Apply in Early Fall 2015 or Take a Year Off Forum

[bobsmith82]

Hey everyone, I am currently a second semester Junior at a T2 school in Texas and I'm planning on taking the June LSAT. I recently determined that my LSDAS GPA is a 3.72 and my initial diagnostic was a 155. I've already been studying for about a month and will have plenty of time to study this spring. My goal is to get into UT Law with a decent sized scholarship. My GPA has jumped significantly over the past few semesters and I believe that I can raise it even more during my remaining time in undergrad. However, if I apply early in fall 2015 I will only have the spring's grades to raise my GPA. The classes that I have left to take my senior year should help to boost my GPA since they are all in my major and I'll only be taking 12 hours. My softs are relatively weak. I've only worked at a few fast food restaurants and I was a cashier at Walmart for a year. Would it be better for me to try to boost GPA during my senior year with easy classes and then take a year off after college to gain more work experience or should I apply in the fall with a GPA that would be marginally improved at best? How common is being a non-kjd student at UT Law?

[ilikebaseball]

Hey everyone, I am currently a second semester Junior at a T2 school in Texas and I'm planning on taking the June LSAT. I recently determined that my LSDAS GPA is a 3.72 and my initial diagnostic was a 155. I've already been studying for about a month and will have plenty of time to study this spring. My goal is to get into UT Law with a decent sized scholarship. My GPA has jumped significantly over the past few semesters and I believe that I can raise it even more during my remaining time in undergrad. However, if I apply early in fall 2015 I will only have the spring's grades to raise my GPA. The classes that I have left to take my senior year should help to boost my GPA since they are all in my major and I'll only be taking 12 hours. My softs are relatively weak. I've only worked at a few fast food restaurants and I was a cashier at Walmart for a year. Would it be better for me to try to boost GPA during my senior year with easy classes and then take a year off after college to gain more work experience or should I apply in the fall with a GPA that would be marginally improved at best? How common is being a non-kjd student at UT Law?

FWIW, your GPA is fine for UT law. Get a high LSAT score and you can do much better than UT

[bobsmith82]

Hey everyone, I am currently a second semester Junior at a T2 school in Texas and I'm planning on taking the June LSAT. I recently determined that my LSDAS GPA is a 3.72 and my initial diagnostic was a 155. I've already been studying for about a month and will have plenty of time to study this spring. My goal is to get into UT Law with a decent sized scholarship. My GPA has jumped significantly over the past few semesters and I believe that I can raise it even more during my remaining time in undergrad. However, if I apply early in fall 2015 I will only have the spring's grades to raise my GPA. The classes that I have left to take my senior year should help to boost my GPA since they are all in my major and I'll only be taking 12 hours. My softs are relatively weak. I've only worked at a few fast food restaurants and I was a cashier at Walmart for a year. Would it be better for me to try to boost GPA during my senior year with easy classes and then take a year off after college to gain more work experience or should I apply in the fall with a GPA that would be marginally improved at best? How common is being a non-kjd student at UT Law?

FWIW, your GPA is fine for UT law. Get a high LSAT score and you can do much better than UT

What about my weak softs? Will that be an important factor assuming that my GPA stays the same and I make a high LSAT score?

[Ramius]

Hey everyone, I am currently a second semester Junior at a T2 school in Texas and I'm planning on taking the June LSAT. I recently determined that my LSDAS GPA is a 3.72 and my initial diagnostic was a 155. I've already been studying for about a month and will have plenty of time to study this spring. My goal is to get into UT Law with a decent sized scholarship. My GPA has jumped significantly over the past few semesters and I believe that I can raise it even more during my remaining time in undergrad. However, if I apply early in fall 2015 I will only have the spring's grades to raise my GPA. The classes that I have left to take my senior year should help to boost my GPA since they are all in my major and I'll only be taking 12 hours. My softs are relatively weak. I've only worked at a few fast food restaurants and I was a cashier at Walmart for a year. Would it be better for me to try to boost GPA during my senior year with easy classes and then take a year off after college to gain more work experience or should I apply in the fall with a GPA that would be marginally improved at best? How common is being a non-kjd student at UT Law?

FWIW, your GPA is fine for UT law. Get a high LSAT score and you can do much better than UT

What about my weak softs? Will that be an important factor assuming that my GPA stays the same and I make a high LSAT score?

You're in-state Texas? Do well on the LSAT and go for free. Weak softs are just that: soft

[ballcaps]

keep working as hard as possible to maximize your gpa, which is already very good. i see two options moving forward:

1) take the year off, find a job worth doing (and putting on a resume), study a ton, and apply, er, two cycles from now.
2) work out a comprehensive study plan immediately, take the june lsat, and, assuming you get a good score, apply one cycle from now.

given your high gpa, lots of great options (UT + t14) are on the table. the outcome will depend on your lsat. (btw, a diag of 155 is not bad at all, and can be grown to 170+ with enough quality preparation. plenty of people around here have made similar jumps.)

[bobsmith82]

Thanks for the feedback everybody? But should I wait until after I've completed my UG degree because of the potential for a GPA that is 3.8+? Would a slightly higher GPA raise my chances at getting scholarships at T14 schools and UT?

[Clearly]

Thanks for the feedback everybody? But should I wait until after I've completed my UG degree because of the potential for a GPA that is 3.8+? Would a slightly higher GPA raise my chances at getting scholarships at T14 schools and UT?

No. Just bust ass on the lsat. It's easier said than done and takes longer for many people to get into t14 range. If anything holds you back it's gonna be the lsat, not softs.