164 / 3.0 - Pacific Northwest schools Forum

[Adjudicator]

I actually have a special sort of "Why X School" type of addendum prepared for UW, because in fact, I do have very real reasons for wanting to go there besides just the pure academics. My family has deep roots in the legal community in western Washington going back over 100 years, and I declared my intention to make Washington my permanent residence after school and be an active part of the community.

Will they care? I don't know. But what have I got to lose?

[Adjudicator]

I'm retaking the LSAT... would anyone like to venture a guess as to what number I need to hit in order to get in at UW, assuming they like the rest of my app?

I'm confident that I can hit somewhere in the 170s this time.

[3ThrowAway99]

Hate to say it, but in doing a little more research it doesn't look good for you even with a low 170s retake... The fact that you are in-state could help, but UW seems to really like strong GPA. In reviewing stats posted on TLS for UW there was no one listed who had around a 3.0 GPA and was accepted. There was one person who had a 171/3.2- they were waitlisted then rejected. TLS is a fairly limited sample though, but I still think that with your GPA UW may not be 'in the cards'. Worth a try though if that's where you really want to go IMO. Also, I think if somehow you could hit 174+ that might change the scenario.

EDIT: Normally for a peer school (or numerous higher ranked schools than UW for that matter) I wouldn't be this grim, but the fact is that certain schools have pet profiles they look for in applicants, and with UW I don't get the impression they are splitter friendly.

The good news: If you can hit 170+ you will have some really good schools to choose from with your 3.0 (including schools ranked higher than UW most likely), even if UW isn't one of them.

[Adjudicator]

Worth a try though if that's where you really want to go IMO. Also, I think if somehow you could hit 175+ that might change the scenario.

Thanks. Well, I'm going to give it my best shot.

[3ThrowAway99]

Yeah good luck on the retake- I definitely hope it works out well! Even as things stand you should at least have some options. Maybe check Law School Numbers to to see admittance trends at UW over the past few years- you may find that there are 3.0 GPA applicants being accepted regularly around a certain LSAT level (and it may not take as high an LSAT as I think it could). I edited my post down to 174, but obviously it's all speculation anyway. Most people will probably think it won't take that high of a score, but that may be due to ignoring an apparent UW GPA bias. It is even possible you will find they rejected 180 candidates who didn't meet a certain GPA threshold, though I think that's unlikely.

[BigA]

My practice tests were always in the high 170s.

Had to do a double take when I read this. You're even asking if you should retake?

Also if you got the LSAT you need, would you really go there over higher-ranked schools that are halfway splitter friendly?

[Adjudicator]

UW actually has a helpful chart on their "Admissions Statistics" page:
http://www.law.washington.edu/Admission ... stics.aspx

In fact, last year 6 people were admitted who were in the range of 3.00-3.24 GPA and 160-164 LSAT, which are the ranges I am currently in. However, those people may have been URM or had amazing applications.

Interestingly, 5 people were even admitted in the range of 2.5-2.74 GPA, and they didn't even all beat my current LSAT score. If there is a hard floor, it seems to be below 2.5.

In my GPA range, applicants in the LSAT range of 170-174 were 8/20, but in the range of 175-180 were 2/2.

I guess it means that I should do the best I can and just see what happens.

I just need to master the logic games section... I tend to miss only about 2 in each other section, so if I can ace the logic games, I would have a chance. On my previous LSAT I failed to even complete that section.

edit: I appreciate the people in this forum for being relatively encouraging. I don't know of any other forum like this one.

[Adjudicator]

Also if you got the LSAT you need, would you really go there over higher-ranked schools that are halfway splitter friendly?

lol... I don't know. Lawschoolpredictor says that if I manage a 175, I would be in at Cornell. I don't know if I believe it, though.

[aPosseAdEsse]

Also if you got the LSAT you need, would you really go there over higher-ranked schools that are halfway splitter friendly?

lol... I don't know. Lawschoolpredictor says that if I manage a 175, I would be in at Cornell. I don't know if I believe it, though.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... it=seattle

[Adjudicator]

Also if you got the LSAT you need, would you really go there over higher-ranked schools that are halfway splitter friendly?

lol... I don't know. Lawschoolpredictor says that if I manage a 175, I would be in at Cornell. I don't know if I believe it, though.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... it=seattle

Thanks for that link, it was very relevant and quite interesting. Gives me a lot to think about.

[superflush]

University of Washington - Out
Seattle University - you should be fine, but I don't know for sure.
Lewis & Clark - Same, you should probably be in, but it isn't a sure thing.
University of Oregon - In

Unfortunately, I don't think you have a shot at UW unless you seriously up your LSAT score. 169/170+

University of Oregon might be a good situation if you're into living in Oregon to work. Their building is very nice and the campus is nice as well.

[superflush]

The good news: If you can hit 170+ you will have some really good schools to choose from with your 3.0 (including schools ranked higher than UW most likely), even if UW isn't one of them.

This is also true. If you manage to get 170+, you're going to be much better off for UW, but not a sure thing either. UW doesn't like low GPAs.
But with a 170+ & 3.0, you would open yourself up to schools that are more splitter-friendly.

[Adjudicator]

How does retaking the LSAT work when you have already submitted your applications? Do all of the schools get some kind of an update as soon as my new score goes live, or do I have to contact them myself?

If I take the Dec. 11 LSAT, my score should come back just in time for UW to start reviewing applications on Jan. 1.

[BigA]

Also if you got the LSAT you need, would you really go there over higher-ranked schools that are halfway splitter friendly?

lol... I don't know. Lawschoolpredictor says that if I manage a 175, I would be in at Cornell. I don't know if I believe it, though.

Eh, with your GPA and a high LSAT I wouldn't even pay any mind to LSP. But if you get a 170+ you should be able to get into Northwestern at least, maybe UVA.

[secretasianman]

I'm actually going to be at SU this fall. My roommate had a low 3 GPA and a 159 lsat and got into SU so you should be fine there. It seems like it enjoys a reputation of being a solid and respectable regional school, with UW dominating like ppl have mentioned. But, I doubt the employment situation is as horrible as some make it out to be coming out of SU. I know of someone who graduated from SU a few years ago and managed to find a job in AZ. But, if you want big law, UW is where you want to be - and even then only approx 18% of grads get those jobs. I imagine SU's to be a lot worse but thats not to say they can't find jobs that pay 75k - 6 figures.

[sherpaorlawschool]

Also if you got the LSAT you need, would you really go there over higher-ranked schools that are halfway splitter friendly?

lol... I don't know. Lawschoolpredictor says that if I manage a 175, I would be in at Cornell. I don't know if I believe it, though.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... it=seattle

Thanks for that link, it was very relevant and quite interesting. Gives me a lot to think about.

I thought I would chime in since I noticed my topic was put into this thread. Thought it was cool that somebody thought it useful.

Anyways, I've been doing a lot of research on the Seattle market and have had several discussions including one with a hiring attorney for one of the major firms in Seattle and a professor at the law school. If the discussion were only about the first four schools mentioned UW is definitely the cream of the crop for the NW. However, I have found that the top 18 percent thing mentioned elsewhere in this topic definitely holds for UW grads. If you want to work at a big firm in Seattle you have to be at the top of your class. In contrast, if you go to a higher ranked school (t-14) you can be lower in your class and still get the same job. If you go through and look at lawyer profiles from UW at the top firms that were hired in the past decade you will notice that many of them have academic honors. On the other hand, if you look at MVP grads you will see that fewer of them have honors of any kind or they have less honors which likely means they are lower in their class. Another interesting trend I have noticed is that there seem to be fewer UW grads hired recently in the top firms. They show huge numbers of alumni but very few were hired in the last few years.

The consensus I have gotten is to go as high as I can in terms of rankings and then go from there. The law firms in Seattle like to see ties but they also like prestige. If you can convince them that you will stay in Seattle and aren't using it as a backup option for one of the major markets then you are going to have some good options at some good firms. Of course, this all depends on whether one is interested in Seattle big law. So it may not apply in this case but I thought it at least worth considering.