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anyone have entire semesters of Ws that hindered your app?
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 10:54 am
by hopeful4lawschool
I have a 176 LSAT score and when I went to law school predictor it said that I was competitive at several Tier 1 schools, even the 25-35. However, I have several semesters of straight (non punitive) Ws on my transcript. For reasons well warranted (not the typical, I was lazy reason). While withdrawals, dont effect your gpa, I would like to perform how my numbers alone would, but will having several semesters of straight Withdrawals cause me to underperform my numbers?
All I can do is craft a good addendum and personal statement, but has there been anyone on here that got some decent acceptances with semesters of straight Ws. (I am referring to people here that have more than just one here and there)
any help would be most appreciated .....
Re: anyone have entire semesters of Ws that hindered your app?
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 10:57 am
by mephistopheles
it might not be the ws, but i'd watch out for punctuation on my apps.
Re: anyone have entire semesters of Ws that hindered your app?
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 10:58 am
by TheSpanishMain
A 176 will make you competitive anywhere, not just the 23-35 range, with the right GPA.
As for whole semesters of Ws, I have no idea. I suspect it will be negative, but you can probably mitigate that assuming you submit an addendum with an adequate explanation (i.e "I withdrew for a semester because I had to care for a terminally ill family member" or something along those lines.)
Re: anyone have entire semesters of Ws that hindered your app?
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 10:59 am
by midwest17
mephistopheles wrote:it might not be the ws, but i'd watch out for punctuation on my apps.
The lack of capitalization in this reply is amusing.
Re: anyone have entire semesters of Ws that hindered your app?
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 10:59 am
by hopeful4lawschool
I am sorry about the punctuation in my thread. Of course, the punctuation in my apps will be much better. Sorry about that.
Re: anyone have entire semesters of Ws that hindered your app?
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 11:00 am
by midwest17
OP: Use mylsn.info, not lawschoolpredictor.
Re: anyone have entire semesters of Ws that hindered your app?
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 11:01 am
by hopeful4lawschool
Thanks everyone a multitude for the replies and help. Thanks too to midwest 17 for the suggestion of mylsn.info. Truthfully, I only have used law school predictor and never heard of the other, but will definately check it out, thanks.
Re: anyone have entire semesters of Ws that hindered your app?
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 11:08 am
by hopeful4lawschool
Thanks again for the other website suggestion. Upon viewing it now, it has been really helpful when I plugged my numbers in.
As for the semesters of non-punitive Ws. Do you think that it may only hurt if you are compared with an applicant of the same or similar numbers or can you pretty much bet on it being a deal breaker even with a 175+ LSAT?
Also, in the past I have read on here that some have 5, 7, 10 or more Ws and they claim that they performed as their numbers would. The only negative things I have read about Ws, especially semesters of straight Ws, is someone asked on a non-law school website that they had several semesters of straight Ws, and would that hinder their chances at medical school, which makes me curious, do you think law school is easier to get into or medical school?
Re: anyone have entire semesters of Ws that hindered your app?
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 12:00 pm
by banjo
I think several semesters of straights Ws merits a well-written addendum. Depending on the excuse, you'll probably be okay at most schools.
Edit: Whoa just saw you have like a 2.5 GPA...yikes.
Re: anyone have entire semesters of Ws that hindered your app?
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 12:04 pm
by midwest17
banjo wrote:I think several semesters of straights Ws merits a well-written addendum. Depending on the excuse, you'll probably be okay at most schools.
Edit: Whoa just saw you have like a 2.5 GPA...yikes.
Oh man. Yeah, it's the 2.5 that's going to hold you back, not the Ws.
Re: anyone have entire semesters of Ws that hindered your app?
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 12:08 pm
by hopeful4lawschool
Yes, I know that a 2.5 is awful (even with a bonafide reason) but the 176 is not, and when I went to mylsn.info and plugged the numbers in, and you can do the same if you dont believe me, it showed that there was a chance at Northwestern, a good chance at Minnesota # 19, and a good chance at several top 25's, but:
Thats with the numbers gpa, and LSAT alone. If it was just the 2.5 gpa and 176 LSAT, I could handle that since the score can gain admission to some decent schools, but its the several semesters of non -pun Ws that I feel will make Top 25, or Top 35 schools say No.
Does, having 3-4 semesters of no Ws, help or not ?
Re: anyone have entire semesters of Ws that hindered your app?
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 12:41 pm
by HYSenberg
You're definitely in at Northwestern, don't sweat it. They are the biggest LSAT whores on the planet.
Re: anyone have entire semesters of Ws that hindered your app?
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 12:49 pm
by midwest17
hopeful4lawschool wrote:Yes, I know that a 2.5 is awful (even with a bonafide reason) but the 176 is not, and when I went to mylsn.info and plugged the numbers in, and you can do the same if you dont believe me, it showed that there was a chance at Northwestern, a good chance at Minnesota # 19, and a good chance at several top 25's, but:
Thats with the numbers gpa, and LSAT alone. If it was just the 2.5 gpa and 176 LSAT, I could handle that since the score can gain admission to some decent schools, but its the several semesters of non -pun Ws that I feel will make Top 25, or Top 35 schools say No.
Does, having 3-4 semesters of no Ws, help or not ?
Here's what I would say: Ws don't affect schools' rankings, so if they have an effect on your cycle it will be because the school is worried that they indicate you might not be able to handle law school. But they're probably already going to be worried about that with the 2.5, and I don't think the Ws are going to make that concern much more prevalent.
You definitely need to include an addendum explaining your academic record. If you have a good reason to explain the 2.5, you probably also have a good reason to explain the Ws.
Then again, there are probably schools that are sufficiently scrambling for LSATs that they'll take you regardless.
Also, fair warning: with that big a split, myLSN is going to be inaccurate, since there isn't much data. (Of course, other predictors are going to be even worse). How your cycle goes will be anyone's guess. If you haven't graduated, get your GPA as high as you can before you do. Wait to apply until you've done so, which means taking a year off between undergrad and law school so you can apply with all of your grades. Maybe take a few years off and get some good work experience to make Northwestern even more interested in you (and distance yourself from the GAP). Then apply broadly to schools that you would be willing to attend.
Re: anyone have entire semesters of Ws that hindered your app?
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 12:56 pm
by ltrego
If you're set on applying this cycle, I would urge you to not only explain the circumstances that led to the GPA and Ws in an addendum, but also the changes you have implemented or how the situation has changed that will prevent this from occurring in the future. It would help if you've had a recent uptick in grades to demonstrate the change. They want to know that you can succeed at law school, which means they'll be interested to know what will differentiate ls from undergrad.
Re: anyone have entire semesters of Ws that hindered your app?
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 3:56 pm
by bp shinners
midwest17 wrote:
You definitely need to include an addendum explaining your academic record. If you have a good reason to explain the 2.5, you probably also have a good reason to explain the Ws.
Definitely this. The Ws are just a part of the GPA problem - they're not what's pushing it over the edge. You'll have to explain them, but the GPA will hold you back much more than the Ws will.