Top Law Schools

I'm going to be a sophomore next semester, am taking the LSAT on June 7th, and out of my 10 practice tests I've taken one and got a 171 on it. Most of the mistakes I made are pretty obvious to me and I'm hoping that with the right preparation and with doing the other 9 practice tests, I should make at least a 173, and hopefully closer to a 175-ish.

So assuming I make a 173, with a GPA of 3.5-3.6-ish what else would I need to have to try and guarantee myself a decent law school? I've just recently decided to switch to law for post-graduate studies, so I'm not very familiar with the criteria used and the weight of different scores and numbers.

LSAT >>>> Grades >>> Everything else.

Look at lawschoolnumbers.com

So hypothetically, if I made a 173 on my LSAT, what GPA ranges would have me having a good shot at what law schools?

Definitely not gonna break all this down for you. Go to lawschoolnumbers and put in your LSAT and GPA range and look at what happened to some actual applicants.

Lawschoolpredictor.com

Working hypothetically is great, but your time could be better spent studying for the LSAT, boosting your GPA, and getting more quality softs. Put together the most competitive application you can, then worry about which schools you should target.

Oh don't worry, I'm completely aware that now is hardly the time to worry about which schools to target; I just thought I'd get the basic idea of how things work in the law school admission process as part of switching over my career path. I understand that it's not going to do me any real good right now to know these things, but I do want to know what kind of standing I'd be looking at with making this switch.

Either way, thanks for the calculators; gives me just the kind of idea I'm looking to get.

asoularisen wrote:So hypothetically, if I made a 173 on my LSAT, what GPA ranges would have me having a good shot at what law schools?

if you made a 173 you could have a sub 3.0 gpa and still get into some of the top 14 schools.a 2.7 or higher you would be set with a 173.

In my highly unscientific view, lsat = 60%, gpa = 20%, urm status = 10%, everything else, ie experience/ps/lors etc. = 10%. Obviously the "everything" category assumes clean criminal record, good lors, and a personal statement not written by a 3rd grader.

Lucidity wrote:In my highly unscientific view, lsat = 60%, gpa = 20%, urm status = 10%, everything else, ie experience/ps/lors etc. = 10%. Obviously the "everything" category assumes clean criminal record, good lors, and a personal statement not written by a 3rd grader.

this sounds right to me.

I think the LSAT weighed about 8-10 ounces.

^^But I wanted to know how heavy the SCORE weighed... I'm sure it's less than the weight of the entire test.

The email with my score I printed for my mother was like an ounce.

LSAT 70%, GPA 20%, softs 10% (unless URM)

asoularisen wrote:^^But I wanted to know how heavy the SCORE weighed... I'm sure it's less than the weight of the entire test.

What are you even asking?

romothesavior wrote:

asoularisen wrote:^^But I wanted to know how heavy the SCORE weighed... I'm sure it's less than the weight of the entire test.

What are you even asking?

I thought if I was going to get an answer that took my question 100% literally, the answer should still be correct to the unexpected interpretation of my question.

i think most people that are saying gpa is 20% are right. there are some schools that care more about gpas though. many of the top 14 will take splitters. some schools like berkley would rather you have a high gpa though.

teabag wrote:i think most people that are saying gpa is 20% are right. there are some schools that care more about gpas though. many of the top 14 will take splitters. some schools like berkley would rather you have a high gpa though.

Exactly. Some schools like "reverse splitters." Many of these schools tend to be on the Best Coast: Boalt, UCLA, USC, UW, etc.

Also, if you have insanely good softs, it can compensate for a mediocre LSAT and GPA. I have two friends (both white and from upper-middle class backgrounds) who I point to as examples:
1. a 3.65/162/167 who got into Boalt, Michigan and Cornell and
2. a 3.71/165/165 who got into Penn and Duke.

The difference was that they both had taken at least 2 years off and had spent those years (and their college years) passionately pursuing things that were connected to law.

I hope the LSAT is weighed heavily enough- then all my prep was for nothing..

60 lsat gpa 40...that's according to Kaplan..