Top Law Schools

So as the topic mentions, I received a 151, 159, then a 173. This was over the course of about 2 1/2 years. There is no compelling story as to why my LSAT rose, just kind of "got it" after quite a bit of studying. My GPA is a 2.76... Do I have a shot at any T14 programs? If not, does Fordham sound reasonable?


*Edited for typo.

Get your applications submitted on the very first morning that the schools accept applications. That means September 1st or 15th usually. (If you have financial issues at least get your reaches in early and ask for fee waivers from your targets.)

Don't feel like your GPA will keep you out of any school. It won't. Schools do not really evaluate you on a smooth scale. There are formulas that they say they use but the more I look at it the more I am convinced that they place students into clusters. You will be placed into a GPA cluster of low, medium or high and a LSAT cluster of low, medium or high. Your GPA cluster will always be low, but your LSAT is in a high cluster so you are a splitter. A splitter has a GPA below the 25th percentile and a LSAT score above the 75th percentile. As such you have a fair chance of getting in anywhere.

I have a GPA in the low cluster 2.98. My LSAT is in the high cluster 175. I got into several schools ranked between 30 and 15 including UIUC and Minnesota with huge scholarships and UCLA. I am now waitlisted at NW, UVA, PENN, Vanderbilt, and Georgetown. I am waiting to hear from others. Those are friggin awesome schools for someone who was a C-B student in college.

If I had applied earlier I am sure I'd have gotten into some of the T14 schools.

ED @ UVA ?

(seems like the typical TLS response, but it is true)

MURPH wrote:Get your applications submitted on the very first morning that the schools accept applications. That means September 1st or 15th usually. (If you have financial issues at least get your reaches in early and ask for fee waivers from your targets.)

Don't feel like your GPA will keep you out of any school. It won't. Schools do not really evaluate you on a smooth scale. There are formulas that they say they use but the more I look at it the more I am convinced that they place students into clusters. You will be placed into a GPA cluster of low, medium or high and a LSAT cluster of low, medium or high. Your GPA cluster will always be low, but your LSAT is in a high cluster so you are a splitter. A splitter has a GPA below the 25th percentile and a LSAT score above the 75th percentile. As such you have a fair chance of getting in anywhere.

I have a GPA in the low cluster 2.98. My LSAT is in the high cluster 175. I got into several schools ranked between 30 and 15 including UIUC and Minnesota with huge scholarships and UCLA. I am now waitlisted at NW, UVA, PENN, Vanderbilt, and Georgetown. I am waiting to hear from others. Those are friggin awesome schools for someone who was a C-B student in college.

If I had applied earlier I am sure I'd have gotten into some of the T14 schools.

Congrates Murph! I have a 2.97GPA and aiming for the Oct. LSAT's. My #1 choice is UCLA all the way!! I was thinking that I need at least a 173-175, which is what you got! If you don't mind me asking (since you got into UCLA), do you have compelling softs/extra curricular activities to have improved your app? The CA schools love GPA's, which stinkfs for someone in my position. But, it's refreshing to know that you got accepted!

I think I am going to go to UCLA. I got a GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon scholarship so that = full scholarship plus 2K/ month for housing.
I PM'ed you SoCal but I just want to emphasize that the only thing I would do differently with my cycle is I would have applied as early as possible. The very first day they start accepting applications, when the adcoms are under no pressure, they haven't seen 1000 better applicants yet, there are no seats taken yet, etc. Applying extremely early is probably better than volunteering, better than most softs. (at least for admission, maybe not as much for scholarships)

wow. did you take that 151 cold?

MURPH wrote:I think I am going to go to UCLA. I got a GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon scholarship so that = full scholarship plus 2K/ month for housing.
I PM'ed you SoCal but I just want to emphasize that the only thing I would do differently with my cycle is I would have applied as early as possible. The very first day they start accepting applications, when the adcoms are under no pressure, they haven't seen 1000 better applicants yet, there are no seats taken yet, etc. Applying extremely early is probably better than volunteering, better than most softs. (at least for admission, maybe not as much for scholarships)

Have you decided on a school yet? I was just curious.

Jax019 wrote:So as the topic mentions, I received a 151, 159, then a 173. This was over the course of about 2 1/2 years. There is no compelling story as to why my LSAT rose, just kind of "got it" after quite a bit of studying. My GPA is a 2.76... Do I have a shot at any T13 programs? If not, does paradise sound reasonable?


*Edited for typo.

If you have work experience North-western is your best shot.

Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, and Wustl are also known for giving people like you scholarship, Fordham isn't.

Desert Fox wrote:

Jax019 wrote:So as the topic mentions, I received a 151, 159, then a 173. This was over the course of about 2 1/2 years. There is no compelling story as to why my LSAT rose, just kind of "got it" after quite a bit of studying. My GPA is a 2.76... Do I have a shot at any T13 programs? If not, does paradise sound reasonable?


*Edited for typo.

If you have work experience North-western is your best shot.

Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, and Wustl are also known for giving people like you scholarship, paradise isn't.

What type of work experience? I'm a 2.97er myself, so I'm trying to assess the schools out there I can get into with an LSAT in the 170's. Been checking out schools outside of Cali recently.

SoCalStudent wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:

Jax019 wrote:So as the topic mentions, I received a 151, 159, then a 173. This was over the course of about 2 1/2 years. There is no compelling story as to why my LSAT rose, just kind of "got it" after quite a bit of studying. My GPA is a 2.76... Do I have a shot at any T13 programs? If not, does paradise sound reasonable?


*Edited for typo.

If you have work experience North-western is your best shot.

Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, and Wustl are also known for giving people like you scholarship, paradise isn't.

What type of work experience? I'm a 2.97er myself, so I'm trying to assess the schools out there I can get into with an LSAT in the 170's. Been checking out schools outside of Cali recently.

Pretty much anything that occurs post college. It doesn't have to be good or impressive.

Desert Fox wrote:

SoCalStudent wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:

Jax019 wrote:So as the topic mentions, I received a 151, 159, then a 173. This was over the course of about 2 1/2 years. There is no compelling story as to why my LSAT rose, just kind of "got it" after quite a bit of studying. My GPA is a 2.76... Do I have a shot at any T13 programs? If not, does paradise sound reasonable?


*Edited for typo.

If you have work experience North-western is your best shot.

Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, and Wustl are also known for giving people like you scholarship, paradise isn't.

What type of work experience? I'm a 2.97er myself, so I'm trying to assess the schools out there I can get into with an LSAT in the 170's. Been checking out schools outside of Cali recently.

Pretty much anything that occurs post college. It doesn't have to be good or impressive.

Cool. I have a lot of that during UG and post-UG.

I have pretty much the same exact gpa as OP: 2.76. This from an Ivy UG and I'm a hispanic URM. Grasping at straws here, but if i get 170+ is UVA/Georgetown doable?

tryster0 wrote:I have pretty much the same exact gpa as OP: 2.76. This from an Ivy UG and I'm a hispanic URM. Grasping at straws here, but if i get 170+ is UVA/Georgetown doable?

Should be.

SoCalStudent wrote:

Desert Fox wrote: anything that occurs post college.

I have a lot of that during UG

Impressive.

Jax019 wrote:So as the topic mentions, I received a 151, 159, then a 173. This was over the course of about 2 1/2 years. There is no compelling story as to why my LSAT rose, just kind of "got it" after quite a bit of studying. My GPA is a 2.76... Do I have a shot at any T14 programs? If not, does Fordham sound reasonable?


*Edited for typo.

I would take the advice of MURPH. Do NOT let your GPA bother, affect or worry you in any way. Not only will you get into a great law school, but you will be very pleased, especially because of the surge in your LSAT score. Trust me, I'm in law school now and I know how much a jump like that looks favorably with admissions.

Keep up the good work!

JustBelieve wrote:I would take the advice of MURPH. Do NOT let your GPA bother, affect or worry you in any way. Not only will you get into a great law school, but you will be very pleased, especially because of the surge in your LSAT score. Trust me, I'm in law school now and I know how much a jump like that looks favorably with admissions.

Keep up the good work!

lolwut. And why the necro?

..

acrossthelake wrote:Is JustBelieve a flame?

I keep wanting to think he is a very persistent troll, but it keeps nagging me that he is just an idiot.

I've heard that highly ranked schools avg LSAT scores though is this not true? I'm taking again in October also but I have a 154 (cold) and a 163 on my record so far. So I figured even if I got a good score this time, it wouldn't matter for top schools because they would just average (and it would just end up around a 163 again!)

Regarding averaging:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2&t=107648

From people through the process, it is fairly inconsistent for the top ranked schools. While most everything outside of HYSCCN seem to take the top score, CCN seems to apply it on a case by case basis. Most schools say they take the average into account but now that only highest is reported, most schools just take the top one. I think saying that they look at all of them is a way for them to seem like they are holistic when they really are not.

Ooh ok. I'm really hoping for just a small gain (obv would be happier with a big one) so that I can get into some of my reach schools, even if I have to pay sticker (fingers crossed for CU!)