How much does GPA matter vs. LSAT Forum

[lawschoolgirl312]

How much does GPA matter in accordance with LSAT.

Right now, I am barely scoring below 160 and I want to aim for the October test with a 170 ( at least). I was going to take summer school that would bump my GPA from a 3.54 to a 3.6, but that would require me to be in class from 2-7PM Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. And I work all day Monday and Friday at a law firm, which wouldn't leave me a lot of time to dedicate to the LSAT.

Is it worth it taking the classes? Or should I just concentrate on my LSAT studies?

I also want to apply Early in December when it opens.

[KMart]

Have you already been awarded a degree? If so, your GPA will not rise for the purposes of law school.

[Clemenceau]

A point or two on the lsat will make a bigger difference than taking your 3.54 to a 3.6, I imagine.

Also, what kmart said.

Also also, applications open in early september, not december, as your post says.

[KMart]

I wouldn't take the time to do the classes. The LSAT will reward more for marginal improvements than the GPA.

[lawschoolgirl312]

Or do you think I should quit my job. I work at a pretty prestige law firm as a paralegal, and I truly enjoy working there...but most likely, I won't be able to continue after August but my work has put in so much effort to accommodate my schedule that I feel bad...

So i guess the question is.

GPA/LSAT/or Work

[abl]

Or do you think I should quit my job. I work at a pretty prestige law firm as a paralegal, and I truly enjoy working there...but most likely, I won't be able to continue after August but my work has put in so much effort to accommodate my schedule that I feel bad...

So i guess the question is.

GPA/LSAT/or Work

Wait, so you're going to quit your job in August regardless?

So, to be clear, your question is: which is greater, the marginal value (towards law school admissions) of

(a) approximately two extra months of work as a paralegal at a prestigious law firm;
(b) the chance of an additional ~2 points on your LSAT due to your additional time studying; or
(c) the chance of a GPA increase from 3.56 - 3.60, due to your summer classes?

Assuming re (a) that you don't need the two month's of $$, re (b) that you're talking about a couple LSAT points + in the 160s, and re (c) that you haven't gotten a degree yet and therefore summer school classes will actually boost your LSAC GPA, I think that the LSAT is easily most beneficial. The difference between a 164 and 166, or a 166 and 168, or a 168 and 170, or a 170 and 172, etc, is greater than the difference between a 3.54 and a 3.6, and both will be of substantially greater help to you than two extra months of work at a prestigious law firm as a paralegal (assuming, that is, you've worked there for more than a couple of months already). I don't think it's that close -- 2-3 points of LSAT (in the 160s/low 170s) > 0.05 points of GPA >>>>> 2 extra months of work experience as a paralegal anywhere.

That said, your work experience is guaranteed whereas the other two "bonuses" are probability-based: you're assuming that more studying will = a better score, and that extra classes will = an increased GPA. I'm assuming the increased GPA is pretty likely because you'll be taking joke classes. Given that, I think it becomes a tougher question between the GPA and the LSAT. If it were me, I'd quit your job, take classes to boost your GPA, and then spend most of your extra time studying for the LSAT. There is diminishing value to every additional hour spent studying for the LSAT at a certain point, and if all you're doing is taking classes and studying for the LSAT, I think that gives you more than enough LSAT time to get your scores close to your max potential.

tl;dr: I think you can get the LSAT boost and the GPA boost together, and the cost of quitting your job early is relatively minimal--especially if you don't plan on trying to work at this firm as a lawyer. Quit your job, take the classes, and study your butt off.

[lawschoolgirl312]

Thank you so mcuh for your advice!

Sorry, I'm being so annoying, I'm just so conflicted If I want to be competitive with a 3.5 GPA, what should I aim for my LSAT score to be?

[abl]

Thank you so mcuh for your advice!

Sorry, I'm being so annoying, I'm just so conflicted If I want to be competitive with a 3.5 GPA, what should I aim for my LSAT score to be?

At what schools would you like to be competitive? Do you want admission at those schools or also merit-based aid? What level of an undergrad is your GPA from? How much post-undergrad work experience do you have? Are you a URM? Are there other "soft" factors that may work in your favor for admissions?

[lawschoolgirl312]

Thank you so mcuh for your advice!

Sorry, I'm being so annoying, I'm just so conflicted If I want to be competitive with a 3.5 GPA, what should I aim for my LSAT score to be?

At what schools would you like to be competitive? Do you want admission at those schools or also merit-based aid? What level of an undergrad is your GPA from? How much post-undergrad work experience do you have? Are you a URM? Are there other "soft" factors that may work in your favor for admissions?

[KMart]

I'm looking at schools like NYU and Columbia. I go to UC Berkeley, going to be a Senior, and I have worked at the SF Surperior Courts, Morrison Foerster, SF Public Defender's Office.

Kill the LSAT, don't boost your GPA at the risk of hurting your LSAT. Work is a wash: if it's going to take away from your studying I'd drop it, but it looks good and ideally you could keep it barring the former issue doesn't arise.

[lawschoolgirl312]

Thank you so mcuh for your advice!

Sorry, I'm being so annoying, I'm just so conflicted If I want to be competitive with a 3.5 GPA, what should I aim for my LSAT score to be?

At what schools would you like to be competitive? Do you want admission at those schools or also merit-based aid? What level of an undergrad is your GPA from? How much post-undergrad work experience do you have? Are you a URM? Are there other "soft" factors that may work in your favor for admissions?

I private messaged you

[abl]

Thank you so mcuh for your advice!

Sorry, I'm being so annoying, I'm just so conflicted If I want to be competitive with a 3.5 GPA, what should I aim for my LSAT score to be?

At what schools would you like to be competitive? Do you want admission at those schools or also merit-based aid? What level of an undergrad is your GPA from? How much post-undergrad work experience do you have? Are you a URM? Are there other "soft" factors that may work in your favor for admissions?

I'm looking at schools like NYU and Columbia. I go to UC Berkeley, going to be a Senior, and I have worked at the [blinded in case the OP wants anonymity].

http://nyu.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/1415 Looks like you'll need a 168 to be "competitive" at NYU. And by "competitive," I assume you mean that you want numbers that are good enough that NYU will look seriously at the rest of your application.

I'm guessing that the rest of your application will have some nice soft factors you haven't highlighted for us (a particularly difficult major, an interesting personal story, etc). If it doesn't, and your work experience is pretty much all you have going for you, that is unlikely to be enough to push you over the edge at a school like NYU (your work experience is average at best for CCN)--although UCB is a great school, it's not going to make you stand out from the rest of the NYU-caliber law school applicant pool.

Assuming your softs are as you represent them, my gut feeling about this is that you'll probably need an LSAT in the 170s to have a real shot of getting into CCN--probably above 172 or 173 (and even that, I wouldn't take "a real shot" to be anything close to a guarantee). In fact, I think you'll probably need something at least pretty close to 170 to have a >50% chance of getting into any T14. A 165, for example, probably isn't going to cut it, even for Georgetown or Cornell.

I'm not normally a fan of the whole "retake" line of thought here on TLS, but if you don't break 170 on your LSAT this time around, I'd strongly consider taking a year or two to find something else substantive and meaningful to do, and then study your butt off, retake, and re-apply. With an interesting postgrad soft (Peace Corps-level stuff) under your belt and an LSAT above 170, you would be a good candidate for CCN.

--edited to take out potentially identifying information for the OP--