Can someone explain what splitter mean? Forum

[olikatz]

I've seen it on this board. People calling themselves a splitter, reverse splitter. What does this mean?

[TexasENG]

I've seen it on this board. People calling themselves a splitter, reverse splitter. What does this mean?

A splitter is someone with a High LSAT and Low GPA
A reverse-splitter is High GPA and Low LSAT

I think typically you can look at a splitter as someone with an LSAT > median and GPA < median (some people will use LSAT>75 and GPA<25), with a reverse splitter being the opposite.

[zeglo]

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[RamTitan]

Different schools appears to be more and less friendly to admitting splitters.

I've heard Northwestern is splitter friendly, while Cal-Berkeley and Duke are not. Know of any others/where I can find out?

[PDX4343]

UVA is considered "splitter-friendy" as well.

[Lexaholik]

A splitter is someone with a low GPA and high LSAT. Traditionally, a splitter was someone who has a GPA that's less than 3.0 and a LSAT that's 170 or higher. IIRC the term emerged during the autoadmit/LSD days (pre TLS).

After "splitter" gained some popularity, the "reverse splitter" came about. Reverse splitter is someone who has a high GPA but low LSAT. The definition for them was less strict, but generally they were >3.8 & 165< types.

Some years after that, the definition of splitter expanded. Having a low GPA no longer meant 2.XX, it now meant anything under a school's 25th percentile. So you'd have some people with 3.5 GPAs declaring themselves splitters because they were applying to Columbia or whatever.

I've heard Northwestern is splitter friendly, while Cal-Berkeley and Duke are not. Know of any others/where I can find out?

Among the T14s Northwestern has been the most splitter friendly. However, admissions practices shift every few years, and someone recently pointed out that NU may be less splitter friendly nowadays.

Other lower T14s that are known to be splitter friendly include GULC and Virginia. Berkeley generally is not. All other mid to low T14 schools may (or may not be) depending on your precise definition of splitter, and how high your LSAT is. If you look beyond T14s, most schools are splitter friendly to the extent that they don't really care how bad your GPA is if you have a high enough LSAT.

School admissions preferences are somewhat cyclical, and what was true in the last 5 years may not be true this year. Schools could become splitter friendly overnight. I remember when I applied, I thought I had no shot at GW or Emory because according to LSN they'd virtually never let in anyone with a sub 3.0 GPA no matter how high the LSAT. I applied anyways, and I got into both.