[Do I have a Shot?] 2.5-2.8 GPA in STEM, hit 170-180 LSAT, 5 yr work exp., psychiatric disorder? Forum

[inferno229]

If I can hit 170-180 for LSAT, have 5 years work experience in a scientific/FDA regulated field, but also have a disorder that interfered with GPA (2.5-2.; do I have a shot and would I be considered as a non-traditional applicant? Also which T20s do I have a shot in? Does my UGPA completely screw me in getting into a T20 law school? I need to make sure if it's worth it for me trying.

I did not find out until near graduation that the UC (University of California) I went to actually provided accommodations for people with OCD. If you could imagine someone with OCD and majoring in Chemistry with contamination fears along with having a much difficult time managing stressful situations, I hope you can emphasize ( and I hope law school admissions can too especially) how difficult it actually was for me. However as even the department of Labor considers OCD to be a legitimate disability (I know, employment and education are two different things), I hope they will better understand along with the strides I've made in maintaining my disorder.

Anyways, as I actually have more crystallized intelligence vs fluid reasoning as my strength which is why I do things way better the second time around, I'm very confident I can handle the law school curriculum. With me saying that, it was meant to demonstrate that I do have the intellectual capacity of succeeding Law School.

With all of that being said and with those factors previously mentioned as well, would I be considered as an non-traditional applicant? In addition to me hoping getting a high LSAT score (hitting high 150s to 160s currently), would me working in FDA regulated industries such as healthcare be considered impressive for admissions that could help weigh against my terrible GPA? Also with me being of a STEM background, would I have much of an advantage? Please let me know if I have a chance of getting into a T20 and which T20s I should apply for. Particularly, I would like to be an IP/Patent/Regulatory lawyer that also assists companies, such as startups, get on their feet while also with interests in Mergers and Acquisitions/corporate law as if you know what's it like in the corporate/industry world, a lot of large conglomerates are buying smaller companies to make up for their lack of R&D and turning them into their own subsidiaries.

Also, would taking paralegal courses and succeed in getting a paralegal certificate from a university extension give me greater chance of getting into law school? Has this been proven?

Thanks!

[ltbenn]

I think you certainly have a shot, if you do manage to get your LSAT up to the 170s. Generally speaking, most people will tell you that the further away you get from a bad gpa the less it matters - so your five years of work experience will help with that. Not to mention the fact that you could definitely write one hell of a diversity statement.

As for the paralegal stuff - I wouldn't. While some graduate courses with good grades could hypothetically help smooth over a low ugpa, it wouldn't help enough to be worth it.

With a strong personal statement, diversity statement/addendum addressing your condition and how it affected your chemistry degree (but would less affect your legal studies), you could definitely have a shot at some of the more splitter-friendly of the top twenty (Northwestern and WUSTL, for example).

Good luck!

[inferno229]

Thanks for your encouragement and advice. I greatly appreciate it how you've said the paralegal courses won't do much as there are plenty of people that say to take courses at a community college after graduation in order to get into medical/law school which doesn't seem to do much.

However, I bring up the paralegal courses of not really bringing up GPA, but to prove that I can do law and to also get letters of rec saying I'd be qualified for law school.

Otherwise, you've given me hope as although i'm shooting 155-160 in the beginning, I can certainly shoot for 170 and above with studying. Although I would like to get into Columbia/NYU as my reach schools, I'm most likely going to hit Boston University or possibly GULC as I don't want to be in state of california as I generally don't like the universities down here (unless if Cal were to somehow miraculously consider that I have OCD and would factor that into their decisions to which I highly doubt would happen), plus I would like to experience an out of state school, especially on the East Coast rather.