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2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:10 pm
by eagles86
1 year out of undergrad...2.1 freshman year and 3.4 soph- senior year
- have good recs, internships, addendum explaining the 1st year grades
Chance me and include waitlists..please dont rely on Lawschoolpredictor too much as it seems a bit more pessimstic than it should be.

RU-Newark
RU- Camden
Villanova
Miami
Denver
San Diego
Seton Hall
American
Pittsburgh

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:13 pm
by jks289
eagles86 wrote:1 year out of undergrad...2.1 freshman year and 3.4 soph- senior year
- have good recs, internships, addendum explaining the 1st year grades
Chance me and include waitlists..please dont rely on Lawschoolpredictor too much as it seems a bit more pessimstic than it should be.

RU-Newark
RU- Camden
Villanova
Miami
Denver
San Diego
Seton Hall
American
Pittsburgh
I hate to say it, but you said be honest. I think LSP is actually pretty close here. Any chance you can retake the LSAT and push into the mid-160s?

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:26 pm
by eagles86
LSACs website and LSN give me better odds than LSP

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:28 pm
by jks289
eagles86 wrote:LSACs website and LSN give me better odds than LSP
Are you URM? Do you have some non-traditional elements in your application? Honestly LSP has been dead on for my cycle. I didn't want it to be, I convinced myself it was pessimistic and it wasn't at all. Granted, you are sort of a splitter, but still.

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:33 pm
by eagles86
I'm not a URM....However, for RU- Newark and Denver i've seen non- URMs with slightly worse numbers than me get in on LSN. Miami is also being extra cautious this year so I think im in waitlist territory there.

Thing is, for some places id be in without that freshman year. I explained all this in an addendum, is it that inconceiveable that I could get lucky with one of the schools?

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:35 pm
by eagles86
and where did you apply for your cycle?

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:36 pm
by jks289
eagles86 wrote:I'm not a URM....However, for RU- Newark and Denver i've seen non- URMs with slightly worse numbers than me get in on LSN. Miami is also being extra cautious this year so I think im in waitlist territory there.

Thing is, for some places id be in without that freshman year. I explained all this in an addendum, is it that inconceiveable that I could get lucky with one of the schools?
Yes, you could get lucky. The below a 3.0 thing (even just .2) is sort of a wrench in the whole thing. If you don't want to retake (and seriously dude, retake) then apply and see what happens. Good luck!! I hope it works out.

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:37 pm
by jks289
eagles86 wrote:and where did you apply for your cycle?
Exclusively T20, but my faith in the predictor holds. Maybe it is tougher for lower ranked schools, though. Entirely possible, I am just sharing my personal experience of it.

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:40 pm
by eagles86
I think the fact that I got this anywhere near 3 after my 2.1 freshman year should count for something. I explained this in an addendum and my personal statement, recs are very good imo. LSP is more pessimsitic for schools below 40...if 30% of applicants are below you in terms of numbers it classifies you as auto- reject. 30% is still way too high for the deny label.

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:44 pm
by jks289
eagles86 wrote:I think the fact that I got this anywhere near 3 after my 2.1 freshman year should count for something. I explained this in an addendum and my personal statement, recs are very good imo. LSP is more pessimsitic for schools below 40...if 30% of applicants are below you in terms of numbers it classifies you as auto- reject. 30% is still way too high for the deny label.
Fair enough. Though I think the safe rule is "below both medians = out." Below 25th on either, and not above 75% on the other = out. Assuming you are below the 25% GPA of all of those schools (I didn't check but I think they all hit 3.0) then you'll need to be above their 75% LSAT.

And I had the same rationale about the 30% meaning deny thing. But I have a fat stack of t14 rejections saying "I told you so." You seem intent on applying, so I think just go for it. What have you got to lose but some app fees?

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:47 pm
by eagles86
159 is the median LSAT for many of the schools, 158 for Newark, Miami. Im closer to the 50%th at most of the places I applied to but id be near or above the median GPA if not for that first year. Would I have to be above the 75th though?

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:51 pm
by jks289
eagles86 wrote:159 is the median LSAT for many of the schools, 158 for Newark, Miami. Im closer to the 50%th at most of the places I applied to but id be near or above the median GPA if not for that first year. Would I have to be above the 75th though?
The "if not for the first year" part is totally irrelevant. You have a 2.98, and upward trend is nice but meaningless to them. I'm sorry for harping on you, but that is the truth. You are at median for your schools, which mean you need to be 25% or higher of GPA to be a solid shot. Sure you MIGHT get in, but in terms of odds it is unlikely. Lower ranked schools play the numbers game, as much if not more so than anyone.

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:55 pm
by eagles86
LSP is off a bit....on LSAC with a 164 I would have upwards of 80% chance at villanova but on LSP im listed as deny.

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:57 pm
by Columbia Law
I think the old saying "You ain't goin' anywhere" applies here.


And eagles86. Did you ever think that LSAC might be off?

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:15 pm
by jkh
If I "wouldn't have" screwed up my freshman year, and if I "would have" scored 10 pts higher on the LSAT, I "would be" going to a T14 next year. However, adcomms don't care about would haves, could haves, and should haves.

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:20 pm
by Stringer Bell
eagles86 wrote:please dont rely on Lawschoolpredictor too much as it seems a bit more pessimstic than it should be.
Overall, I thought LSP was overly optimistic for me.

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:31 pm
by eagles86
ok....my point was that I'm borderline at Miami, Newark, Denver, not auto- reject where they throw out my application before reading it. Also, the size of school matters as a large school may take basically anyone with above a 2.7 while a smaller school may not.

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:46 pm
by alannak
eagles86 wrote:ok....my point was that I'm borderline at Miami, Newark, Denver, not auto- reject where they throw out my application before reading it. Also, the size of school matters as a large school may take basically anyone with above a 2.7 while a smaller school may not.
This probably doesn't mean a lot-- but i got into Denver with a generous scholarship-- my LSAT is similar to yours (1 point higher) although my GPA also is higher (3.6x).. and I have no really significant soft factors. If my numbers were good enough to warrant a good deal of money, I don't see how your numbers would warrant at the very least admission.

Good luck. :)

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:48 pm
by jks289
eagles86 wrote:ok....my point was that I'm borderline at Miami, Newark, Denver, not auto- reject where they throw out my application before reading it. Also, the size of school matters as a large school may take basically anyone with above a 2.7 while a smaller school may not.
Eagles86, you're starting to get annoying. You asked for people's honest opinions on your chances. The answer from everyone was "not very good." Perpetuating the thread by arguing is wasting the time of people who are just trying to give you decent advice.

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:49 pm
by jks289
alannak wrote:
eagles86 wrote:ok....my point was that I'm borderline at Miami, Newark, Denver, not auto- reject where they throw out my application before reading it. Also, the size of school matters as a large school may take basically anyone with above a 2.7 while a smaller school may not.
This probably doesn't mean a lot-- but i got into Denver with a generous scholarship-- my LSAT is similar to yours (1 point higher) although my GPA also is higher (3.6x).. and I have no really significant soft factors. If my numbers were good enough to warrant a good deal of money, I don't see how your numbers would warrant at the very least admission.

Good luck. :)
The difference between a 160, 3.6 and a 2.98, 159 is huge.

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:51 pm
by Grizz
eagles86 wrote:ok....my point was that I'm borderline at Miami, Newark, Denver, not auto- reject where they throw out my application before reading it. Also, the size of school matters as a large school may take basically anyone with above a 2.7 while a smaller school may not.
In what region of the country are you looking to end up?

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:03 pm
by eagles86
So that freshman year can screw everything up forever? And I never mentioned anything about expecting $$ from anywhere, I know that aint happening.

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:13 pm
by bitlrc
as jks said, you MIGHT get in to a couple of these schools, but especially this late in the game the odds are not in your favor. the stats listed on the school profiles are from last year's applications for the most part, and applications have shot through the roof for this year so those numbers could end up going up for 2009-2010. that means increased competition for basically the same number of seats, and your numbers are not going to do you any favors. you may be able to squeeze into a school or 2 on the list, but being .02 under 3.00 and 1 under a 160 really sucks for a borderline candidate.

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:13 pm
by bass08
Didn't you already apply? What's the point of asking your chances now. Just wait and see. I think you'll probably get in to at least one or two of those schools, if not more. Good luck.

Re: 2.98/159- want honest opinions!

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:14 pm
by Kobe_Teeth
eagles86 wrote:1 year out of undergrad...2.1 freshman year and 3.4 soph- senior year
- have good recs, internships, addendum explaining the 1st year grades
Chance me and include waitlists..please dont rely on Lawschoolpredictor too much as it seems a bit more pessimstic than it should be.

RU-Newark
RU- Camden
Villanova
Miami
Denver
San Diego
Seton Hall
American
Pittsburgh
Possibly in at one of the Rutgers.
Possibly Seton Hall.
Out everywhere else unless you get WL/In somewhere.

Also, OP, you asked for honest opinions. Someone's honest opinion was that LSP was accurate for you. Move on.