Top Law Schools

Chances at Hofstra, Rutgers Newark, and St. John's. I applied at the very end of the cycle. Like right before the deadlines. Last couple weeks-ish.

toilet GPA= no law school!

GPA isn't the end of the world. If you have a good LSAT, which you do, you can get into tier 3 schools. May want to try applying a little earlier though.

yea its better just to wait for next cycle

you'll never work in this town!...never!

scizo409 wrote:GPA isn't the end of the world. If you have a good LSAT, which you do, you can get into tier 3 schools. May want to try applying a little earlier though.

Yeah, a 2.8 or so ain't the end of the world. A sub 2.5? I'm guessing that's gonna be fatal for your app at most places. A 2.45? That takes some serious work to maintain a GPA that low.

I read "serious work" as "serious drinking" the first time.

I have 2.6x / 165 and have gotten $$$ from both RU campuses.


Edit: with RU, I sent in the application on 3/1, went complete on 3/17, and received admission via e-mail on 3/22.

Good news is that the median is what counts for the rankings. This in mind, a school may want to take your LSAT if it A) helps their median meanwhile B) not hurting their GPA median. So, all you have to do now is convince the law school that you won't flunk out of law school.

Have you been out of work for a few years?
Any graduate work?
Any unusual circumstances that led to your low GPA that you have overcome since?
Upward trending GPA?

All of the above may help soften the deadly blow that your 2.45 will have. If no to all of the above then you need to either retake the LSAT and/or find a challenging career and show that you're more competent and mature than what your UGPA shows.

replying to your original question, you have a shot at Hofstra. good luck.

edit: Take a shot at PT programs. Your best option if you want admittance for this cycle.

Norwood wrote:Good news is that the median is what counts for the rankings. This in mind, a school may want to take your LSAT if it A) helps their median meanwhile B) not hurting their GPA median. So, all you have to do now is convince the law school that you won't flunk out of law school.

Have you been out of work for a few years?
Any graduate work?
Any unusual circumstances that led to your low GPA that you have overcome since?
Upward trending GPA?

All of the above may help soften the deadly blow that your 2.45 will have. If no to all of the above then you need to either retake the LSAT and/or find a challenging career and show that you're more competent and mature than what your UGPA shows.

replying to your original question, you have a shot at Hofstra. good luck.

edit: Take a shot at PT programs. Your best option if you want admittance for this cycle.

if by this cycle you mean the 09/10 cycle, it is almost over and idt opp would get in anywhere right now in the t2.

if you mean 10/11 cycle then opp should retake.

and to get past that GPA opp needs to retake either way to go to a worthwhile LS.

so...i got into rutgers. just got the acceptance yesterday. its worth going there right? i mean, given my stats its a pretty good school to get into for me. i guess i could take a year off, retake lsat and reapply and maybe get into a better school, but not much better. given the location and price of rutgers (newark) compared to schools in the city im really looking forward to attending there.

^^Congrats!!! From what I have heard, Rutgers does well in its area. Since this is TLS, you are going to have a bunch of people in your ear telling you that you should not attend unless it's a free ride (you know t-14 or nothing lol) but Rutgers is a good school and has good job prospects in its region. Congrats again!!!

elscorcho wrote:so...i got into rutgers. just got the acceptance yesterday. its worth going there right? i mean, given my stats its a pretty good school to get into for me. i guess i could take a year off, retake lsat and reapply and maybe get into a better school, but not much better. given the location and price of rutgers (newark) compared to schools in the city im really looking forward to attending there.

RU does VERY well in North NJ and since it seems like that is where you'd like to be, it does not make sense to re-take and re-apply. Congrats .

Top14orGoHome wrote:toilet GPA= no law school!

That is NOT true. OP, ignore people like Top14orGoHome, they obvioulsy are interested in this profession for the wrong reasons, prestige, and not for the right ones, to help people.

Don't worry about your GPA, if you are meant to get into a specific law school, you WILL get in regardless of your GPA>

elscorcho wrote:so...i got into rutgers. just got the acceptance yesterday. its worth going there right? i mean, given my stats its a pretty good school to get into for me. i guess i could take a year off, retake lsat and reapply and maybe get into a better school, but not much better. given the location and price of rutgers (newark) compared to schools in the city im really looking forward to attending there.

Congrats! I do not agree with re-taking the LSAT. In my opinion, you will get accepted and ultimately go where you are meant to go so since you got into Rutgers, which is a fine institution, I suggest you go because you were obviously meant to be there.

Take care!

elscorcho wrote:so...i got into rutgers. just got the acceptance yesterday. its worth going there right? i mean, given my stats its a pretty good school to get into for me. i guess i could take a year off, retake lsat and reapply and maybe get into a better school, but not much better. given the location and price of rutgers (newark) compared to schools in the city im really looking forward to attending there.

Did they offer any scholarship money? It might be worth it to retake and reapply earlier in the cycle. Even if you don't improve on the LSAT, they might have money available that hasn't been given to other applicants.

Congrats BTW!

umm i havent gotten the official acceptance in the mail only an email last friday congratulating me on being accepted, so im not sure about any $$ they might offer. but i highly doubt they will. i found out i could get instate tuition if i sign a 12month lease tho, which sounds like a good deal to me. i probably wont retake, thanks for the opinions tho. rutgers looks like a pretty good plan for me.

Congrats on the acceptance!

Congratulations on your new journey!!

also got in at hofstra, in case anyone cares.

elscorcho wrote:also got in at hofstra, in case anyone cares.

That's great!! By the way, did you have any nice "softs" to include with your apps, or stellar LOR's? Just curious because I'm applying in October. Congrates!

No, not really any good softs. And my only LOR was from a graduate student who was one of my teachers once.

so i just got an acceptance from st. johns. So, assuming no financial aid in terms of grants/scholarships is it worth paying more to go to St. John's since its considered a better school (at least by the rankings on us news, and tls)? or should I take the cheaper tuition at rutgers? i feel like st. johns is probably a better area, newark really sucks. advice please!

actually i dont know anything about Jamaica, NY. is it an ok area? better than newark, nj?

Wow congrats! I'm guessing the 163 LSAT really helped you out with getting into those schools.