Newbie need advice and numbers Forum

[Sicsofs]

Okay I am gonna keep this short and sweet. I started college 14 years ago did poorly (2.2ish). I am finishing my last two years of school now and am killing it (3.9ish). I am an AA. Judging by the "good" sofs i have read, my sofs are pretty out of this world. How much will the 2 year upward trend help? Will my old grades kill me? Is there an LSAT score i can get to be considered for HYS? My fall back is Arizona State but I would sell my first born for HYS. Let me know if i am dreaming or with magical sofs and a stratospheric LSAT if it is even possible given my poor showing while most of you were in elementary school. Thanks.

PK2
ps. I love this site btw

[oberlin08]

Okay I am gonna keep this short and sweet. I started college 14 years ago did poorly (2.2ish). I am finishing my last two years of school now and am killing it (3.9ish). I am an AA. Judging by the "good" sofs i have read, my sofs are pretty out of this world. How much will the 2 year upward trend help? Will my old grades kill me? Is there an LSAT score i can get to be considered for HYS? My fall back is Arizona State but I would sell my first born for HYS. Let me know if i am dreaming or with magical sofs and a stratospheric LSAT if it is even possible given my poor showing while most of you were in elementary school. Thanks.

PK2
ps. I love this site btw

It can help. Do well on the LSAT - thats what you should probably concentrate most on (and keept getting near perfect grades).

Then write a killer personal statement and make the adcomms cry in the process. Talk about how long, hard and sobering those 14 years were.

Then you will have a shot at some good schools. Not sure about HYS but probably within the T-14...

[anmo]

Congrats on doing a stellar job recently! Unfortunately your old grades will be weighted just as much as your new grades when it comes to factoring your gpa. AdComs will see the upward trend, so that'll be nice, but it will still largely come down to your overall gpa. Have you calculated what your lsdas gpa would be yet? Figuring that out will give us and you a better idea of where you might land, and of course the LSAT. The LSAT you should shoot for is a 180, seriously. Study for a 180 and don't limit yourself to what you might need to get into X school. Good luck!

[fathergoose]

It seems to me that URMs with stratospheric LSATs play by a very seperate set of standards so if knock out 170+, have great softs and a non hideous lsac gpa, you've got at least a reasonable chance at any school

[dakatz]

It seems to me that URMs with stratospheric LSATs play by a very seperate set of standards so if knock out 170+, have great softs and a non hideous lsac gpa, you've got at least a reasonable chance at any school

I think you mean, he needs to have great sofs...

[oberlin08]

I think if he took 14 years of from school, that can be a great soft depending on what he did during that time, and how well he spins that in the form of a PS or Addendum

[AtticusFinch]

It seems to me that URMs with stratospheric LSATs play by a very seperate set of standards so if knock out 170+, have great softs and a non hideous lsac gpa, you've got at least a reasonable chance at any school

I think you mean, he needs to have great sofs...

Actually I think you mean, he needs to have sic sofs..

[Sicsofs]

Congrats on doing a stellar job recently! Unfortunately your old grades will be weighted just as much as your new grades when it comes to factoring your gpa. AdComs will see the upward trend, so that'll be nice, but it will still largely come down to your overall gpa. Have you calculated what your lsdas gpa would be yet? Figuring that out will give us and you a better idea of where you might land, and of course the LSAT. The LSAT you should shoot for is a 180, seriously. Study for a 180 and don't limit yourself to what you might need to get into X school. Good luck!

I looked at the LSDAS today and have a lot of figuring to do. Best estimate I can break a 3.0. I was a fool back then. Also I am trying to get as many of my new good marks included in my application as possible. Is it in my best interest to apply in Feb. so I can get that fall semester counted? I hate the URM bit, but I know I have the goods so I will take an edge where I can get it.

[oberlin08]

Congrats on doing a stellar job recently! Unfortunately your old grades will be weighted just as much as your new grades when it comes to factoring your gpa. AdComs will see the upward trend, so that'll be nice, but it will still largely come down to your overall gpa. Have you calculated what your lsdas gpa would be yet? Figuring that out will give us and you a better idea of where you might land, and of course the LSAT. The LSAT you should shoot for is a 180, seriously. Study for a 180 and don't limit yourself to what you might need to get into X school. Good luck!

I looked at the LSDAS today and have a lot of figuring to do. Best estimate I can break a 3.0. I was a fool back then. Also I am trying to get as many of my new good marks included in my application as possible. Is it in my best interest to apply in Feb. so I can get that fall semester counted? I hate the URM bit, but I know I have the goods so I will take an edge where I can get it.

Apply in September. Apply in September. Apply in September. Even if that means you have to wait some time after Undergrad ends.

[anmo]

Congrats on doing a stellar job recently! Unfortunately your old grades will be weighted just as much as your new grades when it comes to factoring your gpa. AdComs will see the upward trend, so that'll be nice, but it will still largely come down to your overall gpa. Have you calculated what your lsdas gpa would be yet? Figuring that out will give us and you a better idea of where you might land, and of course the LSAT. The LSAT you should shoot for is a 180, seriously. Study for a 180 and don't limit yourself to what you might need to get into X school. Good luck!

I looked at the LSDAS today and have a lot of figuring to do. Best estimate I can break a 3.0. I was a fool back then. Also I am trying to get as many of my new good marks included in my application as possible. Is it in my best interest to apply in Feb. so I can get that fall semester counted? I hate the URM bit, but I know I have the goods so I will take an edge where I can get it.

No. I don't think waiting till Feb is in your best interest. I think you should apply as early in the cycle as possible and send updated transcripts (assuming your GPA improved) after your fall semester. Another option would be to wait another year to apply, but that's not fun to hear.

[Sicsofs]

Congrats on doing a stellar job recently! Unfortunately your old grades will be weighted just as much as your new grades when it comes to factoring your gpa. AdComs will see the upward trend, so that'll be nice, but it will still largely come down to your overall gpa. Have you calculated what your lsdas gpa would be yet? Figuring that out will give us and you a better idea of where you might land, and of course the LSAT. The LSAT you should shoot for is a 180, seriously. Study for a 180 and don't limit yourself to what you might need to get into X school. Good luck!

I looked at the LSDAS today and have a lot of figuring to do. Best estimate I can break a 3.0. I was a fool back then. Also I am trying to get as many of my new good marks included in my application as possible. Is it in my best interest to apply in Feb. so I can get that fall semester counted? I hate the URM bit, but I know I have the goods so I will take an edge where I can get it.

No. I don't think waiting till Feb is in your best interest. I think you should apply as early in the cycle as possible and send updated transcripts (assuming your GPA improved) after your fall semester. Another option would be to wait another year to apply, but that's not fun to hear.

Def. no fun to hear. If I thought waiting the year would do it, I would in a heartbeat. However, to wait a year and end up at ASU would blow. I am in my 30's so time is not on my side.

[anmo]

Def. no fun to hear. If I thought waiting the year would do it, I would in a heartbeat. However, to wait a year and end up at ASU would blow. I am in my 30's so time is not on my side.

It's all somewhat irrelevant anyways until you take and crush the LSAT. Are you taking it this June? (That would be an excellent time to do so).

[Sicsofs]

Def. no fun to hear. If I thought waiting the year would do it, I would in a heartbeat. However, to wait a year and end up at ASU would blow. I am in my 30's so time is not on my side.

It's all somewhat irrelevant anyways until you take and crush the LSAT. Are you taking it this June? (That would be an excellent time to do so).

I was thinking Dec. or Feb. I wanted to give myself enough prep time. I am prepping already but dont think i would be ready to put up a 180 by then. I had not considered waiting a year but I just might.

[pinkzeppelin]

If your softs are out of this world, I think you stand a very good chance of admittance into a top program. It's pretty well documented that GPA is used primarily to show work ethic. Your most recent marks and what you have done since the 14 years you graduated will be a much better indicators of work ethic than those old college grades. I think people overestimate the numbers game of some of the top schools. Even if they only care about rankings, accepting someone with a gpa~3.5 hurts their rankings just as much as someone with a gpa of 2.0.

The way I see it, they have about 25% of the class (those below 25th percentiles) to add interesting people that they think will succeed even though their numbers don't show it. I think you have a tremendous shot at being in this group, since you are a URM, have great softs and your most recent experience shows you can be successful. Just study for that LSAT and do your best.

Also, you don't only have two application options here. You can apply this next cycle and then if you don't get what you want, you can apply in the next cycle also. I don't see any sense in waiting a whole year without even applying.

[$1.99]

depends on what your gpa is at the end, Harvard has a limit in taking low GPAs even with URMs (i think it is at 3.3 or 3.4) and you would still need a high 170 LSAT. Yale and Stanford are more open to people like you though.