Top Law Schools

UGPA: 3.1 w/ substantial upward trend (class rank 330/1050) (plan on writing an addendum explaining illness in the family during my worst semester)
UG: Service academy,
Major: political science, made local honor society chapter
LSAT: 167, only take
not a URM, but "economically disadvantaged" (i know this is discussed at length elsewhere, and i've looked into that, but since i'm here, is this worthy of a diversity statement?)
first generation college, if that matters

notable softs:
international volunteer/leadership experience
military service including deployment
tons of leadership experience
captain of college debate team (placed in top 10 of 800+ teams nationally senior year)

and an interesting point, the government will foot the bill for my law school

so a few questions
-which T20, if any, would i have the best odds at?
-how about a little lower? specifically, Wisconsin, alabama, UGA
-which softs do you think should be most emphatically demonstrated in personal statements, LORs, etc?


i've run my numbers through chiashu and LSN, so i know my hard #s odds (which is kind of depressing)

thanks in advance for any feedback/flames

.

thanks! the 167 is hypothetical and a right around my PT avg, but I'm gathering letters of Rec so I'm trying to whittle down my school list to start on targeted LORs before i no longer have easy access to profs.

IF you get that 167 WUSTL and Minnesota will probably pick you up and possibly even throw you a little money.

afa_brandon wrote:thanks! the 167 is hypothetical and a right around my PT avg, but I'm gathering letters of Rec so I'm trying to whittle down my school list to start on targeted LORs before i no longer have easy access to profs.

Ah... well then there is really very little people can give you in terms of advice. Don't count on your PT average to be your actual score. Many people experience a little drop on test day, and a 163 vs. 167 is a world of difference in your admission cycle. I'm not saying it happens to all (I actually scored right at my PT average), but it happens often enough that you really need to get your score back before you start looking at schools.

Although I will say it seems that military service is one of the best softs a person can have. It is hard to say how much of a bump you'll get, but I think you'll definitely get some sort of bump.

Those are my exact numbers (well, I have a 3.09). Here's my cycle:

Minnesota - In, 36K
UIUC - In, 60K
WUSTL - In, 30K
Wake Forest - In, 60K
UVA, ED - OUT
GT, PT - OUT
BC - OUT
Notre Dame - OUT
W&L - WL
GW - WL
Fordham -WL
BU - WL
Cornell - WL
Maryland - WL
W&M - WL

Personally, I think your service may get you in at couple of those wait lists.

Also, I agree about expecting your score dropping on test day. I averaged a 172 for the 8 weeks leading up to the test (never lower than 169).

thanks, everyone

Geist--your cycle info was especially reassuring.. your lsat test-day-drop not so much :\


what was it for you all that killed your success on test-day? stress of the actual test vs. prep tests? non-optimal test-day conditions?

it's really cool of you all to share your experience--this test for me, probably like most of you, means the world

Geist13 wrote:Those are my exact numbers (well, I have a 3.09). Here's my cycle:

Minnesota - In, 36K
UIUC - In, 60K
WUSTL - In, 30K
Wake Forest - In, 60K
UVA, ED - OUT
GT, PT - OUT
BC - OUT
Notre Dame - OUT
W&L - WL
GW - WL
Fordham -WL
BU - WL
Cornell - WL
Maryland - WL
W&M - WL

Personally, I think your service may get you in at couple of those wait lists.

Also, I agree about expecting your score dropping on test day. I averaged a 172 for the 8 weeks leading up to the test (never lower than 169).

That is a great cycle. I have a similar GPA. Any great softs??