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If one had a median GPA, what kind of...

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 10:24 am
by NeedtoStudy
LSAT would he need to feel comfortable applying?

Better yet, here's some scenarios:

Scenario 1
November 1st
GPA - Median
LSAT - Under 25th Percentile

Decision
Apply or retake in December?

Scenario 2
November 1st
GPA - Median
LSAT - Median

Decision
Apply or retake in December?

Thanks

Re: If one had a median GPA, what kind of...

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 10:32 am
by emciosn
if you are at or above the medians you should feel pretty good with your chances of acceptance. Depending on which schools you are thinking about having an LSAT above the median would be what you want so you can get some money.

Re: If one had a median GPA, what kind of...

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 10:44 am
by bport hopeful
If your GPA is at or slightly above median, and your LSAT is at their 25th, then its worth an app.

School might be looking for people to boost their medians, as long as youre not bring down their 25th.

Re: If one had a median GPA, what kind of...

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 11:07 am
by NeedtoStudy
I think I get what you are saying, but maybe another way of putting it would be:

Who would a law school prefer?

A November 1st Applicant with a (slightly below) Median GPA and a 25th Percentile LSAT.

or

A January 1st Applicant with a (slightly below) Median GPA and a Median LSAT.

Re: If one had a median GPA, what kind of...

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:51 pm
by bport hopeful
NeedtoStudy wrote:I think I get what you are saying, but maybe another way of putting it would be:

Who would a law school prefer?

A November 1st Applicant with a (slightly below) Median GPA and a 25th Percentile LSAT.

or

A January 1st Applicant with a (slightly below) Median GPA and a Median LSAT.
The latter. LSAT is King.

Re: If one had a median GPA, what kind of...

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 4:38 pm
by Dr. Filth
I realize this is off-topic, but would you say a gpa under 25th and any lsat over 75th is worth applying? Or is there a certain # over the 75th lsat I would need?

Re: If one had a median GPA, what kind of...

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 4:41 pm
by 094320
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Re: If one had a median GPA, what kind of...

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 11:39 pm
by bport hopeful
Dr. Filth wrote:I realize this is off-topic, but would you say a gpa under 25th and any lsat over 75th is worth applying? Or is there a certain # over the 75th lsat I would need?
haha. My GPA was under 25th at every school I applied to. Got schollies at most schools.

Re: If one had a median GPA, what kind of...

Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 2:38 am
by JoeFish
bport hopeful wrote:haha. My GPA was under 25th at every school I applied to. Got schollies at most schools.
Same. Do some research and see which schools are friendly to splitters (LSAT > 75, GPA < 25) or reverse splitters (other way around, obviously). Some are right down the middle whereas others (like WUSTL and UIUC) are notoriously friendly to the first group. I didn't apply to any, but I understand most California schools are reverse splitter friendly. Just TLS search "which schools like splitters" or something like that.

Re: If one had a median GPA, what kind of...

Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 8:28 am
by bport hopeful
JoeFish wrote:
bport hopeful wrote:haha. My GPA was under 25th at every school I applied to. Got schollies at most schools.
Same. Do some research and see which schools are friendly to splitters (LSAT > 75, GPA < 25) or reverse splitters (other way around, obviously). Some are right down the middle whereas others (like WUSTL and UIUC) are notoriously friendly to the first group. I didn't apply to any, but I understand most California schools are reverse splitter friendly. Just TLS search "which schools like splitters" or something like that.
This is true, but depending on what your numbers are, the friendliness towards splitters doesnt really matter.

In my case, my numbers werent phenomenal, no T14 aspirations or anything. So at a lot of schools, my GPA was barely looked at. My LSAT carried me over. This was the case with all of the second tier.

What I mean to say is that it greatly depends on how far over their 75th in LSAT you are. One point may not save you if your GPA is low, but If the schools 75th is a 165 and you have a 171, now thats a different story.

Re: If one had a median GPA, what kind of...

Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 11:02 am
by Samara
JoeFish wrote: Same. Do some research and see which schools are friendly to splitters (LSAT > 75, GPA < 25) or reverse splitters (other way around, obviously). Some are right down the middle whereas others (like WUSTL and UIUC) are notoriously friendly to the first group. I didn't apply to any, but I understand most California schools are reverse splitter friendly. Just TLS search "which schools like splitters" or something like that.
You may be interested in a "guide for splitters" that I made, which can be viewed here: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2&t=162680

In there, I made a chart of the T1 schools and their splitter-friendly ratings. Splitters are always a little unpredictable, but most schools have a GPA floor. For example, Duke has a fairly rigid GPA floor at 3.4. Looking at LSN, it's very rare that a non-URM gets in with a sub-3.4 GPA, so if you're a 3.25/177 it may not be worth it to apply to Duke, whereas, with WE, you probably have a good shot at Northwestern. (Note: My guide doesn't have GPA floor data, but I will be adding it soon.)