What are my odds? Forum

[rui]

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[irishSox77]

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[wardboro]

Apply at all of them. Get into most of them.

[Maj. Kong]

please advise: 3.54 GPA, 165 LSAT (diagnostic), philosophy major, not URM, great LoR's, and some very good soft's. Im reaching for T14. Id like Columbia or NYU but I know its a stretch. Any chance at Cornell, UVA, Penn or GULC?

Keep in mind that I will be taking the Oct. 4th LSAT, and this summer I will be spending much time studying and taking practice tests. Shooting for a 170+

[YoungFogey]

please advise: 3.54 GPA, 165 LSAT (diagnostic), philosophy major, not URM, great LoR's including Columbia prof, and some very good soft's. Im reaching for Cornell, Columbia, NYU UVA or GULC. Any chance?

It entirely depends on what you do with your LSAT. Less than 169, I'd say you have no chance. With a 169 I think you have a shot at Cornell. To get into the others, I'd say 172+

[Maj. Kong]

please advise: 3.54 GPA, 165 LSAT (diagnostic), philosophy major, not URM, great LoR's including Columbia prof, and some very good soft's. Im reaching for Cornell, Columbia, NYU UVA or GULC. Any chance?

It entirely depends on what you do with your LSAT. Less than 169, I'd say you have no chance. With a 169 I think you have a shot at Cornell. To get into the others, I'd say 172+

Thanks fogey, my GPA will likely be higher when I apply in December. Hopefully that will improve my chances. Cornell is my first choice, I like Columbia and NYU but Im a poor white boy who can't afford the city. Ithaca would be preferable to my pocketbook and my study habits.

[waywedo]

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[waywedo]

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[stuffedburrito]

one more relevant factor that might help: wrote an indepedent study in constitutional law and presented it at a national conference, and serve as a teaching assistant for con law at my school.

With your LSAT + GPA + Extracurriculars, you have a chance at virtually every school in the country. Just make sure you write an excellent PS and get your applications in as early as possible, and you will be one of the most competitive students even at the best schools. Good job, waywedo!

[waywedo]

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[LoseItToMe]

i agree with burrito, waywedo.


now that you're here, a vote of "yes" is a vote for TLS http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 10&t=33043

[YoungFogey]

thank you for the input (chipotle?) burrito. i guess what i'm most concerned about is the early college GPA, i took a pretty small number of hours there total (about 35) but my GPA there is probably in the high 2's.......my 3.91 is for about 75 hrs of credit at my second school. i'm just starting the process and a learning about the LSDAS and all that, so my concern is that the grades from my first school will drag that down to where i'm no longer competitive. thanks again!

It's a valid concern. You need to calculate your LSDAS GPA and see what the real number is. To do this, you need to use the LSDAS conversion scale (it's in one of their booklets -- A+ = 4.3, A =4.0, A- = 3.6 or something to that effect). You multiply the numeric grade for the course by the number of credits the course was worth. Then you total up that product and divide it by the total number of credit hours you took at both schools. That is the number you need to work with.

However with a 174, even if your GPA dropped quite a bit, you should be competitive for at least the bottom of the T14 and could put together an application package that would give you a good shot at the rest as well.

[stuffedburrito]

thank you for the input (chipotle?) burrito. i guess what i'm most concerned about is the early college GPA, i took a pretty small number of hours there total (about 35) but my GPA there is probably in the high 2's.......my 3.91 is for about 75 hrs of credit at my second school. i'm just starting the process and a learning about the LSDAS and all that, so my concern is that the grades from my first school will drag that down to where i'm no longer competitive. thanks again!

I don't think you should worry about trying to calculate your LSAC GPA. Worse case scenario, your GPA will drop to about a 3.7, which is still very high. You have a good chance at NU, given your work experience. Have you started on your PS? It's never too early to begin.

[waywedo]

Thanks for the further input. I am just starting on that PS now with the hope of having it really refined by the end of August. I calculated my GPA and while I'm waiting on a transcript from my first school to confirm, I think it will end up being right around a 3.5. So I'm just going to have to focus very hard on the PS. Do you think its wise to include an addendum explaining my intial poor performance?

[stuffedburrito]

Do you think its wise to include an addendum explaining my intial poor performance?

If you have a solid reason for your lackluster performance during your first year of college, then definitely write an addendum. However, do not give a reason that will likely hurt you - partying too much, taking drugs, etc. If nothing significant occurred, then just leave it as is. Law schools will understand that you might have a tough time adapting to the nature of college during your first year, and see that you have grown considerably afterwards.

[wwarren]

I am a Junior at a small liberal arts college in Georgia, we have a good reputation in the area but virtually unknown outside of the GA,TN,AL area. I'm a history major, philosophy minor and have a 3.45 GPA and 3.75 in history. I have been consistently scoring in the low 160s (161-163) on practice LSATs and I will be taking the June LSAT.

The schools that I would like to know about are -

Emory
College of William and Mary
University of Georgia
University of Alabama
University of North Carolina
Wake Forest
Tulane

Once I take the LSAT and receive my scores the list will expand to include more schools, but that's basically the range that I would like to know about. Thanks in advance to everyone for their help.

[waywedo]

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[wwarren]

While I don't know my LSDAS GPA I think it will be the same because I have only attended one college and have never withdrawn, failed, or retaken any classes.

I'm taking a prep course with Kaplan currently and it has helped me dramatically, I never miss more than 5 questions in a section anymore and just hope that this trend continues on to the real test.

Another thing that I forgot to include that may have some weight is that I started college courses at the age of 16 and started college full time a year early when I was 17.

[whenpigsfly]

I am a Junior at a small liberal arts college in Georgia, we have a good reputation in the area but virtually unknown outside of the GA,TN,AL area. I'm a history major, philosophy minor and have a 3.45 GPA and 3.75 in history. I have been consistently scoring in the low 160s (161-163) on practice LSATs and I will be taking the June LSAT.

The schools that I would like to know about are -

Emory
College of William and Mary
University of Georgia
University of Alabama
University of North Carolina
Wake Forest
Tulane

Once I take the LSAT and receive my scores the list will expand to include more schools, but that's basically the range that I would like to know about. Thanks in advance to everyone for their help.

I have stats that are very similar to the ones you are projecting (3.52/160) and was waitlisted at William and Mary, UNC, and Wake, and was accepted off of Wake's WL. With a couple more points on the LSAT, I think you have a very good shot at many of the schools you are considering. Because you're a junior, I'd work to pull your GPA up over the 3.5 mark -- I had a 3.47 when I applied, but my fall grades from senior year pushed me over the 3.5 threshold. Just nail the LSAT, and you will be just fine. (Good luck!)

[hopeforthebest]

Hey guys, I've been a longtime reader of the TLS threads, but just now got an account. I wanted to pick your brains on my chances. (Be NICE, but truthful).

I take the LSAT Monday, and my practice test scores have been horrible (scoring an avg of 150, with 152 being the highest ). Assuming I score around there, do I have a shot at a top 100 school with a UGPA of 3.85 and an LSDAS GPA of about 3.7 from a Top 50 University, or am I totally kidding myself? I will more than likely retake the test in October, but I don't know how much higher I will be able to score, since it seems that no matter how much I study, my score doesn't seem to budge. I'm not used to studying extensively and not seeing the results I want, so this LSAT prep has kind of taken a toll on my self-confidence.

Btw, I'm a non-URM.

[libertarian]

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[koggit]

Hey guys, I've been a longtime reader of the TLS threads, but just now got an account. I wanted to pick your brains on my chances. (Be NICE, but truthful).

I take the LSAT Monday, and my practice test scores have been horrible (scoring an avg of 150, with 152 being the highest ). Assuming I score around there, do I have a shot at a top 100 school with a UGPA of 3.85 and an LSDAS GPA of about 3.7 from a Top 50 University, or am I totally kidding myself? I will more than likely retake the test in October, but I don't know how much higher I will be able to score, since it seems that no matter how much I study, my score doesn't seem to budge. I'm not used to studying extensively and not seeing the results I want, so this LSAT prep has kind of taken a toll on my self-confidence.

Btw, I'm a non-URM.

Don't let your confidence dip. You're around the 50th percentile. You have to keep in mind, for every TLS superstar asking about getting into Yale with their 175, there's some poor law school hopeful staying silent about their 121 (175 is 99.7 percentile, 121 is 0.3). 150/152 means you're about average among those who've graduated from college (only 20% of America) and are pursuing a legal profession (the elite portion of that 20%). Stay proud.

I would expect that you can still get in to lower ranked schools due to your good GPA. There are many schools between rank 50 and rank 100 in which you are above their 75th in GPA and just below their 25th in LSAT. I'd say apply to any school 50-100 that you would like to attend. Despite the TLS focus on the T14, any school in the T100 will you give you a great education and a nice career.

I don't agree with libertarian that you should cancel. Chances are 150/152 is about your "true score", as LSAC puts it -- and by most standards that's quite respectable.

[CMary]

Hi everyone! Just thought I'd see if anyone'd be willing to offer some advice as to where I can reasonably start looking.

I'm a non-URM, attending a USNWR top 20 liberal arts school and majoring in economics. My undergrad GPA is 3.83, and my LSDAS recalculated GPA is 3.7. I've got a couple of pretty good summer internships under my belt, plus some scattered volunteer work. I'm heavily involved on campus, and I hold a handful of high-visibility leadership positions-- I've also got a few debate awards, including one tournament win.

The wild card, and the aspect of my application that I'm wondering about, is my LSAT. I recently took a cold diagnostic and got a score of 157-- I'm planning/hoping to spend my summer raising that to a 170+ (just waiting for Amazon to deliver my Powerscore bibles!) and I've always had a knack for standardized tests, so I'm really banking on pulling off at least a very high 160's with tons of study.

Any thoughts on where I can reasonably look to apply? So far I really like Michigan, GW, Berkeley, Georgetown, and Cornell-- with NYU, Columbia, and Stanford on the periphery as definite "(pretty much out of) reach" schools. Oh yeah, and Harvard will be getting an app from me, just for kicks

Thanks!!!

[muddywaters]

See where your practice tests are in the weeks coming up to the test, then make your list.

3.7 GPA is solid, but i dont see anything below a 172 getting you in at HYSCC (NYU maybe with a 169-70). Also, I dont see Berkeley with that GPA.

As you probably know, it will most likely come down to your LSAT. I had a cold 142, but was able to raise that to a 168 on test day. Im also retaking because I feel I can do even better.

Youll want to add a sure thing safety to your list (assuming 165+), anywhere from 25-30 rank should be fine.

[jarofsoup]

hello I have a lsac gpa of 3.16 but my gpa has been brought down by poor performance in non-major classes at the first university i attended and I have a 3.36 at the university that I am currently attend. I have not taken the LSATs but I am registered in Kaplans intense prep test...what kind of lsat score would I have to get to be admitted to Lewis and Clark, University of Oregon, UC Hastings or Davis? Thank you...