University Lecturer applying to law school... With low GPA Forum

[RamTitan]

Does anyone else find OP's motivation for going to law school suspect? I feel like wanting to go to law school because it's an "easier" and more lucrative path to becoming a professor is akin to the often ridiculed notion of wanting to go to law school to make big bucks in general.

[Lexaholik]

BA from unknown private school (history & philosophy): 3.17 GPA

I can't speak to whether going to law school makes sense for you or not. But if you are going to apply, absolutely make sure you explain that GPA. Schools are going to wonder why someone with a 179 struggled to do well in college. It's not really fair given what you've accomplished in grad school since then. But it is what it is.

That's not to say that a lower T14 won't accept you. They will (based on the data). I wonder though how much mileage you'll get out of attending a Biglaw-factory type T14 (e.g. Northwestern) as opposed to a clerkship/academia type T14 (e.g. U of C).

How you prepare your application matters A LOT as a splitter. As others have said:

This doesn't mean that how you sell yourself in the application doesn't matter - it especially matters for splitters.

Make sure you present yourself in your applications in a way that captures the full breadth of your accomplishments and I think you'll be fine.

So create a coherent narrative for your application. Maybe you were immature in college. Maybe you went through a life-changing tragedy. Whatever it is, explain it in your GPA addendum. And have recommenders (perhaps from grad school where you did well) write you outstanding recs that explain your academic prowess.

Some of this will come through just based on the fact that you have teaching credentials. Your softs can help repair a bad GPA but only if you spin it right. Addenda and optional essays are your friends. Be careful with what you write though, because if you're too honest they'll react the same way many in this thread have.

In the end, admissions officers will probably spend 30 seconds on an initial pass of your application, so your "story" (reason for law school, why 3.17 GPA) has to be obvious.

Good luck, you're in an envious position regardless.

[bretby]

It sounds like you should be going for a PhD, not a JD. Why would you give up an academic career to go back to square 1 to try to pursue an academic career?

T-14 JD has better fallback options than a philosophy PhD; it's way easier to get into a top law school than it is to get into a good Ph.D program; it will almost certainly take OP fewer years to get his JD than his PhD; and law profs get paid moar.

This is 100% my thinking. Not too many JDs graduate with teaching experience or a desire to teach. I'll have several degrees and lots of teaching experience when done; law profs make more; I'll have a lot more to fall back on; it should be easier to get into a top school; and it would be quicker.

If you are set on legal academia, you will either need to go to Yale or get a PhD first and go to Harvard. I exaggerate, but only slightly. While picking up several masters degrees might be personally fulfilling, it doesn't come close to getting the PhD in terms of training and prestige. You will be in the same boat as other than other non-PhD Yale grads with some degree of work experience who want to go into academia. It's not impossible, but it is very much a long shot.