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I am on pace to graduate college in three years and will have 84 credits completed by the end of the spring 2013 semester. I do not plan on going to summer school (will instead focus on lsat prep) and will just take 18 credits a semester to end my undergraduate academic career. Will only having 84 credits at the time of my application have any effect on my chances? Also I am a black male who on my first prep scored a 160 using an old test prep book. I am interested in attending a top 14 university. What lsat score would I need to best make this a reality.

I apologize if this is in the wrong forum.

I don't know about your exact situation, but I'm graduating in 3.5 (meaning: in a month), and my pre-law advisor said that it won't matter at all.

The only real question here is... what's your current GPA? If it's 4.0 and you're confident you can graduate with a 4.0 at this pace, finish your degree and get that GPA locked in stone ASAP. If it's 3.5 or below... stack up those superfluous classes and rack up those A's till they force you to graduate. THAT is the only metric that matters. A 5-year 4.0 > 3-year 3.5. A 3-year 4.0 > 5-year 3.5. Etc, etc

Dead serious advice. HTH.

Your URM status as a black male is going to help you a lot, but I don't have detailed knowledge on the matter as URM bumps didn't apply to me.

bhan87 wrote:The only real question here is... what's your current GPA? If it's 4.0 and you're confident you can graduate with a 4.0 at this pace, finish your degree and get that GPA locked in stone ASAP. If it's 3.5 or below... stack up those superfluous classes and rack up those A's till they force you to graduate. THAT is the only metric that matters. A 5-year 4.0 > 3-year 3.5. A 3-year 4.0 > 5-year 3.5. Etc, etc

Dead serious advice. HTH.

Your URM status as a black male is going to help you a lot, but I don't have detailed knowledge on the matter as URM bumps didn't apply to me.

This is the best advice you're going to get.

I graduated early and I wish I would have stayed as long as possible taking bullshit classes and getting A's.

The above advice leaves out issues of financing. Just don't take out so many loans that you are so indebted upon graduation that you'll leave law school completely screwed with your combined undergrad + law school debt.

WhiteyCakes wrote:The above advice leaves out issues of financing. Just don't take out so many loans that you are so indebted upon graduation that you'll leave law school completely screwed with your combined undergrad + law school debt.

True, though I'd pay an extra $20,000 for a 4.0 vs. a 3.5. The amount of scholarship money this dude could be up for with a ~4.0 and a 170+ is insane.

Yeah. My current gpa is teetering around a 3.5 but I believe it will be over 3.6 at application time do to the relative easiness of my upcoming semester classes. I could stay an extra semester but I believe that would be a waste because it would keep me out of law school and the subsequent legal market a full year longer than I plan. My main question is should I just take 6 credits over the summer so I can have 90 credits (at the possible expense of my lsat) or continue with my plan as scheduled.

I can't comment on the LSAT score you'd need, but I graduated in 3 years and applied with 85 hours last year. Cycle went exactly as predicted based on my #s.

titan747 wrote:Yeah. My current gpa is teetering around a 3.5 but I believe it will be over 3.6 at application time do to the relative easiness of my upcoming semester classes. I could stay an extra semester but I believe that would be a waste because it would keep me out of law school and the subsequent legal market a full year longer than I plan. My main question is should I just take 6 credits over the summer so I can have 90 credits (at the possible expense of my lsat) or continue with my plan as scheduled.

You should wait as long as possible to enter the legal market, in this economy, just saying. I've already waited four years and I would consider waiting longer.

Anybody else?

They don't care about the number of credits you have, I graduated with only like ~85 graded credits.

goldenflash19 wrote:I graduated in 3 years and applied with 85 hours last year. Cycle went exactly as predicted based on my #s.

TITCR

francesfarmer wrote:They don't care about the number of credits you have, I graduated with only like ~85 graded credits.

Whereas I graduated with over 220 (making up for the naivete of Fall Semester of Freshman year). Seemed to have little to no impact.

Alright. Thanks for the responses.