Unique: 3.2 - 3.3 GPA, 177 LSAT Forum

[Remnantofisrael]

I'm 28, have had success in a major marketing firm and ran a sales team and then an entire department of 30 people, quadrupling profits in three years. I didn't finish my undergrad (2001-2004) (one class left) but am literally a bit of paperwork from being official. I attempted to finish in three years, got kind of screwed by an adviser's poor advice although nothing that wasn't in the end fully my responsibility, and decided I could finish school with an online class while at my new job. Said job was not requiring a college degree so I figured what the hell. Ended up not finishing till now.

I left the company I had been with and started my own business in 2008 and am transitioning it to other hands. I have two kids and wife, been married since 2002. I also write the legal column for a bi-monthly industry publication for the for-profit post-secondary sector.

Graduation will have me at between a 3.2-3.3 (I may delay graduating, take a couple soft classes and raise it to a 3.3, but without that its a 3.2-3.25) from the University of Missouri. I will have two academic letters, and a beaming recommendation from the CEO of the company I worked for (500 employees).

I take my LSAT in a few weeks, but for argument sake, lets say I will get a 176-177 (consistently scoring between 177 and perfect).

My younger brother just got in to Michigan, but I don't know if that is relevant at all.

I currently live in Connecticut so I would love to know if I have a chance of getting into NYU or Columbia. I'm sure Yale is out of the question. Otherwise I would be looking to ED at UVA. Lastly, what is the lowest you would think someone in my situation can score on the LSAT to still get in ED at UVA.

Thanks to all who give me their opinion.

[Drummingreg]

but for argument sake, lets say I will get a 176-177

No...

[holydonkey]

Lowest is 171. There's no safe score with that gpa, but 175+ looks like a pretty decent shot especially if you ED.

EDIT:

My younger brother just got in to Michigan, but I don't know if that is relevant at all.

Not really, but I look forward to meeting him in the Fall. Go Blue!

You do have a chance at Michigan with 170+. They're not as splitter friendly, but if you're willing to ED and summer start, I'd definitely apply if you don't get in or get waitlisted from UVA ED.

[quadsixm]

[]

[Remnantofisrael]

Thanks for the feedback. I fully know that there is a potential for a much lower LSAT. I realize I am presenting a hypothetical situation, but I read the forum rules and it suggested one hypothetical to be acceptable. The reason for it is that if I score a 170-173 I will likely just ED at UVA and hope. What I don't know is what to do if I get a high LSAT score, as UVA wouldn't be my choice over NYU and columbia because I would have to move. Yet I wouldn't want to risk not getting into UVA and having to end up in chicago or ithica at best. I have a family to consider in all of this.

Thanks again to all who are responding helpfully.

[memaha]

If you get an actual LSAT similar to your PTs, EDing at UVA should get you in.
As for CLS/NYU, your chances look unlikely (but then again, I knew I was an auto-reject for them so I might not have the best advice there). Your softs might help you out, but enough to get you in, I dunno.

But if you look at LSN (granted, it is a self-selecting sample) for those three schools, UVA takes more applicants with your numbers than CLS/NYU.

CLS http://columbia.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/0910/
NYU http://nyu.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/0910/
UVA http://uva.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats

Best of luck!

[holydonkey]

Also, if you want to stay close to NYC, consider EDing to Penn before EDing to UVA. They took someone with a 3.28/175 ED this year.

[Remnantofisrael]

Continued thanks. My issue with Penn, to be frank, is I don't really want to raise a family near philly. If people want to tell me why I'm crazy, I'm all ears. I actually went there with my kid brother as they and Michigan were courting him, and we got to sit in on classes, etc. It was really awesome, but still in the middle of a city. That said, I know NYU and columbia are in the middle of a city but I'm willing to have a long commute to stay where I am. I'm not sure I'd want to move to philly just to go to a school I consider no better than UVA or Michigan for my wants. That said, if it was between Penn and Cornell it would be a tough decision.

Do you think I'm more likely to get into Penn than UVA with an ED? I was under the impression UVA is very splitter friendly for EDs.

[holydonkey]

Continued thanks. My issue with Penn, to be frank, is I don't really want to raise a family near philly. If people want to tell me why I'm crazy, I'm all ears. I actually went there with my kid brother as they and Michigan were courting him, and we got to sit in on classes, etc. It was really awesome, but still in the middle of a city. That said, I know NYU and columbia are in the middle of a city but I'm willing to have a long commute to stay where I am. I'm not sure I'd want to move to philly just to go to a school I consider no better than UVA or Michigan for my wants. That said, if it was between Penn and Cornell it would be a tough decision.

Do you think I'm more likely to get into Penn than UVA with an ED? I was under the impression UVA is very splitter friendly for EDs.

You definitely have a better shot at UVA as a splitter, I just thought being closer to NYC might be a goal and Penn places more people in NYC than UVA. Try for UVA if you like it more, C-ville is a great town and certainly family friendly. If you went to Penn though, you wouldn't have to live in the city. There are great family communities in Jersey like Cherry Hill and Moorestown right across the river that would be cheaper and nicer and it's only a 15-20 min commute by car and about 15-20 mins to Philly on the NJ Transit train. That being said, again, if you like UVA more, I'd try for there.