2.94/180, upward trend and time off. Size me up. Forum

[ncct07]

Reported on LSN, with LSAT 175+, GPA under 2.99....

No Acceptances: Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, NYU, UChicago, UMichigan, UPenn, Stanford, Yale

Accepted - Northwestern: LazySplitter 176, 2.8

UVA: BigDaddyMatty URM, NT 180, 2.95

[romothesavior]

I'll say it again: Northwestern is your best bet. An ED and you would be a lock. According to DF, they took just about everyone with a 170+ and work experience, including those with sub-3.0s.

[Grizz]

I'll say it again: Northwestern is your best bet. An ED and you would be a lock. According to DF, they took just about everyone with a 170+ and work experience, including those with sub-3.0s.

TCR

[Grizz]

Reported on LSN, with LSAT 175+, GPA under 2.99....

No Acceptances: Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, NYU, UChicago, UMichigan, UPenn, Stanford, Yale

Accepted - Northwestern: LazySplitter 176, 2.8

UVA: BigDaddyMatty URM, NT 180, 2.95

FWIW, LazySplitter posted on here, and he ED'd.

[eaters333]

Reported on LSN, with LSAT 175+, GPA under 2.99....

No Acceptances: Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, NYU, UChicago, UMichigan, UPenn, Stanford, Yale

Accepted - Northwestern: LazySplitter 176, 2.8

UVA: BigDaddyMatty URM, NT 180, 2.95

LSN is representative of ALL law school applicants.....I just want to make sure OP knows that.

[SweeneyTodd]

Cigrainger makes a good point. In the end, you're gonna need to write a gpa addendum about something. You have an extremely low gpa and a perfect lsat! Imagine if you were an adcomm opening your app and the first thing you see is that gpa and a perfect lsat! Wouldn't you want an explanation of some kind? Without one you leave it up to the adcomm to guess or decide you aren't a serious applicant and throw your app in the trash. I imagine an adcomm may think, "Did he leave out an explantion bc he did something really f'ed up or did he leave out an explanation because he doesn't care?" They may even think you are just a great standardized test taker as you mentioned....though a 180 may suggest some serious level of intelligence and critical/analytical thinking abilities perhaps not reflected in your gpa. My point is don't leave adcomms guessing too much because they probably don't have time to care.

The adcomm will not be confused or require an explanation for a high LSAT and a low GPA. They've seen it many times before, I'm sure, and they know exactly what it means. If you were in the hospital or at the deathbed of a close relative, sure... write an addendum. Alcohol issues and depression your first year of college? I'm not so sure that warrants an explanation (that's probably what they'll assume anyway), and I definitely don't think it's worth it to call attention to the weakest part of your application.

Considering the low number of people that score a 180 each year, I seriously doubt they've seen a significant number of people submit apps with 180 LSAT scores and lower than 3.0 GPAs. It definitely requires some type of explanation whether the OP explicitly mentions alcoholism or not. The purpose of a GPA addendum is to mention something that seriously and significantly impacted academic performance. Clearly the OP has an issue that did, so that is a clear case in which an addendum is warranted.

To your point, "and I definitely don't think it's worth it to call attention to the weakest part of your application." -- I agree with your sentiment here in most cases, but in the OPs case it appears the weakest part of his app just happens to be a very critical part of his app. If the GPA weren't critical why would they even offer the option of writing an addendum? I suspect it's because they don't want to make assumptions and want applicants to provide explanations -- not whiny excuses, but explanations.

Again I think if the OP takes a sentence to mention the issue as a personal problem or explicity as alcoholism and depression, but spend a few more sentences discussing overcoming the problem, maturity, and successes since freshman year he will be fine.

[somewhatwayward]

bullshit. i know ppl at both schools with below 3s and high lstats. u will get in if u apply. promise.

this year there was someone on the board with a 180 and a 3.7+ who wasn't admitted to CLS (no skeleton in the closet, either). it's getting harder every year with the increasing number of people applying ITE.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Reported on LSN, with LSAT 175+, GPA under 2.99....

No Acceptances: Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, NYU, UChicago, UMichigan, UPenn, Stanford, Yale

Accepted - Northwestern: LazySplitter 176, 2.8

UVA: BigDaddyMatty URM, NT 180, 2.95

There were some sub 175's with GPA's under 2.99 who got into Michigan/Georgetown/Penn.
Well to be fair.. not this year with Penn but in previous years- YES!!
I think this 3.0 cutoff people are talking about is fucking ridiculous..

[09042014]

Reported on LSN, with LSAT 175+, GPA under 2.99....

No Acceptances: Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, NYU, UChicago, UMichigan, UPenn, Stanford, Yale

Accepted - Northwestern: LazySplitter 176, 2.8

UVA: BigDaddyMatty URM, NT 180, 2.95

There were some sub 175's with GPA's under 2.99 who got into Michigan/Georgetown/Penn.
Well to be fair.. not this year with Penn but in previous years- YES!!
I think this 3.0 cutoff people are talking about is fucking ridiculous..

It isn't ridiculous, it's the truth. The only question is will schools round up to 3 from 2.94. A 2.95's snuck into UVA this year, and a 2.98 got into Mich, but that person worked for ten years.

One person from Penn got in with a 2.9 last year, but they had an Ivy League degree in Chemical engineering and applied ED.

Georgetown has slowly been taking less sub 3's, but they are a lot more lientent for part time. Dh20Man got in via the waitlist, but he ED'd part time.

Northwestern is the school who consistently takes sub 3.0 gpa. Three already and they haven't even gone to their waitlist, where they get almost all their sub 3.0's.

Penn, Mich, Uva, and Northwestern are peer schools in job placement. I think its a blunder to risk EDing at MVP, when NU has much better shot at working.

[09042014]

Reported on LSN, with LSAT 175+, GPA under 2.99....

No Acceptances: Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, NYU, UChicago, UMichigan, UPenn, Stanford, Yale

Accepted - Northwestern: LazySplitter 176, 2.8

UVA: BigDaddyMatty URM, NT 180, 2.95

FWIW, LazySplitter posted on here, and he ED'd.

2.1/171 No mistake
2.7/172
2.8/176

All got in via ED.

[D. H2Oman]

There were some sub 175's with GPA's under 2.99 who got into Michigan/Georgetown/Penn.
Well to be fair.. not this year with Penn but in previous years- YES!!
I think this 3.0 cutoff people are talking about is fucking ridiculous..

It isn't ridiculous, it's the truth. The only question is will schools round up to 3 from 2.94. A 2.95's snuck into UVA this year, and a 2.98 got into Mich, but that person worked for ten years.

One person from Penn got in with a 2.9 last year, but they had an Ivy League degree in Chemical engineering and applied ED.

Georgetown has slowly been taking less sub 3's, but they are a lot more lientent for part time. Dh20Man got in via the waitlist, but he ED'd part time.

Northwestern is the school who consistently takes sub 3.0 gpa. Three already and they haven't even gone to their waitlist, where they get almost all their sub 3.0's.

Penn, Mich, Uva, and Northwestern are peer schools in job placement. I think its a blunder to risk EDing at MVP, when NU has much better shot at working.

+1, it's not ridiculous at all. Dr. Stranglove has been told this 100 times already but he's desperately looking for a reason not to believe it. (Unless you're URM or Instate at UVA) Ed to the MVP would be an epic blunder. There is no margin for error when you're <3.0 because you also aren't getting into Vandy, UCLA, Texas, or USC either. So if you can't swing NU or GULC you'll be enjoying WUSTL, UMN, or UIUC with a moderate scholarship.

[Encyclopedia Brown]

+1, it's not ridiculous at all. Dr. Stranglove has been told this 100 times already but he's desperately looking for a reason not to believe it. (Unless you're URM or Instate at UVA) Ed to the MVP would be an epic blunder. There is no margin for error when you're <3.0 because you also aren't getting into Vandy, UCLA, Texas, or USC either. So if you can't swing NU or GULC you'll be enjoying WUSTL, UMN, or UIUC with a moderate scholarship.

An initial ED to UVA couldn't hurt, though, right? Assuming they continue their two-week-notification promise? I ask not only for this discussion but for myself, since this is what I'm thinking about doing next cycle if I have to.

[D. H2Oman]

+1, it's not ridiculous at all. Dr. Stranglove has been told this 100 times already but he's desperately looking for a reason not to believe it. (Unless you're URM or Instate at UVA) Ed to the MVP would be an epic blunder. There is no margin for error when you're <3.0 because you also aren't getting into Vandy, UCLA, Texas, or USC either. So if you can't swing NU or GULC you'll be enjoying WUSTL, UMN, or UIUC with a moderate scholarship.

An initial ED to UVA couldn't hurt, though, right? Assuming they continue their two-week-notification promise? I ask not only for this discussion but for myself, since this is what I'm thinking about doing next cycle if I have to.

No that's definitely a good idea. ED at UVA as soon as their application comes out.

Official super splitter playbook. (they should sticky this)

1. ED UVA
2. ED NU
3. ED GULC
4. Switch GULC app to PT
5. Deposit at WUSTL

[Encyclopedia Brown]

Official super splitter playbook. (they should sticky this)

1. ED UVA
2. ED NU
3. ED GULC
4. Switch GULC app to PT
5. Deposit at WUSTL

They really should preserve this for posterity. I'll make sure to tell all the new splitters about it (right after they let me in at UVA; I better play the odds).

[Dr. Strangelove]

Meh.. I hope to either..
1.) Prove people wrong next year
OR
2.) Get off a waitlist whenever I get my GPA up to 3.0- which could likely be by December.
That's the only thing that's saving me right now- one more year of undergrad...

However, I still believe that a sub 3.0 with something excellent to back him/her up (such as a perfect LSAT) still has a chance of getting in- it's just that there is the possibility the applicant might not get in of course...
But I agree with most people.. if you want to maximize your chances of getting into a T14, Northwestern is the way to go!

Also your personal statement will really matter in your case- you want to do everything you can to get law schools more eager to admit you.

[romothesavior]

+1, it's not ridiculous at all. Dr. Stranglove has been told this 100 times already but he's desperately looking for a reason not to believe it. (Unless you're URM or Instate at UVA) Ed to the MVP would be an epic blunder. There is no margin for error when you're <3.0 because you also aren't getting into Vandy, UCLA, Texas, or USC either. So if you can't swing NU or GULC you'll be enjoying WUSTL, UMN, or UIUC with a moderate scholarship.

An initial ED to UVA couldn't hurt, though, right? Assuming they continue their two-week-notification promise? I ask not only for this discussion but for myself, since this is what I'm thinking about doing next cycle if I have to.

No that's definitely a good idea. ED at UVA as soon as their application comes out.

Official super splitter playbook. (they should sticky this)

1. ED UVA
2. ED NU
3. ED GULC
4. Switch GULC app to PT
5. Deposit at WUSTL

The only problem with this is that I've heard like 4-5 posters say that once you ED somewhere else, you cannot ED to NU. And once you ED to NU, you cannot ED elsewhere. That's the way they've written their ED contract. I've read it myself and the way it is written seems to restrict you to only EDing to NU, no matter if you get rejected and still have time to ED elsewhere or not. Another poster said they called NU to verify this and they told him that this was correct.

[Encyclopedia Brown]

+1, it's not ridiculous at all. Dr. Stranglove has been told this 100 times already but he's desperately looking for a reason not to believe it. (Unless you're URM or Instate at UVA) Ed to the MVP would be an epic blunder. There is no margin for error when you're <3.0 because you also aren't getting into Vandy, UCLA, Texas, or USC either. So if you can't swing NU or GULC you'll be enjoying WUSTL, UMN, or UIUC with a moderate scholarship.

An initial ED to UVA couldn't hurt, though, right? Assuming they continue their two-week-notification promise? I ask not only for this discussion but for myself, since this is what I'm thinking about doing next cycle if I have to.

No that's definitely a good idea. ED at UVA as soon as their application comes out.

Official super splitter playbook. (they should sticky this)

1. ED UVA
2. ED NU
3. ED GULC
4. Switch GULC app to PT
5. Deposit at WUSTL

The only problem with this is that I've heard like 4-5 posters say that once you ED somewhere else, you cannot ED to NU. And once you ED to NU, you cannot ED elsewhere. That's the way they've written their ED contract. I've read it myself and the way it is written seems to restrict you to only EDing to NU, no matter if you get rejected and still have time to ED elsewhere or not. Another poster said they called NU to verify this and they told him that this was correct.

Oh crap really? Well that's a major hitch in this plan, you're right. I will definitely find this out before attempting step 2.

[09042014]

Meh.. I hope to either..
1.) Prove people wrong next year
OR
2.) Get off a waitlist whenever I get my GPA up to 3.0- which could likely be by December.
That's the only thing that's saving me right now- one more year of undergrad...

However, I still believe that a sub 3.0 with something excellent to back him/her up (such as a perfect LSAT) still has a chance of getting in- it's just that there is the possibility the applicant might not get in of course...
But I agree with most people.. if you want to maximize your chances of getting into a T14, Northwestern is the way to go!

Also your personal statement will really matter in your case- you want to do everything you can to get law schools more eager to admit you.

And me and waterman will be here to congratulate you on Minnesota.

[Encyclopedia Brown]

And me and waterman will be here to congratulate you on Minnesota.

Well when you say it like that, it's almost sounds like you don't want him to succeed...

[09042014]

And me and waterman will be here to congratulate you on Minnesota.

Well when you say it like that, it's almost sounds like you don't want him to succeed...

His loss is your gain. If you don't get off a WL this year you are his numbers twin.

[blsingindisguise]

Unless your drinking problem was of the level that you had to go to AA or rehab, and/or your depression was bad enough to warrant hospitalization or HEAVY medication, I would not write the addendum. However, I don't think it's going to matter much either way. Schools don't seem to care much about upward trends and seem to give slack only for extraordinary excuses (e.g. severe debilitating illness).

[Encyclopedia Brown]

And me and waterman will be here to congratulate you on Minnesota.

Well when you say it like that, it's almost sounds like you don't want him to succeed...

His loss is your gain. If you don't get off a WL this year you are his numbers twin.

Did he take the LSAT already?

[ncct07]

180, first time out of the gate.

[Encyclopedia Brown]

DF, since you signed one: Do you know if Northwestern's ED contract precludes you from EDing at other schools before or afterward (ala the UVA-double dip)?

[Encyclopedia Brown]

DF, since you signed one: Do you know if Northwestern's ED contract precludes you from EDing at other schools before or afterward (ala the UVA-double dip)?

Nevermind, I found out that it does preclude you. Here's the link if anyone else wants to read it:

http://www.law.northwestern.edu/admissi ... cision.pdf