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I posted in what are my chances, but would like to get a little more clarity on the weight of soft factors in law school admissions.

I'm aiming for t14, but my GPA and LSAT are both below the mean. I do feel I have good soft factors which I'm *hoping* push me over the edge at one of those 14 schools. I attended a top 5 medical school, completed residency at NYU, and am currently a practicing ortho surgeon. I've also had a bunch of published research over the years along with published JAMA and NEJM articles.

I'm sure this is quite a bit more than your typical applicant, but unfortunately, I'm not sure if it'll be enough. Frankly, I just don't know enough about the law admissions process to accurately determine what effect (if any) this will have. Any advice is much appreciated.

Your medical background is certainly interesting, but likely won't be enough to push you over the edge if your numbers are below median. I would recommend that you focus on getting your LSAT score up to give you a better shot at the T14.

As a side note: when you apply, you should make it very clear why you want to go to law school. You don't want your background to do more harm than good, and I could definitely see schools questioning whether you actually do want to attend law school (as opposed to doing a policy program).

I think at the very least you will have a very interesting application...I'm sure there are very few applicants each year that are doctors applying for law school. Work experience/softs are unlikely to completely supplement a bad score or academic record (it depends on how below the medians you are at these schools), but I think you will stand out in the applicant pool more than an undergrad, IMO. Make sure you rock your PS/supplemental essays.

Why the career change, if you don't mind me asking? That would obviously be something you would want to address in your essays or addendum.

threatlevelmidnight wrote:I think at the very least you will have a very interesting application...I'm sure there are very few applicants each year that are doctors applying for law school. Work experience/softs are unlikely to completely supplement a bad score or academic record (it depends on how below the medians you are at these schools), but I think you will stand out in the applicant pool more than an undergrad, IMO. Make sure you rock your PS/supplemental essays.

Why the career change, if you don't mind me asking? That would obviously be something you would want to address in your essays or addendum.

Thank you both for your input.

My scores are 3.1 GPA/162 LSAT.

I'm not necessarily looking for a career change - I intend to continue practicing medicine for many more years. I am however interested in a career in politics/public policy and I very much value the skills and experiences that come with attending a great law school.

islanddive89 wrote:

threatlevelmidnight wrote:I think at the very least you will have a very interesting application...I'm sure there are very few applicants each year that are doctors applying for law school. Work experience/softs are unlikely to completely supplement a bad score or academic record (it depends on how below the medians you are at these schools), but I think you will stand out in the applicant pool more than an undergrad, IMO. Make sure you rock your PS/supplemental essays.

Why the career change, if you don't mind me asking? That would obviously be something you would want to address in your essays or addendum.

Thank you both for your input.

My scores are 3.1 GPA/162 LSAT.

I'm not necessarily looking for a career change - I intend to continue practicing medicine for many more years. I am however interested in a career in politics/public policy and I very much value the skills and experiences that come with attending a great law school.

Study up on the LSAT because unless you are URM your chances of t14 are close to nil with those numbers. Sorry to be harsh but numbers are king in the law school game.

Also that is a silly reason to go to law school and spend $200,000 in my opinion, but to each his own.

islanddive89 wrote:

threatlevelmidnight wrote:I think at the very least you will have a very interesting application...I'm sure there are very few applicants each year that are doctors applying for law school. Work experience/softs are unlikely to completely supplement a bad score or academic record (it depends on how below the medians you are at these schools), but I think you will stand out in the applicant pool more than an undergrad, IMO. Make sure you rock your PS/supplemental essays.

Why the career change, if you don't mind me asking? That would obviously be something you would want to address in your essays or addendum.

Thank you both for your input.

My scores are 3.1 GPA/162 LSAT.

I'm not necessarily looking for a career change - I intend to continue practicing medicine for many more years. I am however interested in a career in politics/public policy and I very much value the skills and experiences that come with attending a great law school.

What skills and experiences that come with attending a great law school are you referring to?

Tacking on another degree is not going to help you. If you had ridiculously gokd numbers then I might say go for it if you can go for free (although I'd still think this was misguided). With your current numbers you are not getting into a t14, and definitely not for free. Be a happy ortho, and don't do law school.

Also T5 med school with a UGPA of 3.1? Tempted to call flame.

Will consider taking the LSAT again. Interested in getting into politics down the line, and as I mentioned, I think the connections and experiences a t14 school can provide are worth the cost. Perhaps I'm misguided, but this is what I've been told.

Fortunately, med schools look at more than cumulative GPA, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten in.

Just going to law school really wouldn't help you become a politician down the line, especially if you didn't go on to practice. You're not going to gain any political skills, although maybe you would get a chance to improve your public speaking if you do moot court/mock trial or an internship where you go to court. The experience you would gain would be learning lots of law school information that's barely, if at all, applicable in the real world. Overall, you would just be wasting time and money.

You're an ortho surgeon, so you should be able to get into social circles to help you with connections/political networking. If you're dead set on getting another degree, you could always get a masters degree in political science, although that's also not necessary to be a politician.

mujiali wrote:Tacking on another degree is not going to help you. If you had ridiculously gokd numbers then I might say go for it if you can go for free (although I'd still think this was misguided). With your current numbers you are not getting into a t14, and definitely not for free. Be a happy ortho, and don't do law school.

Also T5 med school with a UGPA of 3.1? Tempted to call flame.

Med schools weigh sGPA, MCAT, and the interview at least as much as cGPA. And softs can often help push one over the edge if they are related to science or are really unique.

Don't go to law school if you are a legit Dr.

People respect and will vote for Doctors

mujiali wrote:Also T5 med school with a UGPA of 3.1? Tempted to call flame.

I questioned this on another thread and they claimed significant research, 39 MCAT, and a 3.8 science gpa. I still doubt that would get UCSF nowadays but they did matriculate over 10 years ago.

oil wrote:

mujiali wrote:Also T5 med school with a UGPA of 3.1? Tempted to call flame.

I questioned this on another thread and they claimed significant research, 39 MCAT, and a 3.8 science gpa. I still doubt that would get UCSF nowadays but they did matriculate over 10 years ago.

Also a MD grad. There's no way in hell a 3.1 would get UCSF (with or without a 39 mcat) these days. Even 10 years ago is tough to believe unless OP had serious connections...which sounds like he may have had in his other thread. That said if OP got a 39 MCAT, he's a f'ing genius so it's not hard to imagine him becoming an ortho surgeon.

Br3v wrote:Don't go to law school if you are a legit Dr.

People respect and will vote for Doctors

Being a doc ain't what it used to be. Not in the public's eye or in practice. Those who went in medicine for money are having a really tough time right now...I see it every day.

As far as I'm concerned, unless you're a Nobel Prize winner, Rhodes scholar, world-renowned celebrities, president of a country or anything like that, all other softs are considered "average", at least it won't offset how much a low LSAT negatively affect you.

PrayFor170 wrote:As far as I'm concerned, unless you're a Nobel Prize winner, Rhodes scholar, world-renowned celebrities, president of a country or anything like that, all other softs are considered "average", at least it won't offset how much a low LSAT negatively affect you.

Or parents are substantial donors

Damn bro how'd you get med school with a 3.1

Being an ortho surgeon is not an average soft, especially with a MD from a top 5 med school.

i have no idea what is on the MCAT, but if he had a high enough score on the MCAT to get to a T-5 med school, shouldn't he also be able to crush the LSAT with a modest amount of studying?

dabigchina wrote:i have no idea what is on the MCAT, but if he had a high enough score on the MCAT to get to a T-5 med school, shouldn't he also be able to crush the LSAT with a modest amount of studying?

MCAT is a knowledge based test. LSAT doesn't require any knowledge other than understanding language. They test very different skills, but anyone who crushes the MCAT probably has the necessary talent to do well on the LSAT. However doing so with only modest studying isn't a given.

devilsadvocatetroll wrote:

dabigchina wrote:i have no idea what is on the MCAT, but if he had a high enough score on the MCAT to get to a T-5 med school, shouldn't he also be able to crush the LSAT with a modest amount of studying?

MCAT is a knowledge based test. LSAT doesn't require any knowledge other than understanding language. They test very different skills, but anyone who crushes the MCAT probably has the necessary talent to do well on the LSAT. However doing so with only modest studying isn't a given.

MCAT verbal is no less difficult than LSAT RC imo, with dry contents and less clear organization. Logic wise, LSAT is indeed more intensive, but given OP's strong science background he should still be able to crush it with some practice.

I have seen MDs get hls with 168. I also know a k-jd who networked with a powerful professor at hls and got pulled out of the waitlist with a 169. On the other hand, that guy is probably a very good net-worker as he networked his way to Cravath despite being below median and without job experience.

Note: all the people above are non-URM. If you are, you could probably get in with even lower stats. As an MD, reach out to the bioethics professors at your choice school. If they like you, your stats would not hold you back.