Top 20 material? Forum

[rsd16]

Hi. This is my first post and I'm glad to be apart of such a resourceful forum.

I just graduated (C/O 2010) and am applying for law school for the Fall 2011 term.

Here are my stats:

GPA: 3.4 (UC Berkeley)
LSAT: 169 (diagnostic only; real test in October and I feel confident)
Ethnicity: East Indian

Half of my undergrad was at a CC and the last two years were at Berkeley. I have a ton of extracurricular work at the CC, but only had one internship and was apart of only one club at Berkeley. I think I have a pretty decent story. First generation American. I have always worked long hours at my parents grocery store since I was 13, and the fact that it is in a very poor neighborhood has inspired me to become a civil rights lawyer.

Also, are East Indians (Punjabi) considered an under represented minority? Will my ethnicity "help" me?

All in all, what do you guys think of my chances at the following schools:

USC
UCLA
NYU
UC Berkeley Boalt Hall
Columbia (dream school)

I know no one knows with certainty about anyone's admissions chances, but I'd like any and all opinions.

Thanks!

[dukelawguy144]

Get an actual score and then come back to us

[Grizz]

Get an actual score and the come back to us

[vespertiliovir]

Can already say though that your GPA is probably too low for Berkeley.

[dukelawguy144]

Unless you get about a 172, your GPA will hurt you. You have no shot at NYU or Columbia. Also, East asian is not a minority.

but like I said, once you get a score, you will be able to actually determine where you can and cannot get in. But right now, a t6 is not looking good

[CanadianWolf]

Try lawschoolpredictor.com to assess your chances with various LSAT scores. But, as the above posters wrote, your GPA is a bit low for all of your targeted schools & everything is speculation without an actual LSAT score.

[dukelawguy144]

I think I have a pretty decent story. First generation American. I have always worked long hours at my parents grocery store since I was 13,

No one, including law schools, cares about that. Just work on getting a 172+ to make up for your sub par GPA and you will have a shot at USC and UCLA. Otherwise, I would not count a t20

[Azmatt]

I think I have a pretty decent story. First generation American. I have always worked long hours at my parents grocery store since I was 13,

No one, including law schools, cares about that. Just work on getting a 172+ to make up for your sub par GPA and you will have a shot at USC and UCLA. Otherwise, I would not count a t20

Despite how credited their responses may or may not be, TLS posters have an awesome sense of tact...

On a more positive outlook, many posters here have made huge jumps from their initital diagnostic to what they actually score on the LSAT with proper studying. The LSAT is very "learnable."

If you're initial diagnostic is 169, then you're in a great position to make a solid improvement. With that said, you will want at least a 174 to feel that you have a good shot.

Your softs sound alright, but they're not going to make a huge difference. At least, they won't hurt you. Hard numbers are the key indicator it seems. So just study and get a 174+ and go to a top8 and be happy. Just know that youre LSAT is going to be the strongest factor that will influence your chances at this point. So it does you no good to average 170s and score a 165. Hence their harsh comments.


(with a 174)
USC admit
UCLA consider
NYU consider
UC Berkeley Boalt Hall consider
Columbia (dream school) weak consider

(with a 165)

You're just some guy with an ok GPA who didn't score in the 98 percentile.


Just don't score below 169 and you're top 20. Get it done...

[rsd16]

^ Thank you for the encouraging and realistic advice, Azmatt. Much appreciated.

[romothesavior]

Get an actual score and the come back to us

[romothesavior]

Although if it was a legit diag, a 169 is very legit. You are looking at CCN if you study hard on the LSAT.

[clintonius]

top8

jesus balls *another* tier?

[madcherrylimas]

You and I have very similar numbers. I also graduated from cal - my GPA there was a 3.7, but my LSDAS GPA, counting my fails in community college, came out to a 3.4. I got a 170 on the LSAT. I'm Asian American as well - you and I belong to a class of possibly over represented minorities, especially at the UCs. It doesn't help at all.

From your list of schools, NYU and Berkeley rejected me. Berkeley was especially swift. My professors there had told me that it's harder to get into graduate programs at Cal if you had done undergrad there, but it kind of stung to get my rejection about two weeks after I sent my app in. Columbia waitlisted me for what felt like forever. According to some of my lawyer friends, Columbia likes to waitlist everyone.

USC and UCLA are your best bets, I would say... but they would still be a bit of a reach, especially if the schools are as overflowing with applicants next year as they were this year. But if your softs are strong enough and you write one helluva personal statement, I think it should be do-able. I was waitlisted there as well.

As for getting into a top 20 school? I think you'd for sure get into schools like Vanderbilt and BU. If you work hard enough at your application packet, I think - and it might be very late into the cycle - someone higher will bite. It's a bit of a crapshoot, and it's hard to say where you'll end up, especially when you're a splitter like you and I are. I applied to about 17 schools in tier one. Although I was still wait-listed at lower ranking schools, I eventually got accepted by a top 10 school.

[xpert]

URM is not about being minority which you are but you are not underrepresented like blacks,mexicans,(native) indians. I know i know but it is what it is. 3.4 is not a bad gpa, its just not great. without actual LSAT hard to predict anything but clearly something in 170s reqd. solid post bac WE helps, working as kid in grocery store..well commendable yes, countable NAHHH. so unless you blow away lsat(175+) you might wana consider W/E for few years maybe in your choice of law and apply then specially if you wana apply to t6. And everybody seems to want to do public service and civil rights and come from hard background and so on but well numbers matter. just my 2 cents hope it helps good luck