Questions... Need Advices! Forum

[yesprelaw]

Hello TLS!

I apologize for a long post, but I really need some help...
So if you have a time, could you please give me advices + suggestions?
Thank you!

Following are my current stats. & situations:
1) GPA:
I graduated from one of the top private schools in 2013 with 2.7 - 2.8 cumulative GPA and around 3.2 major GPA

2) LSAT
I took the June 2015 LSAT and scored 174, so I guess I could be considered as a "super splitter"
(Yes, I studied so hard for this while working full-time... more info. below)

3) Work Experience
My parents own a small breakfast/lunch restaurant, but because they cannot afford to hire any employee + they experienced gun robbery, I have been helping them full-time since I graduated. I refused to get paid because I truly just wanted to help them and because they agreed to pay my bills. Therefore, I do not have any records of me working/helping full-time during my gap (2) years. I know that work experience is extremely helpful (kind of a must... I heard) to a super splitter like me... Would this non-paid & non-recorded two years of work/help experience count? I learned a lot of things and have a lot of stories to tell about this extremely arduous experience (in personal statement or interview)...

4) Undergraduate E.C.
- >300 total volunteering hours + I am continuing to volunteer right now
- some public health volunteering experiences in a developing country
----I am interested in representing under-served and underrepresented population
- leadership positions in some student organizations
- worked average 20 hours (= maximum hours allowed for undergraduate students to work in campus) per week for almost 4 years in campus
- good 2 LOR from professors + 1 from volunteering president

5) School Choices
Northwestern University is my dream school. Would I have a chance if I apply ED there?
May I please know which schools I should apply within T15 schools?
I said T15 because am a Texas resident (but non URM).

Thank you for reading my post! I would really appreciate your advices, comments, suggestions, or anything

[benwyatt]

Post removed.

[Leonardo DiCaprio]

as a non-URM 2.8/174 your best shots are northwestern, georgetown, and maybe UVA if you ED. also michigan. you're in a pretty shitty position when it comes to money though. you most likely won't get any. and even if you do,it will be very small.

NU ED you will DEFINITELY be deferred or waitlisted into the regular decision pool because your GPA is too low. but when they decide to evaluate deferred or waitlisted candidates, the fact that you ED'd will be a boost. maybe a boost big enough to get you in.

yale - no
harvard - no
stanford - no
columbia - no
chicago - no
nyu - no. maybe if you ED. you will get deferred/waitlisted but maybe you will get a late admit. BIG, BIG maybe. i would not count on it.
penn - no. same as NYU with ED
duke - no
cornell - no
northwestern - possible
uva - possible with ED
berkeley - no
michigan - maybe with a strong application (essay/LOR)
georgetown - pretty strong chance

[yesprelaw]

That GPA is going to be hard to overcome, but you do have a strong LSAT.

I think your experience working for your parents has the potential to make a compelling PS so I would go for that.

I'd ED NU.

On a MyLSN search with only ED included, it looks like you'll fare well in that scenario. Small sample size though, so hard to say.

[img]http://myLSN.info/s1qml9_1-14.jpg

Wow nice website I did not know such website existed lol
Thank you for the info. and suggestion! Glad to hear that I have at least some chance if I ED NU

[yesprelaw]

as a non-URM 2.8/174 your best shots are northwestern, georgetown, and maybe UVA if you ED. also michigan. you're in a pretty shitty position when it comes to money though. you most likely won't get any. and even if you do,it will be very small.

NU ED you will DEFINITELY be deferred or waitlisted into the regular decision pool because your GPA is too low. but when they decide to evaluate deferred or waitlisted candidates, the fact that you ED'd will be a boost. maybe a boost big enough to get you in.

yale - no
harvard - no
stanford - no
columbia - no
chicago - no
nyu - no. maybe if you ED. you will get deferred/waitlisted but maybe you will get a late admit. BIG, BIG maybe. i would not count on it.
penn - no. same as NYU with ED
duke - no
cornell - no
northwestern - possible
uva - possible with ED
berkeley - no
michigan - maybe with a strong application (essay/LOR)
georgetown - pretty strong chance

Thank you for the detailed list of schools + my chances!
I will take your suggestion and probably ED NU and apply georgetown, michigan, ut austin (and nyu, penn, and uva even if fees might to into waste)

[yesprelaw]

Thank you for great replies!
Does anyone have any comment about my work experience?
I heard NU especially cares about work experience...

[Clearly]

You won't get NU ED. There program isn't like other ED, It comes with a full ride. The only benefit to wasting your ED there is the chance to indicate that you're all about NU before you get pushed to RD.

[yesprelaw]

You won't get NU ED. There program isn't like other ED, It comes with a full ride. The only benefit to wasting your ED there is the chance to indicate that you're all about NU before you get pushed to RD.

Thank you for your reply!
If applying ED to NU is "wasting" my ED, should I apply ED to georgetown or UT Austin (to get into a T15 school)?
Or should I still apply ED to NU and hope for a good boost in RD?

[Clearly]

If anything I'd ED UVA, hard to say that it'd work, it would have years ago when they were splitter friendly. Going below nu with an ED is dumb because I think you'll get nu RD.