Top Law Schools

I graduated from high school in 2003. I started off as a nursing major and the first couple of years I had relatively good grades. In 2005, both my parents became ill and I had to care for them, and I was diagnosed with coronary artery disease. This is now 2013, and I am a college senior, and my transcript gpa is 2.60, but the absolute law school gpa is 2.15 at this point. I took the LSAT in February and received a score of 168. I recently changed my major to BS in Health Services Administration. I met with an advisor today and she said that I could graduate with my degree August 2014, which leaves me with 70 credit hours left to take. I told her I was doing better from my disease and my parents were better and the next 4-5 semesters I was confident I could get A's.

She said and I quote, "I am a grad student so I am not really familiar with law school, but I doubt it will ever work out because you have failed courses (which you retook) and have a lot of course withdrawals which i understand wont be punitive" but when you apply to grad school, if you have even 3-4 W's, they wont even consider your application. She told me I didnt have any change of grad school in any department.

My overall accum is 2.60, the gpa law school would compute right now would be 2.15 and my LSAT is 168. I do have 70 more credit hours until August '14, which could bring my absolute gpa up to 2.5 or 2.6.

My advisor said it doesnt matter how good or improved my numbers (LSAT and gpa are) when I apply Fall 2014, that they wont consider me with a transcript with W's and retakes.

Do I have a chance at all OR is it hopeless?

not at any school worth going to, sorry.

but also, you're welcome.

You mean because of the large amount of W's and course retakes

OR with the 168/(absolute gpa which could be 2.6) at time of application?

lawschoolwondering wrote:You mean because of the large amount of W's and course retakes

OR with the 168/(absolute gpa which could be 2.6) at time of application?

yeah, a 168 and 2.6 hurt.

lawschoolwondering wrote:I graduated from high school in 2003. I started off as a nursing major and the first couple of years I had relatively good grades. In 2005, both my parents became ill and I had to care for them, and I was diagnosed with coronary artery disease. This is now 2013, and I am a college senior, and my transcript gpa is 2.60, but the absolute law school gpa is 2.15 at this point. I took the LSAT in February and received a score of 168. I recently changed my major to BS in Health Services Administration. I met with an advisor today and she said that I could graduate with my degree August 2014, which leaves me with 70 credit hours left to take. I told her I was doing better from my disease and my parents were better and the next 4-5 semesters I was confident I could get A's.

She said and I quote, "I am a grad student so I am not really familiar with law school, but I doubt it will ever work out because you have failed courses (which you retook) and have a lot of course withdrawals which i understand wont be punitive" but when you apply to grad school, if you have even 3-4 W's, they wont even consider your application. She told me I didnt have any change of grad school in any department.

My overall accum is 2.60, the gpa law school would compute right now would be 2.15 and my LSAT is 168. I do have 70 more credit hours until August '14, which could bring my absolute gpa up to 2.5 or 2.6.

My advisor said it doesnt matter how good or improved my numbers (LSAT and gpa are) when I apply Fall 2014, that they wont consider me with a transcript with W's and retakes.

Do I have a chance at all OR is it hopeless?

Hopeless? Probably not. Worth it? Also probably not. Look, your grades WILL hold you back. You can write an addendum explaining them, but without a shit-your-pants high score on the LSAT, you probably won't get into any good schools. We're talking 175 and up. It's always hard to say with people who are split as much as you, especially with extenuating circumstances, but your LSAT is not special, and your GPA is (forgive me for being blunt) absolutely terrible.

Feel free to apply and see what happens. I'm no fortune teller, sometimes remarkable things happen. But you won't get into any schools worth attending without a scholarship, or get a scholarship for any schools that require one to be worthwhile. Why not go into the medical field where your degree would help?

It never hurts to send out a few apps, especially to splitter-friendly schools, but that 2.6 is gonna preclude you from most reputable schools.

guano wrote:It never hurts to send out a few apps, especially to splitter-friendly schools, but that 2.6 is gonna preclude you from most reputable schools.

uuhhh, application fees hurt.

.

mephistopheles wrote:

guano wrote:It never hurts to send out a few apps, especially to splitter-friendly schools, but that 2.6 is gonna preclude you from most reputable schools.

uuhhh, application fees hurt.

Ok, but they're not exactly a lot of money.

guano wrote:

mephistopheles wrote:

guano wrote:It never hurts to send out a few apps, especially to splitter-friendly schools, but that 2.6 is gonna preclude you from most reputable schools.

uuhhh, application fees hurt.

Ok, but they're not exactly a lot of money.

we're talking about a nursing bound high school graduate. cmon man

If you crack 170 and are dead set on attending, apply to splitter friendly schools like GWU, WUSTL, Bama, etc depending on your ties.

Thanks for the replies, and I am studying to do higher than 170. Does anyone on here though no of anyone with over 20 course W's that still got into a halfway decent law school based on their numbers? I just feel no matter how high I perform LSAC gpa or LSAT, I wont have a chance because of the high amount of W's

Anyway you could get retroactive withdraws instead of F's?

lawschoolwondering wrote:Thanks for the replies, and I am studying to do higher than 170. Does anyone on here though no of anyone with over 20 course W's that still got into a halfway decent law school based on their numbers? I just feel no matter how high I perform LSAC gpa or LSAT, I wont have a chance because of the high amount of W's

I probably had ~ 15 f's and w's and got into all the traditional splitter friendly t30's with money, and I didn't even have a good excuse. With a strong finish and a good grade addendum you are fine for Wustl/minn. anything higher is almost certainly out.

lawschoolwondering wrote:I graduated from high school in 2003. I started off as a nursing major and the first couple of years I had relatively good grades. In 2005, both my parents became ill and I had to care for them, and I was diagnosed with coronary artery disease. This is now 2013, and I am a college senior, and my transcript gpa is 2.60, but the absolute law school gpa is 2.15 at this point. I took the LSAT in February and received a score of 168. I recently changed my major to BS in Health Services Administration. I met with an advisor today and she said that I could graduate with my degree August 2014, which leaves me with 70 credit hours left to take. I told her I was doing better from my disease and my parents were better and the next 4-5 semesters I was confident I could get A's.

She said and I quote, "I am a grad student so I am not really familiar with law school, but I doubt it will ever work out because you have failed courses (which you retook) and have a lot of course withdrawals which i understand wont be punitive" but when you apply to grad school, if you have even 3-4 W's, they wont even consider your application. She told me I didnt have any change of grad school in any department.

My overall accum is 2.60, the gpa law school would compute right now would be 2.15 and my LSAT is 168. I do have 70 more credit hours until August '14, which could bring my absolute gpa up to 2.5 or 2.6.

My advisor said it doesnt matter how good or improved my numbers (LSAT and gpa are) when I apply Fall 2014, that they wont consider me with a transcript with W's and retakes.

Do I have a chance at all OR is it hopeless?

Not sure if I'm missing something OP, but if you have 70 credit hours left to take how is it possible to raise your GPA only by .1 points?

jrsbaseball5 wrote:

lawschoolwondering wrote:I graduated from high school in 2003. I started off as a nursing major and the first couple of years I had relatively good grades. In 2005, both my parents became ill and I had to care for them, and I was diagnosed with coronary artery disease. This is now 2013, and I am a college senior, and my transcript gpa is 2.60, but the absolute law school gpa is 2.15 at this point. I took the LSAT in February and received a score of 168. I recently changed my major to BS in Health Services Administration. I met with an advisor today and she said that I could graduate with my degree August 2014, which leaves me with 70 credit hours left to take. I told her I was doing better from my disease and my parents were better and the next 4-5 semesters I was confident I could get A's.

She said and I quote, "I am a grad student so I am not really familiar with law school, but I doubt it will ever work out because you have failed courses (which you retook) and have a lot of course withdrawals which i understand wont be punitive" but when you apply to grad school, if you have even 3-4 W's, they wont even consider your application. She told me I didnt have any change of grad school in any department.

My overall accum is 2.60, the gpa law school would compute right now would be 2.15 and my LSAT is 168. I do have 70 more credit hours until August '14, which could bring my absolute gpa up to 2.5 or 2.6.

My advisor said it doesnt matter how good or improved my numbers (LSAT and gpa are) when I apply Fall 2014, that they wont consider me with a transcript with W's and retakes.

Do I have a chance at all OR is it hopeless?

Not sure if I'm missing something OP, but if you have 70 credit hours left to take how is it possible to raise your GPA only by .1 points?

Overall GPA is 2.15, which would go up to 2.5 or 2.6.

mephistopheles wrote:

lawschoolwondering wrote:You mean because of the large amount of W's and course retakes

OR with the 168/(absolute gpa which could be 2.6) at time of application?

yeah, a 168 and 2.6 hurt.

First of all a 168 is a good score. You can take it again and break 170 and you could get NU or even GULC. take a look at LSN, there are many splitters who are getting in......So yes, law school is doable

A. Nony Mouse wrote:

jrsbaseball5 wrote:

lawschoolwondering wrote:I graduated from high school in 2003. I started off as a nursing major and the first couple of years I had relatively good grades. In 2005, both my parents became ill and I had to care for them, and I was diagnosed with coronary artery disease. This is now 2013, and I am a college senior, and my transcript gpa is 2.60, but the absolute law school gpa is 2.15 at this point. I took the LSAT in February and received a score of 168. I recently changed my major to BS in Health Services Administration. I met with an advisor today and she said that I could graduate with my degree August 2014, which leaves me with 70 credit hours left to take. I told her I was doing better from my disease and my parents were better and the next 4-5 semesters I was confident I could get A's.

She said and I quote, "I am a grad student so I am not really familiar with law school, but I doubt it will ever work out because you have failed courses (which you retook) and have a lot of course withdrawals which i understand wont be punitive" but when you apply to grad school, if you have even 3-4 W's, they wont even consider your application. She told me I didnt have any change of grad school in any department.

My overall accum is 2.60, the gpa law school would compute right now would be 2.15 and my LSAT is 168. I do have 70 more credit hours until August '14, which could bring my absolute gpa up to 2.5 or 2.6.

My advisor said it doesnt matter how good or improved my numbers (LSAT and gpa are) when I apply Fall 2014, that they wont consider me with a transcript with W's and retakes.

Do I have a chance at all OR is it hopeless?

Not sure if I'm missing something OP, but if you have 70 credit hours left to take how is it possible to raise your GPA only by .1 points?

Overall GPA is 2.15, which would go up to 2.5 or 2.6.

Ah ok, makes sense then. It stills seems like that is a lot of credits and though it might be tough to pull straight A's, since OP's medical condition seems to be better it might be possible, or at least close to straight A's. I would think if he could get closer to a 2.8-2.9 his odds would improve greatly.

That's a lot of W's. You are definitely going to have to write an addendum explaining all of that. I also think those course retakes are going to be a problem. But it won't hurt to apply, I suppose, other than the application fees you will have to pay. Ultimately, you never know with certain schools.

Are there any people more worthless on the face of the earth than guidance counselors?

The Ws won't matter I promise. I had ~20 Ws, didn't really address them in my GPA addendum, and did fine.

Ludovico Technique wrote:Are there any people more worthless on the face of the earth than guidance counselors?

I agree. FWIW, guidance counselors are absolutely worthless.

I'm not sure why mephistopheles is being such a prick...

You can absolutely get into schools because a 168 is an elite LSAT score.... perhaps not super high for T-14 but for most of T1 and T2 it is a top, top score. I know on LSN, someone with a similar GPA and 163 LSAT who was accepted to the University of Indiana-Bloomington with 20k a year. I think there are people who have been accepted at UGA with a 165/2.3. I think with just the 168 you will be able to crack solid state schools in the 20s and 30s with scholarship money.

And people will give you fee waivers because of your LSAT alone. If you can get your GPA up to something semi-respectable like a 2.5 you will be able to get into a decent school. Its up to you to decide if its worth it or not. Seriously, when it comes time to apply, send every school a generic email saying,

I am interested in applying to X University. My name is ------. My LSAT score is 168 and my LSAC# is --------. You will be given plenty of fee waivers, so if application fees are the issue I wouldn't worry. And you are going to get unsolicited fee waivers.

Lol at advice in this thread. For better or worse, a 168/2.5 can get into Iowa, Minn, Wisco, SMU, UH, and others, and probably one or more of BC, BU, Fordham, Wustl.

Don't underestimate splitters, especially in this environment of shrinking applications.

Lord Randolph McDuff wrote:Lol at advice in this thread. For better or worse, a 168/2.5 can get into Iowa, Minn, Wisco, SMU, UH, and others, and probably one or more of BC, BU, Fordham, Wustl.

Don't underestimate splitters, especially in this environment of shrinking applications.

Lol at your advice, dude a 167/2.5 can get you in at those schools.