Top Law Schools

Hello TLS,

I want to know if GPA matters only of its number. For example, if you went to a lower than average (or barely average) school and got 3.9+gpa vs 3.0 gpa at a school that is higher than average, with the same lsat score, will the person with a higher gpa has more chance than the lower gpa person from a better school? or vice versa?

Only the number. A 3.9 from a low-ranked school will win over a 3.0 from an Ivy any day of the week and twice on Sundays. School prestige only matters on the margins - so, a 3.5 from an Ivy would have the edge over a 3.5 from a low-ranked school assuming equal LSATs, but even a few extra points on the LSAT would probably put the 3.5/low-ranked grad over the top.

QContinuum wrote:Only the number. A 3.9 from a low-ranked school will win over a 3.0 from an Ivy any day of the week and twice on Sundays. School prestige only matters on the margins - so, a 3.5 from an Ivy would have the edge over a 3.5 from a low-ranked school assuming equal LSATs, but even a few extra points on the LSAT would probably put the 3.5/low-ranked grad over the top.

Thank you!

Due to the significant value LSAT/GPA are given in the USNews rankings formula, the number is really the thing that matters most. Of course, schools like to post information showing the quality of their students' undergraduate institutions and the difficulty of their undergraduate programs. So, all else equal, if you have the same GPA (or even slightly higher) as someone that went to Harvard or Princeton and majored in Physics, the school will likely consider that candidate more than someone that went to a lower ranked school and majored in something less rigorous. But keep in mind that schools also like to show that they have a varied class so if you are coming from a school that is not represented strongly in the law school class, then that will be a factor the school will consider as well.