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3 LSATs (168 - Sep 09, 168 - Dec 09, 173 - Jun 10)
GPA: 3.6 LSDAS
International applicant
2 yrs of work experience in finance at a bulge bracket firm (still working)
Received decent LORs from my ex employers

I am very thrilled with my June 2010 LSAT score, but not sure how much a) multiple lsat scores, and b) reapplying would hurt my chances at the top schools...

would appreciate if you could share your thoughts! thanks!

bump...

bump after 2 months...

any advice?
maybe i should ED?

would appreciate any advice...

Ed to CCN if you want, but i would look for money at the lower t14 or t20.

I think you're looking good for Chicago and NYU. Columbia could be a bit of a toss-up. ED might help there, if you're willing to pay sticker.

Check out LSN if you haven't already.

as an international applicant OP will be paying sticker everywhere.

Moxie wrote:I think you're looking good for Chicago and NYU. Columbia could be a bit of a toss-up. ED might help there, if you're willing to pay sticker.

Check out LSN if you haven't already.

Doesn't NYU average LSATs? If so then he's actually a 3.6 170 which is below both medians. I don't know if Chicago averages though.

kevin261186 wrote:as an international applicant OP will be paying sticker everywhere.

Not true.

Sentry wrote: Doesn't NYU average LSATs? If so then he's actually a 3.6 170 which is below both medians. I don't know if Chicago averages though.

Anecdotal evidence has been said that NYU sometimes averages and sometimes doesn't.

Well, looking at LSN it looks like those numbers offer you good chances at all of CCN.

Your best shot is Chicago or NYU. Columbia is probably out. If you are comfortable paying sticker I would consider ED to either of the two.

I had similar stats and I got WL'd at all three (3.56 / 163,166,174). You should be competitive for money at MVP.

It's hard getting a grasp on the effect of multiple scores, but I think the 3 scores will hurt your shot at CCN--especially at schools were they already do average a lot of scores like NYU.

Richie Tenenbaum wrote:Your best shot is Chicago or NYU. Columbia is probably out. If you are comfortable paying sticker I would consider ED to either of the two.

I had similar stats and I got WL'd at all three (3.56 / 163,166,174). You should be competitive for money at MVP.

It's hard getting a grasp on the effect of multiple scores, but I think the 3 scores will hurt your shot at CCN--especially at schools were they already do average a lot of scores like NYU.

163->166->174 is not close to 168 -> 168-> 173. The latter is in the 95th percentile the whole time.

CG614 wrote:

Richie Tenenbaum wrote:Your best shot is Chicago or NYU. Columbia is probably out. If you are comfortable paying sticker I would consider ED to either of the two.

I had similar stats and I got WL'd at all three (3.56 / 163,166,174). You should be competitive for money at MVP.

It's hard getting a grasp on the effect of multiple scores, but I think the 3 scores will hurt your shot at CCN--especially at schools were they already do average a lot of scores like NYU.

163->166->174 is not close to 168 -> 168-> 173. The latter is in the 95th percentile the whole time.

What's your point? He's still below median with both LSAT and GPA if they average. With just two scores, I would argue that bigger gaps are actually preferable since it's easier to make the argument that the low number is non-representative. With three scores total with two being on the low end (like both of us), it's a different scenario though.

Why do you think my situation is not close to OP's? There's not too many 3 score people out there in the 99th percentile with a similar GPA...

Richie Tenenbaum wrote:

CG614 wrote:

Richie Tenenbaum wrote:Your best shot is Chicago or NYU. Columbia is probably out. If you are comfortable paying sticker I would consider ED to either of the two.

I had similar stats and I got WL'd at all three (3.56 / 163,166,174). You should be competitive for money at MVP.

It's hard getting a grasp on the effect of multiple scores, but I think the 3 scores will hurt your shot at CCN--especially at schools were they already do average a lot of scores like NYU.

163->166->174 is not close to 168 -> 168-> 173. The latter is in the 95th percentile the whole time.

What's your point? He's still below median with both LSAT and GPA if they average. With just two scores, I would argue that bigger gaps are actually preferable since it's easier to make the argument that the low number is non-representative. With three scores total with two being on the low end (like both of us), it's a different scenario though.

Why do you think my situation is not close to OP's? There's not too many 3 score people out there in the 99th percentile with a similar GPA...

B/C your 174 can be viewed as an outlier as much as your 163. A 173 is more in the range of a 168.

CG614 wrote:

Richie Tenenbaum wrote: Why do you think my situation is not close to OP's? There's not too many 3 score people out there in the 99th percentile with a similar GPA...

B/C your 174 can be viewed as an outlier as much as your 163. A 173 is more in the range of a 168.

If someone from admissions is trying to make sense of the multiple scores and foregoing just the reaction of taking the highest score both trains of thought still seem to lead to the same thing: just averaging them. Do you think they are less likely to average a high score that has lower scores closer to its range? I would think that would lead more often to a situation to where the scores are averaged, since they all seem to be in the same range.

In the past, either NYU or Columbia actually worded their averaging policy in their FAQ about multiple LSAT scores, giving a possible exception to those with something like a 9 or 10 point different and who wrote an addendum.

thanks for the replies everyone!

yeah i am still undecided about to which school to ed... i want to aim for columbia/nyu, since my wife's interested doing masters in one of the art schools in ny, but don't want to end up being waitlisted at all 3 schools due to bad decision on ED...
for the note, i applied to columbia last yr with 168/168 with the same gpa, and was waitlisted / reserved until end of June when I was taken off the waitlisted and rejected.
since i was well below the median for both gpa and lsat back then, but still waitlisted until well into the cycle, i am maybe hopeful with a higher lsat score + another yr of work experience in finance...? (albeit multiple lsat & reapplication)

any thoughts on this?

oh and international applicants are eligible for scholarships i believe (merit based). but it is rare...

mueh wrote:i want to aim for columbia/nyu, since my wife's interested doing masters in one of the art schools in ny, but don't want to end up being waitlisted at all 3 schools due to bad decision on ED...

NYU and CLS both average. Each will take the highest score in some cases - but I don't know that they would find an LSAT addendum persuasive when you had two prior scores, both in the high 160s. Even if they took your 173, most 173 / ~3.6s were WLed last year at both schools. Chicago, however, takes the highest score, seems promising for your numbers on LSN, and is your best shot at CCN. Unless your wife has to live in NY, I would ED there.

If your wife is dead-set on attending a NY school, I would apply to CLS and NYU of course, I would also consider Penn. A friend of mine works in NY but has a wife working in Philly - it's not convenient, but it's very doable. Penn takes your highest score.

mueh wrote:for the note, i applied to columbia last yr with 168/168 with the same gpa, and was waitlisted / reserved until end of June when I was taken off the waitlisted and rejected. since i was well below the median for both gpa and lsat back then, but still waitlisted until well into the cycle, i am maybe hopeful with a higher lsat score + another yr of work experience in finance...? (albeit multiple lsat & reapplication)

I'm very sorry to say this, but Columbia waitlists everyone. To illustrate: http://columbia.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/0910/. Last year they WLed quite a substantial chunk of the pool that was below both medians - in fact, that's the largest portion of the graph - but none of the non-URMs on LSN got in. Your new score puts you on par with their students - but CLS has a courtesy waitlist, and I wouldn't take a WL decision there to mean that you were on the fence.

OP should ED NYU.