Top Law Schools

I don't pretend to understand the Admissions process in great detail, but I look at WUSTL, a T20 school, and they are admitting a good number of sub 3.00 students, and even some 2.4-2.5 students. It doesn't appear they are URMs, and some are even getting $50k+ scholarship money. I am sitting right on the edge of a 3.0-3.1 with a Spring 2013 grad date, and I am wondering if I should just stop trying to raise my UG GPA and focus on the LSAT more. Let me also say I am NOT belittling the LSAT achievement needed for the $$$, I guess I just thought WUSTL had a little stronger GPA floor. Then again, I don't know how many people have been REJ or WL that I will never see post the fact on lawschoolnumbers. 168 really is a magic number!

http://washu.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/1112/

If WUSTL offered me $50k to go I would be there in a heartbeat!

.

WUSTL is famous (notorious?) for accepting extreme splitters and actually NU does it too. These students typically have 170+ LSATs and so they pump up WUSTL's LSAT median which in turn pumps up their USNWR ranking.

It looks like its harder to get into Fordham http://fordham.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/1112/ than WUSTL or Boston College http://bc.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats and yet WUSTL is ranked higher than both. Northwestern looks like a 175+ is needed with a 3.0 or less http://northwestern.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats.

It doesn't look right to me, but again, I am not familiar yet with admissions statistics, and averages.

I will say it gives me a bit more confidence going into the cycle this Fall at WUSTL.

jared6180 wrote:I don't pretend to understand the Admissions process in great detail, but I look at WUSTL, a T20 school, and they are admitting a good number of sub 3.00 students, and even some 2.4-2.5 students. It doesn't appear they are URMs, and some are even getting $50k+ scholarship money. I am sitting right on the edge of a 3.0-3.1 with a Spring 2013 grad date, and I am wondering if I should just stop trying to raise my UG GPA and focus on the LSAT more. Let me also say I am NOT belittling the LSAT achievement needed for the $$$, I guess I just thought WUSTL had a little stronger GPA floor. Then again, I don't know how many people have been REJ or WL that I will never see post the fact on lawschoolnumbers. 168 really is a magic number!

http://washu.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/1112/

If WUSTL offered me $50k to go I would be there in a heartbeat!

Bottom 25th is bottom 25th. They fill it with URM's and extreme splitters. Get enough, your 75th's are high and your median is competitive with the schools around you. It's smart. While Berkeley and other schools are psychotic about grabbing "well-rounded" kids, WUSTL (NU is another big one) takes the outliers. There aren't enough 3.6/3.7 + 170s to go around. But there are enough splitters to even the playing field.

jared6180 wrote:It looks like its harder to get into Fordham http://fordham.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/1112/ than WUSTL or Boston College http://bc.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats and yet WUSTL is ranked higher than both.

Simple explanation: LSAT and GPA aren't determinative of ranking.

jared6180 wrote:I don't pretend to understand the Admissions process in great detail, but I look at WUSTL, a T20 school, and they are admitting a good number of sub 3.00 students, and even some 2.4-2.5 students. It doesn't appear they are URMs, and some are even getting $50k+ scholarship money. I am sitting right on the edge of a 3.0-3.1 with a Spring 2013 grad date, and I am wondering if I should just stop trying to raise my UG GPA and focus on the LSAT more. Let me also say I am NOT belittling the LSAT achievement needed for the $$$, I guess I just thought WUSTL had a little stronger GPA floor. Then again, I don't know how many people have been REJ or WL that I will never see post the fact on lawschoolnumbers. 168 really is a magic number!

http://washu.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/1112/

If WUSTL offered me $50k to go I would be there in a heartbeat!

No, do both, genius.

This should help:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub ... utput=html

Just remember that the closer you are to a school's GPA floor, the closer you need to be to a school's 75-99% LSAT and vice=versa. Think of it as a school's version of dollar-cost averaging.

shoeshine wrote:It is all about averaging out the reverse splitters and the splitters. It is what the Midwest T25 does.

ftfy

I don't totally know why, but i thank god they do.

TatteredDignity wrote:I don't totally know why, but i thank god they do.

+1

Because getting a 3.7+ in a liberal arts major doesn't prove you aren't a drooling imbecile, and neither does a 170+ LSAT but it makes a much better case.

took a look at virginia, and at first glance it looks like a big cluster of applicants that doesn't make sense. http://uva.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/1112/

Is it accurate to say a majority of the ADMITS are ED? Seems a bunch of the admits are 3-5months old if I am reading the chart correctly. If Virginia is the goal ED for sure it looks like!

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jared6180 wrote:took a look at virginia, and at first glance it looks like a big cluster of applicants that doesn't make sense. http://uva.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/1112/

Is it accurate to say a majority of the ADMITS are ED? Seems a bunch of the admits are 3-5months old if I am reading the chart correctly. If Virginia is the goal ED for sure it looks like!

UVA has a very formulaic ED process by which splitters and reverse splitters can get themselves in. They do have a GPA floor of about 3.0 though, so keep the GPA above that, get a 170 or better, and ED UVA.

/

You absolutely want to try to keep your GPA above a 3.0. A lot of schools have GPA floors at 3.0, so it's a critical number to get above. Greater than a 3.0 and a good LSAT and you'll have some decent options. If you miss the 3.0 mark, a ton of good schools are taken off the table right away and you will regret the shit out of it. Not that WUSTL is a bad option, but you want to have as many as possible so you can make the decision that's best for you. I am 2.65/168 and got WUSTL with 48k, so it's definitely possible, but keep your options open as much as possible. GL to you.

Why do some schools NOT accept 2.4/2.5 gpas? Its not like someone with a 3.1 is "better". 3.1 means you didnt try. 2.4 means you didnt try. Both numbers are going under their median/25th anyways.

They expect you to be a little smarter about how little you try. 2.5 is just bad. You should be able to slack your way to a 3.0

<<<<<< 2.4

TatteredDignity wrote:They expect you to be a little smarter about how little you try. 2.5 is just bad. You should be able to slack your way to a 3.0

<<<<<< 2.4

I just didn't care my freshman year and had a 2.0. Took some time off to get my mind right, and decide what I wanted to be...took me a few years, and now I am working to get my GPA higher, sitting between a 3.0-3.1 now but only because I have worked hard and have a goal. I think a 3.0 should be a hard floor for MOST students, but there are always exceptions to every rule.

To game the median.