Chances of Getting into Law Schools? (171/4.0) Forum

[LSAT Blog]

A partial or full scholarship might be a good reason for some folks. Some people choose to go to a lower-ranked law school for $ reasons, even if they could've gotten into a higher-ranked one.

[ConMan345]

In my opinion, for the very top schools, you need to market yourself as the best of a certain type. LSAT and GPA being fairly equal, the top schools are looking for a diverse class, so you have to craft an application that has a clear, consistent message; one that says, "Hey, so I have this interest/background/whatever, and I'm one of the best you'll find with it." When someone is done reading it, they should think, "Oh yeah, this is the ______ kid," or "the kid interested in ________," "or the one who did ________." Being an academic powerhouse (a brain in a jar) only makes sense if you're ridiculously strong in that department (175+, 3.95+). In your case, a huge potential red flag is this "I'm involved in ten campus organizations" business. More power to you on a personal level, that takes a lot of work; but as far applications, I hope those have a common thread or two because otherwise you'll seem all over the place. Every piece of your application should be part of a whole cloth, not a bunch of different threads. Your personal statement should bring everything together. Mine was about how my love of a challenge, intellectual curiosity and passion for a particular cause made law school the perfect next step. Nothing fancy or schmaltzy. My resume backed it up with my record for the cause I was passionate about, my numbers were good enough, my recs were strong, and it all fell into place (minus Yale, haha).

Think of it this way: my LSAT score was the weakest part of my application, so I did everything I could to make it the least important part.

Okay thank you so much! That's really good advice. Luckily, all of my organizations, excluding one, are connected to Catholic social justice, religion, and conservative values, so I think they tie together. I never heard that though .. that's such helpful advice!

ty and you're welcome

[scrantonkr]

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[jpSartre]

I don't think OP will get into law schools.

[scrantonkr]

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[Sauer Grapes]

Do something productive with your year off. Assuming you get at least a 170, you have a very good shot to get into half the T14 (assuming you apply to all of them). You actually have a shot at more than half of the T14, but as was said earlier, some schools choose to waitlist people to protect their acceptance and yield rates.

Make sure everything else about your applications is solid and apply early. I'd be surprised if a 171/4.0 didn't get you AT LEAST a half tuition scholarship at a T14. In fact, if you apply early enough, you should get a bigger than half tuition somewhere.

[scrantonkr]

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[jpSartre]

I don't think OP will get into law schools.

Rude.

Opinion.

Also, if you're going to pretend to have an LSAT score, at least do it in the right forum.

[cheesus]

I don't think OP will get into law schools.

Rude.

Opinion.

+1

[romothesavior]

Oh, also there is no reason to apply to St. Johns (and likely no reason to apply to Fordham) if you DO get a 171.

Even with a 4.0/169, you'll be accepted SOMEWHERE in the top 14.

A 4.0/169 is easily T10 with $.

[xyzzzzzzzz]

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[rockstar4488]

Great GPA. Hopefully you will get closer to a 175, as it would make a very large difference. You do have pretty weak softs though, which may pose a problem at the top schools if you don't have a high enough LSAT to force your way in.

[Albatross]

I don't think OP will get into law schools.

Rude.

Opinion.

+1

+2. I really hope OP is not in my 1L class. Likely, it will cause me to rethink a career in law.

[mz253]

i know a yale law school guy (who also went to yale for undergrad), his gpa is 3.5ish and lsat is 170. so don't be so hard on him!

You might be in for a surprise if you "plan" on getting a 171. My diagnostic was a 169, I studied for 3 months straight, raised my practice average to 175, and subsequently scored a 171 on test day. You're getting a little ahead of yourself if you're already trying to predict your cycle before you have an LSAT score.

....However, assuming you do get a 171/4.0, I dealt with the same numbers.

Yale- OUT
Harvard- Waitlist-->OUT
Chicago and Columbia- 50/50 either IN or Waitlist
All the rest- IN

[KingJames6]

OP, HYS are probably out of the equation...unless you can get a LOR from Michael Scott

[03121202698008]

Is that 4.0 calculated to LSAC standards or your schools? It's possible your 4.0 could be a lot lower depending on how your school counts certain things like drops/withdrawls, etc.

[JJJ123]

Apply to Stanford- its by far your best chance of getting into a top 3. Yale is unlikely, I think your undergrad will hurt you there (they will likely prefer the 3.9+s from top schools). You have a chance at Harvard, but your lsat (or predicted lsat) is on the low end for Hls. Apply early to HLS and SLS. I also think you have a very good chance of getting into columbia if HLS/SLS don't work out.

[mz253]

i say apply to everywhere you want to attend! then you will have no regrets!

[scrantonkr]

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