3.77/173 Forum

[steph146]

Hello! I'm in the middle of putting my applications together for this cycle (I hope to have everything submitted over the weekend) and I was curious about what people thought of my chances at the following schools:

Yale
Harvard
Columbia
NYU
Virginia
Georgetown (PT if I choose to go here as I would prefer to maintain my current job while in school, taking a LOA for summer internships, if I stayed in DC)

GPA
3.77 Computer Science (Top 50 Public University)

LSAT
173 (12/2009 administration, only one reportable LSAT score)

Relevant soft factors:
MS in Software Engineering
5 years (and counting) work experience for a DC-area defense contractor
Some varied volunteer work, studied abroad in undergrad for 1 semester.

The calculator(s) have me at low odds (15-30%) for Yale, 40-45% for Harvard and a good to excellent chance everywhere else I'm applying. I'm more curious if anyone has any ideas on how my soft factors/the fact that I'm applying relatively late/the large number of applicants this cycle might affect my chances.

Thanks everyone!

[bloodonthetracks]

you have a good chance anywhere

[LM2014]

Very nice numbers! I envy your gpa and wish I would of worked that hard. Good Luck, and I think you have an all right chance at YHS and a very strong case at the other schools.

[babaghanouj]

Yale - out
Harvard - WL/out
Columbia - In
NYU - In
Virginia - In (assuming you avoid YP)
Georgetown - In

[democrattotheend]

Why is Stanford not on your list? Are you looking to stay on the East Coast? Otherwise, Stanford should definitely be on your list, because they seem to give a bit of a boost to people with science/engineering degrees. I don't know that for a fact, but browsing LSN, it seems that most of the people who got into Stanford with #'s like mine (which are very similar to yours, with a slightly higher GPA) had engineering or science degrees.

No matter where you apply, get your apps in ASAP. I finished applying everywhere except Yale yesterday and am worried that I applied too late. You don't want to lose out with good numbers because you applied too late.

[steph146]

I'm looking to stay on the East Coast over the long-term and would prefer placement in a DC or NYC firm after graduating from school -- that said the $100 is worth the application to Stanford, as it's obviously an incredible school. The reason I didn't consider them in my initial list was actually a strong doubt that I would be competitive for admission there given their seeming preference on high GPA and their application explicitly stating they strongly prefer academic LORs (which none of mine are as I've been out of undergrad for 7 years and grad school for 5.)

Thanks for the replies/encouragement everyone!

[jawsthegreat]

Why would you leave your seemingly awesome job to become a lawyer?

[scribelaw]

We are very similar candidates...I have a 3.73/173 with similar length of work experience.

Your GPA is obviously low for HYS, but your WE will at least prompt them to give you a look, I bet.

Good luck on your cycle!

[lakerfanimal]

I'm looking to stay on the East Coast over the long-term and would prefer placement in a DC or NYC firm after graduating from school -- that said the $100 is worth the application to Stanford, as it's obviously an incredible school. The reason I didn't consider them in my initial list was actually a strong doubt that I would be competitive for admission there given their seeming preference on high GPA and their application explicitly stating they strongly prefer academic LORs (which none of mine are as I've been out of undergrad for 7 years and grad school for 5.)

Thanks for the replies/encouragement everyone!

This is just me guessing based off of what I've heard, but I feel like your GPA might not be as bad for Stanford because of your major. If you were a social science major like most of us and got that GPA then it might be considered low, but who knows Stanford might give you a little boost given your major.

[Sourpunch]

You will get into all of them, and the only wild card is Harvard. Yale is probably out but I think you have a great chance at Harvard.

[babaghanouj]

You will get into all of them, and the only wild card is Harvard. Yale is probably out but I think you have a great chance at Harvard.

I do not understand how those sentences exist in the same post.

[DoubleChecks]

You will get into all of them, and the only wild card is Harvard. Yale is probably out but I think you have a great chance at Harvard.

I do not understand how those sentences exist in the same post.

i lol'd

[capitalacq]

Yale- Out
Harvard- Out
Columbia- In
NYU- In
Virginia- should be In, but who knows how their new ED deadline will affect RD admits
Georgetown (PT if I choose to go here as I would prefer to maintain my current job while in school, taking a LOA for summer internships, if I stayed in DC)- In

[bighead715]

You will get into all of them, and the only wild card is Harvard. Yale is probably out but I think you have a great chance at Harvard.

I do not understand how those sentences exist in the same post.

i lol'd

i lmao'd