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If your LSAT score is above the 75th percentile at a school where 25 percent get big law. Would you say your chance at ranking in the top 25th percentile is still only 1 in 4? While I'm not going to say that a 75th percentile lsat guarntees you'll be in the top 25 percent, doesn't it at least make your odds better (let's say 40-50 percent rather than 25 percent).

undergrad experience please

In my experience, LSAT score isn't indicative of how well a student does in law school. LSAT score is indicative of how well a student takes the LSAT.

Qualifications: I got 170+ LSAT, but still dumb as a brick.

TLS was ragging on a black kid with a 158~ for going to UVA a few years back, who then proceeded to end up in the top 10% of his class.

bananasplit19 wrote:In my experience, LSAT score isn't indicative of how well a student does in law school. LSAT score is indicative of how well a student takes the LSAT.

Qualifications: I got 170+ LSAT, but still dumb as a brick.

How did you do 1L?

twentypercentmore wrote:TLS was ragging on a black kid with a 158~ for going to UVA a few years back, who then proceeded to end up in the top 10% of his class.

I'm sure there are lots of unique cases, I'm just questioning whether someone with a 75th percent lsat at his/her school should feel that his/her chance to be at the top 25 percent of his/her class is really the exact same as everyone else.

I'll echo the sentiment that just because you did well on the LSAT you'll be at the top in your classes. Not a bet I'd make.

I got near a perfect score I'm the SAT and didn't do anything that could be called succeeding at UG. I suspect the LSAT will predict the same which is why schools take into account both gpa and lsat and accept splitters.

sadday wrote:If your LSAT score is above the 75th percentile at a school where 25 percent get big law. Would you say your chance at ranking in the top 25th percentile is still only 1 in 4? While I'm not going to say that a 75th percentile lsat guarntees you'll be in the top 25 percent, doesn't it at least make your odds better (let's say 40-50 percent rather than 25 percent).

Assuming all else equal, yes.

However, assuming all else to be equal is naive. I promise you, not everyone will understand how to take a law school exam equally well. Reading comp fails happen, there are sloppy mistakes, misunderstandings, and general screwups. Also, some people just don't put in the time to figure out how to properly answer a professor's hypos.

The LSAT, properly read, indicates that you have a supposedly have potential that is higher than however many other people who take that class. You are extrapolating that your potential there is equivilant to your chances at biglaw, since biglaw takes the top 25%.

You assume that the only thing biglaw is looking for is grades. It is not. Biglaw firms look for grades, but also experience, and whatever else that particular firm wants (maybe they want someone who cooks a mean tuna casserole). Firms do not look at the same things in resumes. Admittedly, grades are a heavy factor, but they are not the only factor.

I don't think that correlation is very useful. Your LSAT score is your "talent" in the law area. It's your raw ability to utilize some skills that you might need. But it isn't the law or the practice of law itself. As an analogy, comparing the LSAT to biglaw in this manner is like telling a child that they have a talent at singing and then expecting them to do amazing on stage. Sure, the kid is a natural, but unless he practices for hours on end, he's still gonna suck.

I wouldn't base my decision on something with so many factors outside of your control.

sadday wrote:

bananasplit19 wrote:In my experience, LSAT score isn't indicative of how well a student does in law school. LSAT score is indicative of how well a student takes the LSAT.

Qualifications: I got 170+ LSAT, but still dumb as a brick.

How did you do 1L?

Still a 0L, but I'm not counting on being in the top 10% next year (although I'll do my darndest).

Source: Still dumb as a brick.

sadday wrote:If your LSAT score is above the 75th percentile at a school where 25 percent get big law. Would you say your chance at ranking in the top 25th percentile is still only 1 in 4? While I'm not going to say that a 75th percentile lsat guarntees you'll be in the top 25 percent, doesn't it at least make your odds better (let's say 40-50 percent rather than 25 percent).

to answer your actual question of simply will you be more likely than 25% to be in the top 25%, statistically yes you will. the LSAT is correlated with 1L grades, period. Like everyone has already said, it won't drastically increase your chances, but your guess of possibly having a 40% chance of being in the top 25% could very well be backed up by statistics (its probably less than 40%, just saying its probably a reasonable guess).

Of course these are basically just odds of someone with your LSAT ending in the top (not necessarily YOU ending up towards the top). if you know you don't have the best study habits, or you get easily stressed out, or you're just lazy... you can pretty safely drop that 40% back down right away. LSAT correlation is just a correlation, it doesn't cause you to place higher.

thelawschoolproject wrote:I'll echo the sentiment that just because you did well on the LSAT you'll be at the top in your classes. Not a bet I'd make.

Though isn't the top 75% something in the high 150's?