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Hi everyone,

So I'm not sure if I'm a unique sort of candidate or not, but anyways - I majored in accounting and information systems (2 majors) in college and minored in poly sci - got 150 credit hours out of the way a few years ago (2006). I graduated from a top 100 business school as an undergrad, and went straight into a public accounting firm out of college. After a year, I switched over to industry and have been working in internal auditing for a "big pharma" company for the last 3 years.

As far as "softs," I have recently completed 2/4 of the CPA examination and plan on passing the other two sections before the end of the year (November - probably not before I send out my applications, unfortunately). I am the assistant national fundraising director of a national 501(c) 3, which deals with disaster relief (primarily) and urban development, and I have been involved in setting up a local walkathon for this organization the last 3 years. This year (2010) I have also begun to get involved (on the side) with a fledgling think-tank of sorts that is trying to work with Congress to push for better minority rights and protections in 3rd world countries (namely Pakistan, Indonesia, and Bangladesh). EDIT: I guess if college softs still count, I was president of a honors fraternity for a year and did 2-3 different types of volunteering (1 of which I still continue to do to this day).

Recently, after a lot of talking with people, and a lot of thinking on my own, and scouring this website as well, I have decided the next step is for me to try to take the LSAT and apply to law school, particularly to pursue the latter issue I mentioned above further, and see what happens.

So I took a diagnostic before I began studying - my cold score was 161. Now I have been studying for the last two weeks getting ready for the June date. I consider myself a pretty good test taker - I got a 31 on the ACT when I took it in high school and I am actually enjoying studying for this exam so far . I feel pretty confident about doing well on this test (well meaning above a 165) but ideally, I would love to get a 170 or better.

My problem is the 3.15 GPA. I started college when I was age 17 and had a lot of trouble adjusting to campus life, and my GPA was below a 3 for my freshman year, before I picked it back up in my sophomore year and brought it up, but it was incredibly difficult to do with the double major, as well as an internship and a part time sales job in my senior year.

Realistically, what kind of LSAT should I be aiming for if I want to get into, say, Northwestern? I know they are a T-14, but say that's the tip of the iceberg. The calculation websites say my odds are really slim unless I get a 170, and nothing is a "good chance" unless I score 173 or higher. Does my somewhat unusual/varied background have any impact on this at all? What sticks out to you positively and negatively upon reading my profile? Thanks and I hope this wasn't too long...

EDIT: Also, from what I've read I'm guessing Southeast Asian doesn't qualify as URM, but if someone wouldn't mind confirming I'd really appreciate it.

EDIT 2: I really have to thank pithypike for his guide. I love it. Hopefully I'll still love it once I get my LSAT score. OK, that's enough.

As far as your "softs" are concerned, I don't think it would not do any good as long as it is nationally outstanding. With that said, your history of being a president of some honors frat won't be also considered as well. Law schools get too many of these kind of intellectuals - president of this and that clubs and organizations because prospective law school students are normally active and have aware of themselves.

The best bet for you right now is Northwestern, a school that takes "working history" a huge consideration. However, Northwestern isn't still easy to get accepted from. Please visit http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com and check around the stats of ppl from different schools.
And for the LSAT, you should be aiming for the highest score you could possible get (duhh) not should i get 175?? or 173...?
URM doesn't count any Asians at all - it mainly includes African-Americans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and other Hispanic ethnicities.

It sounds like you are trying to justify your "faults" with different excuses. If I were you, I would just suck it up and study my butt off with a fellow SAT nerd at a corner of Barnes and Noble.

Don't expect your majors to give you any sort of boost. I'm an Accounting/Management double-major from a Top-20 UG Business school and I've been mildly disappointed with my cycle so far as a 3.35/170. Your work experience will probably help though, especially for Northwestern.

apollo13, thanks for the "tough love" type answer. I always appreciate honest feedback. Thanks also for your input BigMediocre regarding the majors.

It appears that to have any decent/strong shot at T14, I'll probably need to get a 175 or better. Time to go insane w/preptests and think about everything else afterwards. This is not gonna be easy.

I appreciate the help.

chicagobullsfan wrote: Realistically, what kind of LSAT should I be aiming for if I want to get into, say, Northwestern?

170 to have a shot, 172 to have a good shot. Applying early decision helped people with poor gpa's this cycle.