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My gpa and LSAT quandary

1). 175 LSAT score I received. Can retake again in February and am testing at 178 on diagnostics, but some say the 178 wont make a difference, and just to keep the 175.
2). Horrible, horrible LSAC gpa: 2.37. In undergrad long time. Have a lot of non-punitive course drops. Dropping for financial reasons, low gpa attributed to working 40-60 hours a week, ill parent caring for, diagnosis of depression.
3). Have work experience through undergrad, but dont want to take off anymore time, because I am 29 and feel I am ready to go to law school, as evident by a 51 credit hour (3 semester) upward trend of 3.8 with no negative grades and course drops and the 175 LSAT.

If I craft a good application demonstrating the roadblocks that lead to the low 2.37 LSAC gpa, coupled with my 175 LSAT score and solid LORs, do I have a chance at Tier 1 schools? (20-50)? there are many in that range I would be happy to live/practice.

Secondly, even if I have a competitive 175 (or 178 retake) score, am I automatically dinged at 20-50 schools, because not only do I have a 2.37 LSAC gpa with a solid reason, but I have some D's and F's scattered and littered with course drops. Is a Tier 1 still possible with a 175 score. Or no chance at all?

You have a good chance at Northwestern and WUSTL judging from mylsn. Your LSAT score will be a big asset.

Thanks immensely for your response, that was very helpful. I didnt realize that WUSTL and NU were as splitter friendly for those whose WE has all been during undergrad. Does anyone think those schools just take the 175/2.37 numbers at face value OR do they scrutinize the 2.37 transcript focusing on the D's and F's and course drops? I do have a minut (sp?) upward trend for as little as 3 semesters (51 credits) with a 3.8, which should show them that I wont drop or get future negative grades since the situation has been remedied that accounted for the bad grades earlier on.

majorsplit2012 wrote:Thanks immensely for your response, that was very helpful. I didnt realize that WUSTL and NU were as splitter friendly for those whose WE has all been during undergrad. Does anyone think those schools just take the 175/2.37 numbers at face value OR do they scrutinize the 2.37 transcript focusing on the D's and F's and course drops? I do have a minut (sp?) upward trend for as little as 3 semesters (51 credits) with a 3.8, which should show them that I wont drop or get future negative grades since the situation has been remedied that accounted for the bad grades earlier on.

I'm not sure if your lack of WE post graduation will necessarily hold you back, but Northwestern and WUSTL seem to accept applicants with those extreme splitter stats. Look at law school numbers and see if those who were accepted had significant work experience post graduation and how many years were they out of undergrad.

They'll look through your transcript, but the only thing that truly matters is your cumulative GPA. You're going to need to write a GPA addendum IMO. I think it would help.

Take a look at this: http://mylsn.info/w7tohe