Hoping for USC. Am I dreaming? Forum

[shl023]

Hi everyone. I think I might have posted this up on the wrong discussion section the other day. Many suggestions will be appreciated. Please help me..

I graduated from UCSD with a Economics degree in Dec of 2009. While my plan all along has been to gain work experience in business (fiance) for two years then go off to get my MBA, my interest in going to a law school has grown drastically over these couple of months. Through some quick research I have come to realize that gpa, recommendations, and the lsat score are the key elements in getting into a good law school.

I first started considering law school because I saw a chance in being able to get into USC and UCLA (which had been my dream schools since high school) with my UCSD gpa of 3.6. However, I have now come to realize that LSDAS gpa is what truely matters and not the degree gpa. I used the website lawpad.com to calculate my lsac gpa and it turns out due to a "D" I once received (and made up to a A) and some Cs I received at the community college before my transfer that my gpa has gone down to a 3.49.

At this point I have almost given up on UCLA but I am hoping that I still have a chance at USC. I have read another thread about how one can get into USC with a gpa of 3.6 and LSAT score of 167 but clearly my gpa is alot lower.
I was hoping many of you can give me the "ice cold" facts and truth about my situation and if I should even persue shooting for USC.

Any help will be appreciated. Thank you.

[Cupidity]

You never actually say it, is your LSAT 167? If it is, I'd say your in--though I'm not sure when you applied. If you applied recently you are probably out because of timing--USC really does do "rolling", if you applied early and are still under review or complete, thats good--because 3/5DF looks like a bad batch

[im_blue]

USC really hates GPAs under mid 3.5's. With that GPA, you'll likely be rejected even if you get a 168-170 LSAT.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

Hi everyone. I think I might have posted this up on the wrong discussion section the other day. Many suggestions will be appreciated. Please help me..

I graduated from UCSD with a Economics degree in Dec of 2009. While my plan all along has been to gain work experience in business (fiance) for two years then go off to get my MBA, my interest in going to a law school has grown drastically over these couple of months. Through some quick research I have come to realize that gpa, recommendations, and the lsat score are the key elements in getting into a good law school.

I first started considering law school because I saw a chance in being able to get into USC and UCLA (which had been my dream schools since high school) with my UCSD gpa of 3.6. However, I have now come to realize that LSDAS gpa is what truely matters and not the degree gpa. I used the website lawpad.com to calculate my lsac gpa and it turns out due to a "D" I once received (and made up to a A) and some Cs I received at the community college before my transfer that my gpa has gone down to a 3.49.

At this point I have almost given up on UCLA but I am hoping that I still have a chance at USC. I have read another thread about how one can get into USC with a gpa of 3.6 and LSAT score of 167 but clearly my gpa is alot lower.
I was hoping many of you can give me the "ice cold" facts and truth about my situation and if I should even persue shooting for USC.

Any help will be appreciated. Thank you.

Letters of Rec are not that important. They only become important when they stand out negatively. UCLA and USC like GPA more than a lot of other schools (esp UCLA). With a 167 you should still have a good shot at USC (UCLA is going to be hard with that low GPA though).

http://usc.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/0 ... Cycle=0910

--LinkRemoved--

[Richie Tenenbaum]

USC really hates GPAs under mid 3.5's. With that GPA, you'll likely be rejected even if you get a 168-170 LSAT.

He's still got a fighting chance with a sub 3.5 GPA, though maybe I overstated things in my last post by saying "good shot". With a 170+ I think he is in good shape though.

http://www.hourumd.com/?school=Universi ... _sort=sort

[im_blue]

USC really hates GPAs under mid 3.5's. With that GPA, you'll likely be rejected even if you get a 168-170 LSAT.

He's still got a fighting chance with a sub 3.5 GPA, though maybe I overstated things in my last post by saying "good shot". With a 170+ I think he is in good shape though.

http://www.hourumd.com/?school=Universi ... _sort=sort

Out of 11 3.5x/167 LSN applicants last year, 5 people got in, of which 3 were off the WL, which suggests they were one of the lowest GPAs accepted with that LSAT. If you look at 3.4x/167, only 1 out of 4 got in. Coupled with the more competitive cycle next year, I'm going to stick to my prediction of a likely rejection unless he got a 170+, at which point he might as well attend a T14.

http://usc.lawschoolnumbers.com/applica ... ,8&type=jd

[voice of reason]

USC really hates GPAs under mid 3.5's. With that GPA, you'll likely be rejected even if you get a 168-170 LSAT.

He's still got a fighting chance with a sub 3.5 GPA, though maybe I overstated things in my last post by saying "good shot". With a 170+ I think he is in good shape though.

http://www.hourumd.com/?school=Universi ... _sort=sort

Out of 11 3.5x/167 LSN applicants last year, 5 people got in, of which 3 were off the WL, which suggests they were one of the lowest GPAs accepted with that LSAT. If you look at 3.4x/167, only 1 out of 4 got in. Coupled with the more competitive cycle next year, I'm going to stick to my prediction of a likely rejection unless he got a 170+, at which point he might as well attend a T14.

http://usc.lawschoolnumbers.com/applica ... ,8&type=jd

LSN is self-reported and therefore not reliable. LSN rarely reflects the distributions reported by the schools. It appears weaker students are less likely to post their info to LSN.

25% of people admitted to USC have a GPA < 3.5 according to the profile on this website, so with LSAT >= 167, the OP has a shot at USC.

[shl023]

You never actually say it, is your LSAT 167? If it is, I'd say your in--though I'm not sure when you applied. If you applied recently you are probably out because of timing--USC really does do "rolling", if you applied early and are still under review or complete, thats good--because 3/5DF looks like a bad batch

Thank you so much for all the replies.

I am sorry I didn't make myself more clear. I have been considering law school since january 2010 (with the lsac gpa of 3.49 from graduating at ucsd last 2009 december). I am planning to study for a good 6 months before taking the lsat in oct and dec 2010 and applying before the deadline in feb 2011.

I guess the question that I should of really asked was "what is the lowest lsat score that you guys think I could receive to have a good chance at getting into USC?.

[shl023]

Also.. I was wondering..

I know that Ws don't affect your lsac gpa but does pass/nopass if you got a NP? I was once forced to take this rediculous "street dance" class with my EX-girlfriend at a community college and due to midterms and finals at my REAL SCHOOL (and not some dance class) I could never attend and ended up getting a NP. I am not sure if I need to add this grade into the lsac gpa. The transcript show thats I have "cumulative gpa: 0.0" and "cumulative units: 0.0"

Edit: Oh, and I should mention that it was a 0.5 unit class so I am guessing even if it counted it isn't going to affect my grades that much?

And if its not too much trouble..

Is http://www.lawpad.com/gpa_calculator/ a very accurate tool of the lsac gpa? I would hate to find out it was not and in fact my gpa is lower. I just added all the grades from my community colleges and UCSD that counted towards my Bacchelors degree.

Thank you guys once again!

[Bauer24]

It's worth applying to USC, you could get in but you might not. Good luck!
UCLA may be worth a shot too...
However, if you want Cali.. definitely put in applications to UC-Hastings and UC-Davis.. you're definitely in both!

[im_blue]

Also.. I was wondering..

I know that Ws don't affect your lsac gpa but does pass/nopass if you got a NP? I was once forced to take this rediculous "street dance" class with my EX-girlfriend at a community college and due to midterms and finals at my REAL SCHOOL (and not some dance class) I could never attend and ended up getting a NP. I am not sure if I need to add this grade into the lsac gpa. The transcript show thats I have "cumulative gpa: 0.0" and "cumulative units: 0.0"

Edit: Oh, and I should mention that it was a 0.5 unit class so I am guessing even if it counted it isn't going to affect my grades that much?

And if its not too much trouble..

Is http://www.lawpad.com/gpa_calculator/ a very accurate tool of the lsac gpa? I would hate to find out it was not and in fact my gpa is lower. I just added all the grades from my community colleges and UCSD that counted towards my Bacchelors degree.

Thank you guys once again!

If you take a class pass/nopass and get a NP, that counts as an F = 0.0 for LSAC GPA. But since it was only 0.5 unit, you should only drop by 0.01.

[saltoftheearth]

I just added all the grades from my community colleges and UCSD that counted towards my Bacchelors degree.

all college-level classes at your UG or a CC taken before you received your degree will count towards your lsac gpa

[Hopefullawstudent]

To answer the original poster's question about what LSAT they need: If your GPA is a 3.49, you'll want to get a 168, especially this cycle. For UCLA, you'll want to get a 169/170.

Do you have any other soft factors? Work experience, working on a graduate degree, difficult background?

[shl023]

To answer the original poster's question about what LSAT they need: If your GPA is a 3.49, you'll want to get a 168, especially this cycle. For UCLA, you'll want to get a 169/170.

Do you have any other soft factors? Work experience, working on a graduate degree, difficult background?

Soft factor? Is at anything personal in my life that would perhaps benefit me if I told the schools in my application?
I am currently working at a law office in LA (its been only about a month) as a legal assistant and I plan on working here until I go back to school. My family is going through some fiancial issues these days but who isn't? and we are not poor.. The only other thing I can think of is that I graduated from my major with distinction of honors and was also in an honor society during my community college years which actually once dealed with helping termially illed children at USC hospital. That might help? not sure.

I recalculated my gpa and turns out its 3.5. And although I am STILL NOT SURE due to people's differences of opinions and the unclear wordings on the lsac handbook, if I were to have to add in ALL my college class grades (even the once that were not transfered to my uc and were high school level math classes), it would be actually about 3.52. But I don't have my hopes up. I am going to try to think i need about 168,169,170 on the lsat to get into USC.

The only thing now is I am not sure if I want to just work for a year then start studying for the lsac starting next year (2011) and take the test in june to apply in 2012 Feb. or if I should start studying now and take the test in Oct and Dec then apply by 2011 Feb. I just got out of college and I would prefer to just work, relax and make some money.. but I don't know if I being reasonable or lazy.