you should be able to push to at least 170 with practice. (Practice = taking and redoing PTs)

Take a look at lawschoolnumbers.com if you get a chance.

Thanks man...

ncct07 wrote:Absolutely no one, URM or otherwise, has gotten into Stanford this year with a 3.6-3.7 gpa and LSAT score of 165-170 on LSN.

Get that score up to a 171+, and your chances improve significantly.

Shenanigans.

http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com/martianmanhunter

OP: You have a shot. Our (URM) cycles are unpredictable. Write well. Have interesting softs and great recommendations. You should still improve your LSAT score as much as possible, you don't want to leave it to chance. Visit the URM section for some really good advice.

Edit: http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com/whiskeyguy <- Not URM but shows a well-written application with demonstrable interest in Stanford can get you far.

MartianManhunter wrote:

ncct07 wrote:Absolutely no one, URM or otherwise, has gotten into Stanford this year with a 3.6-3.7 gpa and LSAT score of 165-170 on LSN.

Get that score up to a 171+, and your chances improve significantly.

Shenanigans.

http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com/martianmanhunter

OP: You have a shot. Our (URM) cycles are unpredictable. Write well. Have interesting softs and great recommendations. You should still improve your LSAT score as much as possible, you don't want to leave it to chance. Visit the URM section for some really good advice.

Not Shenanigans. Correct on LSN as posted. But congratulations to you!

ncct07 wrote:

MartianManhunter wrote:

ncct07 wrote:Absolutely no one, URM or otherwise, has gotten into Stanford this year with a 3.6-3.7 gpa and LSAT score of 165-170 on LSN.

Get that score up to a 171+, and your chances improve significantly.

Shenanigans.

http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com/martianmanhunter

OP: You have a shot. Our (URM) cycles are unpredictable. Write well. Have interesting softs and great recommendations. You should still improve your LSAT score as much as possible, you don't want to leave it to chance. Visit the URM section for some really good advice.

Not Shenanigans. Correct on LSN as posted. But congratulations to you!

Thanks! I s'pose exactly as written you're right, but we ought to consider that even though there aren't people within that band there are people with numbers slightly below or above it that are in. Just attempting to show OP that there's a shot, even an outside one. Obviously he'd be best served by boosting his LSAT score and showing extra Stanford love.

MartianManhunter wrote:

ncct07 wrote:

MartianManhunter wrote:

ncct07 wrote:Absolutely no one, URM or otherwise, has gotten into Stanford this year with a 3.6-3.7 gpa and LSAT score of 165-170 on LSN.

Get that score up to a 171+, and your chances improve significantly.

Shenanigans.

http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com/martianmanhunter

OP: You have a shot. Our (URM) cycles are unpredictable. Write well. Have interesting softs and great recommendations. You should still improve your LSAT score as much as possible, you don't want to leave it to chance. Visit the URM section for some really good advice.

Not Shenanigans. Correct on LSN as posted. But congratulations to you!

Thanks! I s'pose exactly as written you're right, but we ought to consider that even though there aren't people within that band there are people with numbers slightly below or above it that are in. Just attempting to show OP that there's a shot, even an outside one. Obviously he'd be best served by boosting his LSAT score and showing extra Stanford love.

Thanks man...

I have all summer & well into next school year to rigorously prepare for the test. Hopefully I can raise my score atleast to 170+. Im definitely going to apply to the entire T-14 & a few safe choices but, I'm completely infatuated with Stanford.

Maalik wrote:I have all summer & well into next school year to rigorously prepare for the test. Hopefully I can raise my score atleast to 170+. Im definitely going to apply to the entire T-14 & a few safe choices but, I'm completely infatuated with Stanford.

You may know this already, but as alluded to by another poster, Stanford has a very quirky admissions process. Off the top of my head, I know that they ask for "targeted" LORs. I think there's some other quirks as well.

OP, an incoming senior from UMD, should be able to score well over 170 if their diagnostic score of 165 comes from a properly simulated cold preptest.

OP:
1. Why the bolding/italicizing?
2. Head on over to the LSAT subforum and learn the tricks of the trade, study your pants off, shoot for 180, and hopefully you'll score in the mid-high 170s at least.
3. Make sure to obtain quality Stanford-specific letters of recommendation.

yeff wrote:OP, an incoming senior from UMD, should be able to score well over 170 if their diagnostic score of 165 comes from a properly simulated cold preptest.

OP:
1. Why the bolding/italicizing?
2. Head on over to the LSAT subforum and learn the tricks of the trade, study your pants off, shoot for 180, and hopefully you'll score in the mid-high 170s at least.
3. Make sure to obtain quality Stanford-specific letters of recommendation.

FTFY

MartianManhunter wrote:

ncct07 wrote:Absolutely no one, URM or otherwise, has gotten into Stanford this year with a 3.6-3.7 gpa and LSAT score of 165-170 on LSN.

Get that score up to a 171+, and your chances improve significantly.

Shenanigans.

http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com/martianmanhunter

OP: You have a shot. Our (URM) cycles are unpredictable. Write well. Have interesting softs and great recommendations. You should still improve your LSAT score as much as possible, you don't want to leave it to chance. Visit the URM section for some really good advice.

Edit: http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com/whiskeyguy <- Not URM but shows a well-written application with demonstrable interest in Stanford can get you far.

Congrats on your acceptances...thats impressive

yeff wrote:OP, an incoming senior from UMD, should be able to score well over 170 if their diagnostic score of 165 comes from a properly simulated cold preptest.

OP:
1. Why the bolding/italicizing?
2. Head on over to the LSAT subforum and learn the tricks of the trade, study your pants off, shoot for 180, and hopefully you'll score in the mid-high 170s at least.
3. Make sure to obtain quality Stanford-specific letters of recommendation.

Thanks...i'll make sure to do that & as for the bolding, its a quirky habit.

d34dluk3 wrote:OP, you have a shot, but I would feel a lot better if that LSAT was above 170.

Don't take the LSAT without some solid practice, if your diagnostic is 165, you should be able to push to at least 170 with practice. (Practice = taking and redoing PTs)

Take a look at lawschoolnumbers.com if you get a chance.

He should easily be able to get a 170+ with a 165 diagnostic. He has over 6 months to prepare.

OP, if you really push yourself, Stanford is very attainable.

Whiskeyguy can claim to be a native american with a 3.9 GPA...

I do not think this serves any other purpose than to show that an URM with an interesting personal statement can get into schools that typcally do not accept non-URMs applicants with equal GPA/ LSAT numbers

odd choice of underlining, but just make sure you do well on your LSAT, obviously, not much more can be said

As a URM, and one who can write a sappy PS, I think you're good.

.

A 165 is a pretty awesome diag score. No reason to think you can't break 170.

d34dluk3 wrote:

vandy2012 wrote:Whiskeyguy can claim to be a native american with a 3.9 GPA...

I do not think this serves any other purpose than to show that an URM with an interesting personal statement can get into schools that typcally do not accept non-URMs applicants with equal GPA/ LSAT numbers

1. No shit, sherlock

2. That's not the point, OP has legitimate questions in this thread

3. Go away

I think the first part was just correcting MartianManhunter's mistake of saying Whiskeyguy is non-URM. Like you, I disagree with the second paragraph. Unlike you, I'm not overreacting about it.