What would you do? Forum

[MisterT]

Hi everyone

I need some outside opinion on how to proceed with my applications since it has been driving me a little bit crazy and people on here always seem to be able to give great advice.. It's a little complex so bare with me! Without taking up too much space here is my situation:

Applied to the T14 this cycle with decent stats 174, average rated international transcript. Applications went complete at the end of January so have yet to hear back from everyone. WL at all lower end T14 schools I have heard from yet (Duke, Michigan, UPenn, Chicago), rejected at HLS.

I get the feeling that I lost out on this cycle for several reasons, mainly because I was unaware that a three year Swiss undergraduate degree is not seen as equivalent to a US undergraduate degree - when applying to any other graduate program in the US the 3 vs 4 year length is irrelevent, both degrees are treated the same. Without being able to get a solid answer out of all but a few admissions offices as to whether I was still eligible to apply to law school, I did so anyway. At the same time I applied to a 1 year MSc. at the London School of Economics, which I was accepted to. Completing this programme would make me "fully elligible" to apply to law school. Second, I applied so late in the cycle due to LSAC taking forever (2 months) to translate my foreign transcripts. Finally, when they did translate my transcripts, they gave me a relatively poor evaluation, a 4.67/6 average when in reality I will graduate with a 5.3/6, so am in or around top 10 percent in my subject.

Without knowing which other schools I may be admitted too (and becoming ever more pessimistic about my chances), here is my question.

Would it make sense for me to attend LSE for a year, then apply afterwards (would need to wait two cycles because I wouldn't graduate until the end of September '17), or should I take what I get now and chase after all these waitlists? I am leaning towards LSE although my heart is truly still set on the study of law and not sidestepping for two years, but at the same time I'm so exhausted from the whole application process and having so many setbacks..

What would you guys do if you were in my shoes? I am very grateful for any thoughts and ideas!

Much appreciation,

MisterT

[pterodactyls]

What is the start date for MSc? Can't you deposit at the MSc program and also ride the waitlists? If you do get admitted off a waitlist, you can forfeit your deposit and attend law school. Otherwise, you do the MSc.

I definitely wouldn't count on being admitted from the waitlists. Many (if not all) of these waitlists have over 1,000 students on them. And, from what I know (I'm a 0L FYI), I think you would have a lower chance of coming off of the waitlist because you don't have a GPA. Often people are admitted off of the waitlist because the school needs them to hit their target numbers (LSAT median or GPA median), but you can only help them with one of the two.

[GreenEggs]

Who told you your BSc is not equivalent to an American degree? A lot of foreign universities are 3 year bachelors (+1 year optional honors), are you sure its your degree that hurt you and not your transcript?

I would definitely not bank on the waitlists, I'd go to LSE and apply early for the year you can start

[MisterT]

What is the start date for MSc? Can't you deposit at the MSc program and also ride the waitlists? If you do get admitted off a waitlist, you can forfeit your deposit and attend law school. Otherwise, you do the MSc.

I definitely wouldn't count on being admitted from the waitlists. Many (if not all) of these waitlists have over 1,000 students on them. And, from what I know (I'm a 0L FYI), I think you would have a lower chance of coming off of the waitlist because you don't have a GPA. Often people are admitted off of the waitlist because the school needs them to hit their target numbers (LSAT median or GPA median), but you can only help them with one of the two.

Fortunately the start date is pretty late (Sept. 24th) and I don't have to deposit / can ride the waitlists. It is more a question if I should go through the extensive and costly process of getting my latest transcripts translated and evaluated, which should take many weeks, and write LOCIs etc. if my chances would be better re-applying in a year or two. Given the chances of a WL admit it seems like a substantial task, although I am hoping that my decent LSAT score counts for something.

[MisterT]

Who told you your BSc is not equivalent to an American degree? A lot of foreign universities are 3 year bachelors (+1 year optional honors), are you sure its your degree that hurt you and not your transcript?

I would definitely not bank on the waitlists, I'd go to LSE and apply early for the year you can start

It states on my foreign transcript evaluation that my degree will not be equivalent to a US undergraduate degree. This under most normal circumstances hurts my ability to apply for the bar (seen the ABA regulations - exceptions can be made if degrees not equivalent, basically it is at the schools discretion whether to admit me anyway or not), and after reading this I wrote to all admissions offices. Berkeley for example said I wouldn't be elligible to apply to law school (and rejected me), and others said they couldn't tell me yet. Given the fact that I am on some WL it does seem that they would except me but I'm maybe just a liability.

And yea, the transcript thing really sucks. I'm pretty sure their calculations are arbitrary. I had an accompanying letter sent from my school wherin it noted that I was around the top 10 percent etc. and I explained everything in an addendum so if the schools wanted to know how I would perform they had enough info, unfortunately LSAC didnt see it this way Anyway nothing more I can do now.