Law School Report Index # Forum

[hndls022]

Does any know how much of an impact number this has on admissions if any?

[niederbomb]

Depends on the school...

Some are more holistic than others.

[txadv11]

https://os.lsac.org/Release/Share/Displ ... S&id=INDEX

Impact is typically huge. Basically many schools take your LSAT and GPA weighting them with the above numbers, and get a index number.
One example: a person with a 3.0 and 160 lsat at Arkansas-Fayetteville has a 200.2 index... at that school 200 and above get admitted if in state, 205 and above out of state. people with high 190's (like myself) get a index rejection. I was told that short of URM status or another compelling factor (not a soft) that the index is the sole deciding factor.

[hndls022]

https://os.lsac.org/Release/Share/Displ ... S&id=INDEX

Impact is typically huge. Basically many schools take your LSAT and GPA weighting them with the above numbers, and get a index number.
One example: a person with a 3.0 and 160 lsat at Arkansas-Fayetteville has a 200.2 index... at that school 200 and above get admitted if in state, 205 and above out of state. people with high 190's (like myself) get a index rejection. I was told that short of URM status or another compelling factor (not a soft) that the index is the sole deciding factor.

But what if the GPA much higher than a 3.0 (say a 3.5 or 3.7) is combined with a much lower LSAT still equaling 200 or around 200? Would it still be used the same way? I'm just perplexed on this concept because I've been reseaching the admission process and have not come across this phenomenon until today...

[txadv11]

https://os.lsac.org/Release/Share/Displ ... S&id=INDEX

Impact is typically huge. Basically many schools take your LSAT and GPA weighting them with the above numbers, and get a index number.
One example: a person with a 3.0 and 160 lsat at Arkansas-Fayetteville has a 200.2 index... at that school 200 and above get admitted if in state, 205 and above out of state. people with high 190's (like myself) get a index rejection. I was told that short of URM status or another compelling factor (not a soft) that the index is the sole deciding factor.

But what if the GPA much higher than a 3.0 (say a 3.5 or 3.7) is combined with a much lower LSAT still equaling 200 or around 200? Would it still be used the same way? I'm just perplexed on this concept because I've been reseaching the admission process and have not come across this phenomenon until today...

TECHNICALLY, that is the beauty of an index. The number is reflected, despite splitters. A 200 is a 200 for index purposes. Notwithstanding that, an extremely low lsat or gpa could weigh in later, if an application is really being "considered" (past index) For some schools, like the one I noted above, it appears that it is literally one's GPA and LSAT (aside from URM status and or C&F issues) that determines admission. I think some schools use the index for quickly filling applicants. People with say, a 220, in the above case, shouldn't have to wait as long as people who are 204 or 206.

Also- when I called Arkansas, in regard to the index-rejection (with offer to reapply for NON index consideration-which appeared to be basically for URMs or poor socio-economic upbringings etc) I mentioned the fact that although I was not quite at the index admission target #, I did submit (pretty compelling) addenda concerning GPA and LSAT. The answer from the admissions rep on the phone was that addenda are not really considered!!!! I cannot believe this, and wish this would have been made apparent prior to applying.

Overall I think you can tell from the index list, who favor's GPA over LSAT and LSAT over GPA etc... I know people who have beaten the odds, and people who have been yield protected, and lets not forget the fact that schools typically report only the 25th, median, and 75th scores. So one way to think about it is (presumably but not always) 25% of applicants have GPA or LSAT scores lower than the lowest listed 25th's. I use the graph at the bottom of the "Law School Description" link for a particular school http://officialguide.lsac.org/release/O ... fault.aspx to guess what my chances are.

[Helicio]

DUNNOOOOOOOO