When does it make sense to apply to a school as a reach? Forum

[Kess]

I want to apply to some reach schools obviously, but see little sense of doing so if I know for sure that I will be rejected. How far below the median LSAT can your score be where it would still make sense to apply to that school?

My GPA is above the 75th percentile for all schools technically, but I hail from a public college. Non-URM.

[Hawkeye Pierce]

I want to apply to some reach schools obviously, but see little sense of doing so if I know for sure that I will be rejected. How far below the median LSAT can your score be where it would still make sense to apply to that school?

My GPA is above the 75th percentile for all schools technically, but I hail from a public college. Non-URM.

Not sure why the bolded is relevant.

It's really hard to say without knowing your actual stats, since it varies from schools. Just look at LSN and figure it out yourself for which schools you're interested in.

[Tiago Splitter]

Sounds like you have a 4.0 GPA or thereabouts. I'd apply pretty high up the rankings because you never know when a school will go for a reverse-splitter like yourself to keep GPA medians in line. I'd also retake.

[PDaddy]

I want to apply to some reach schools obviously, but see little sense of doing so if I know for sure that I will be rejected. How far below the median LSAT can your score be where it would still make sense to apply to that school?

My GPA is above the 75th percentile for all schools technically, but I hail from a public college. Non-URM.

Some top schools are more splitter-friendly than others. I won't list them because many threads have bandied about the topic.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2&t=161738

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2&t=162680

[Kess]

I highlighted the "public college" part because I've heard that a good GPA (yes a 4.0) from a lower ranked city school really pales in comparison to a 4.0 from a Top 20 Undergrad. I am not doubting the logic behind this, but that's what I heard.

I definitely did play around with numbers on LSN. According to LSN, I would be a "weak consider" at Penn. How many "weak consider" schools is it worth applying to?

Thanks for the links to the threads, PD!

[Hawkeye Pierce]

I highlighted the "public college" part because I've heard that a good GPA (yes a 4.0) from a lower ranked city school really pales in comparison to a 4.0 from a Top 20 Undergrad. I am not doubting the logic behind this, but that's what I heard.

I definitely did play around with numbers on LSN. According to LSN, I would be a "weak consider" at Penn. How many "weak consider" schools is it worth applying to?

Thanks for the links to the threads, PD!

That's completely false. Outside of HYP, a 4.0 is a 4.0.

LSN is Law School Numbers not Law School Predictor or whatever.

[Kess]

I highlighted the "public college" part because I've heard that a good GPA (yes a 4.0) from a lower ranked city school really pales in comparison to a 4.0 from a Top 20 Undergrad. I am not doubting the logic behind this, but that's what I heard.

I definitely did play around with numbers on LSN. According to LSN, I would be a "weak consider" at Penn. How many "weak consider" schools is it worth applying to?

Thanks for the links to the threads, PD!

That's completely false. Outside of HYP, a 4.0 is a 4.0.

LSN is Law School Numbers not Law School Predictor or whatever.

Oh sorry, I never knew they were two separate sites. Guess, I have a new toy to play with now.

Thanks, that makes me feel a bit better since I am not applying to HYS.

[Hawkeye Pierce]

Oh sorry, I never knew they were two separate sites. Guess, I have a new toy to play with now.

Thanks, that makes me feel a bit better since I am not applying to HYS.

I think you misunderstood the first part. I meant that an undergraduate degree from Harvard, Yale, or Princeton may carry more weight. However, outside of those three, adcomms will view a 4.0 as a 4.0.

Yeah, LSN is a much better tool than LSP since it gives you real data to work with.

[Kess]

Oh sorry, I never knew they were two separate sites. Guess, I have a new toy to play with now.

Thanks, that makes me feel a bit better since I am not applying to HYS.

I think you misunderstood the first part. I meant that an undergraduate degree from Harvard, Yale, or Princeton may carry more weight. However, outside of those three, adcomms will view a 4.0 as a 4.0.

Yeah, LSN is a much better tool than LSP since it gives you real data to work with.

You're right- I did understand you, but the end result is the same, I suppose.

Does LSN give you a way to plug in your numbers to see where people with similar numbers applied and got A/WL/R?

[Hawkeye Pierce]

Does LSN give you a way to plug in your numbers to see where people with similar numbers applied and got A/WL/R?

Yeah, start from here: http://search.lawschoolnumbers.com/applications

and then input all the applicable data.

[Kess]

Thanks, I never knew this existed. Thought it was the same as law school predictor.

[buckilaw]

If your LSAT is below median it's below median, how much it is below doesn't really matter for gaming the rankings. It follows that the main reason a school would ding a reverse splitter is that they feel you don't measure up to the incoming class (or they just are not looking for reverse splitters); this sounds bad but it actually gives you a bit of leeway since the 25% percentile does not matter.

Schools that have a wider gap between their median and 25th percentile for LSAT scores might be good to look at, since that may be an indication that they tend to take reverse splitters.

Just check out LSN and make up a plan.

Also, you should ignore all the text above and just retake. Don't waste a stellar GPA.

[kwais]

If it's your dream school and you have more than a 5% chance of getting in. Regrets are a bitch.