3.1 / 156 / Great Softs Forum

[BigZuck]

Ultimately it's going to come down to how well you use your essay to talk up your softs...I think you have a great shot at UF if you can write a convincing essay.

What are you basing this on?

[billybevans]

Ultimately it's going to come down to how well you use your essay to talk up your softs...I think you have a great shot at UF if you can write a convincing essay.

What are you basing this on?

Empirical and anecdotal evidence...If his softs are as good as he says, then it's doable. Every school takes some people whose numbers are too low to get in. If you're confident that your softs are that much better than others, then you have a good shot to be one of those people. His numbers aren't so far out of the range that they would disqualify him.

[BigZuck]

Ultimately it's going to come down to how well you use your essay to talk up your softs...I think you have a great shot at UF if you can write a convincing essay.

What are you basing this on?

Empirical and anecdotal evidence...If his softs are as good as he says, then it's doable. Every school takes some people whose numbers are too low to get in. If you're confident that your softs are that much better than others, then you have a good shot to be one of those people. His numbers aren't so far out of the range that they would disqualify him.

What empirical and anecdotal evidence?

[NorCalOldGuy]

Well, I've already gotten in 2 schools in the top 50 with my gpa and lsat both in the bottom 25%. So I guess my softs are pretty good?

[BigZuck]

Almost a year later and Top 50 is still a meaningless distinction.

[pancakes3]

lol, no? 25% of students at every given school have stats in the bottom 25%.

the only thing your admissions means is that you'll be paying full tuition and subsidizing the cost of attendance of people with better stats than yours.

[ManoftheHour]

I do have a family so would like a school without super high costs of living (ie not SF or NYC...)

employment prospects for me arent a huge concern, even if my degree is from a "random" school, whatever that means.:

Just go to any school that's accredited and you should be fine. If you already have the employment part figured out (if you don't, as others have said, "retake" is by far the best option), the school you go to does not matter. If I were you, I would go to any accredited school that would not disrupt my working/family life + the cheapest option.

Rankings outside the top 14 are pretty irrelevant so I would not worry about that. Only thing that matters is employment prospects.

[haus]

As anecdotal evidence, I am a fellow old (I was ~42 during my application cycle a few years back). My numbers were a touch higher, although I was applying to only a limited number of schools (part-time programs only, for schools that were viable commute from my current home/job). My background, former military, a masters degree, a well established career in information security, some nice letters of recommendation.

When the dust settled, my results were darn close to what one would have expected from my uGPA and LSAT. Although a few schools that did let me in seemed to be a bit more generous with $ than I would have predicted from my #s.

Good luck with your cycle.

[KPUSN07]

Well, I've already gotten in 2 schools in the top 50 with my gpa and lsat both in the bottom 25%. So I guess my softs are pretty good?

Curious which ones, if you don't 'mind me asking

[NorCalOldGuy]

lol, no? 25% of students at every given school have stats in the bottom 25%.

the only thing your admissions means is that you'll be paying full tuition and subsidizing the cost of attendance of people with better stats than yours.

lol. uh, no. 25% of every school does not have both an LSAT and GPA In the bottom 25%. I would not want you to be my lawyer, lol.

[pancakes3]

Bro, you're pushing 40. Set the snark aside and take in the real message of my post. Even if you did get into a "T50," you're going to paying hundreds of thousands of dollars so others don't have to. So, good job playing gotcha-games on anonymous internet posts - that's a huge win for you. Rolling the dice on your family's financial stability is not a win.

[NorCalOldGuy]

Bro, you're pushing 40. Set the snark aside and take in the real message of my post. Even if you did get into a "T50," you're going to paying hundreds of thousands of dollars so others don't have to. So, good job playing gotcha-games on anonymous internet posts - that's a huge win for you. Rolling the dice on your family's financial stability is not a win.

ok, but your knowledge of my family's financial situation is a not a win for you. take your preaching to the financial aid forums, you really have no idea about the subject (admissions) of this thread, nor my financial situation, which is completely comfortable and not really significantly impacted by law school tuition or costs. hell, leaving an expensive area to live, to go to school will probably save me a crapload of money in terms of entertainment, restaurants, nannies, cleaning people, etc. ive paid more in taxes in the last few years than many of you have made in your lives.

the thing is, t2 and t3 schools are obviously throwing big scholarships at me, but as I've said, the money is not my concern, and my situation is very, very different from most of you people.

[NorCalOldGuy]

ps-- glad this thread exists for future applicants like myself. as seen above, the average TLS posters here simply arent very good at helping to predict how a cycle will go. I did receive a couple PM's that were spot on, that correctly predicted that i would greatly outperform my numbers.

[cavalier1138]

ps-- glad this thread exists for future applicants like myself. as seen above, the average TLS posters here simply arent very good at helping to predict how a cycle will go. I did receive a couple PM's that were spot on, that correctly predicted that i would greatly outperform my numbers.

Just FYi, sport: most of the posters that you're demeaning either went to much, much better schools than you're targeting or didn't pay a cent for their regional school degree.

You've beaten your numbers and gotten an unusual result. If that were easy to predict, then there would be no point in having this forum, because it wouldn't be speculation. The advice you got (and have gotten since your smug little tirade against the forces of statistics) was all on-point, and despite your better-than-expected results, you don't have a lot to brag about. You're going to get to go to a decent school at an exorbitant price. Mazel tov.

[Justtrying2help]

Lol op brags about big scholarships at T2 and T3's but doesn't likely realize that those scholarships mostly have unreasonable gpa stipulations and are section stacked.

Congrats on getting into your goal school though. It will be interesting to see how you perform against the young inexperienced kids with better stats. You sound like you intend to kick butt and not eat crow. People here gave you some solid situational advice. But the beauty of being an adult is the ability to take ownership of your life and decisions.

[pancakes3]

Bro, you're pushing 40. Set the snark aside and take in the real message of my post. Even if you did get into a "T50," you're going to paying hundreds of thousands of dollars so others don't have to. So, good job playing gotcha-games on anonymous internet posts - that's a huge win for you. Rolling the dice on your family's financial stability is not a win.

ok, but your knowledge of my family's financial situation is a not a win for you. take your preaching to the financial aid forums, you really have no idea about the subject (admissions) of this thread, nor my financial situation, which is completely comfortable and not really significantly impacted by law school tuition or costs. hell, leaving an expensive area to live, to go to school will probably save me a crapload of money in terms of entertainment, restaurants, nannies, cleaning people, etc. ive paid more in taxes in the last few years than many of you have made in your lives.

the thing is, t2 and t3 schools are obviously throwing big scholarships at me, but as I've said, the money is not my concern, and my situation is very, very different from most of you people.

I don't have to know the specifics of your family's financial situation to know that you're either stupid or lying.

UF's Median/25th splits are 3.5/157; 3.28/155. Miami's are 3.36/157; 3.15/154

Plus both schools' admissions standards have declined steadily in the past couple years so you very well may be above UM's 25th splits this year.

Your 3.1/156 for their classes of ~300 isn't shocking and I wouldn't say "outperformed" to the point where you can confidently say that your softs are what separated you from the pack. Even if it did give you a marginal bump it's nowhere near the bump that even a single point increase on the LSAT would have given you.

And if we do take your financial situation at face value, you have enough money lying around where your wife's employment prospects can survive a cross-country move, you don't have to worry about income at all, and you're comfortable losing $50,000 worth of disposable income a year without batting an eye. That would make you a literal multi-millionaire. So why not quit your job and be a housedad and study for the LSAT for a year? 3.1/176 with work experience makes you viable for Northwestern.

[Whatsthisguysdeal]

Go home

[NorCalOldGuy]

Well, the haters above have officially been proven wrong-- I've accepted a lucrative associate attorney offer a boutique litigation powerhouse in my goal city...

[cavalier1138]

Well, the haters above have officially been proven wrong-- I've accepted a lucrative associate attorney offer a boutique litigation powerhouse in my goal city...

It's super-weird that you're claiming to be old and simultaneously saying stupid shit like "the haters have been proven wrong." Congratulations on bucking the odds, but grow the fuck up.

P.S. Enjoy your debt, and pour one out for your classmates who weren't so lucky.

[namefromplace]

Well, the haters above have officially been proven wrong-- I've accepted a lucrative associate attorney offer a boutique litigation powerhouse in my goal city...

Oh wow, your wealthy uncle helped you get a job in Idaho!