Now that I have an actual LSAT score...! Forum

[yurishima]

I posted a while ago to get an idea of what was possible, but I did so with speculation on my LSAT. I wasn't able to bring it up as high as I would have liked, but I managed a 172. That gives me a 3.4/172.

So now with concrete numbers, what should I be looking at?

The Almighty Predictor doesn't look too favorable when it comes to the T14. A lot of those red and yellow colors! Can my softs be a game-changer? One year teaching in China, two years in Japan; summa/honors thesis (about law! (...and literature)); decent extras, including a judo black belt, volunteering at a local dojo, managing English clubs abroad; what I imagine to be good letters.

I anticipate that NW will be a common recommendation, but is that my only option? I have my eye on UVa. Could ED make this a possibility? If NW is my only chance to break the 14, then I'll take it, but I'd prefer something a little closer to home (FL). Is Duke within range? Predictor is giving me a light green on Michigan for some reason. Within range?

[vespertiliovir]

An ED to UVA would probably give you a pretty good shot. Are you a VA resident?

[yurishima]

Florida. Went to UF. Is your avatar in admiration of Tebow or do you intend to humiliate him through his tears?

[vespertiliovir]

Florida.

Whoops, RC fail!

And definitely humiliate.

[pertristis]

An ED to UVa is your best shot. NU is up there too. Don't forget about GULC. With that GPA, eliminate Duke, Boalt, and anything T6 (Chicago seems to be the only school in the T6 that is at all willing to take more than a few sub-3.5 GPAs, and most of those were with better LSATs).

You know the drill: apply early. I had the same GPA and a higher LSAT, didn't (really, I couldn't), and was shut out of the T14 for straight admits—got into two places off of the WL.

(And as a side note, any picture of Tim Tebow crying makes me smile.)

[vespertiliovir]

(And as a side note, any picture of Tim Tebow crying makes me smile.)

[yurishima]

But what about the softs!! Won't someone please think of the SOFTS!?!?!?!?!?!

[Cleareyes]

Can my softs be a game-changer?

Absolutely not. I did not see "Cured cancer," "Built yurts" or "Happen to be Bruce Wasserstein's grandson" in there. They're not bad softs and I think you have a shot in the T14 because your numbers aren't necessarily AWFUL, but they ain't gamechangers.

[yurishima]

Can my softs be a game-changer?

Absolutely not. I did not see "Cured cancer," "Built yurts" or "Happen to be Bruce Wasserstein's grandson" in there. They're not bad softs and I think you have a shot in the T14 because your numbers aren't necessarily AWFUL, but they ain't gamechangers.

...so you're saying that if I WERE Bruce Wasserstein's grandson, that would improve my chances? Interesting....!

[pertristis]

I won't quite go so anti-soft as some others. Sure, it is a numbers game. With that said, though, I was cleared off of a WL (and I'm not speaking of GULC, for those playing at home) at a T14 while other people with terribly similar numbers are either still on the WL or have been outright rejected.

There could be several reasons why I made it when others didn't. It could be demographics (although, other than being from the Plains States, there's nothing really to set me apart there). It could be my phenomenally brilliant writing skills, skills not betrayed by my post here. But, I think it was a certain soft that did it.

With that said, it's still a numbers game. Softs will only set you apart from others with similar numbers ... unless you're building yurts, apparently. Silly me, I was building junks the entire time, and I should have been building yurts.

[prezidentv8]

But what about the softs!! Won't someone please think of the SOFTS!?!?!?!?!?!

--ImageRemoved--

^common TLS advice on this topic.

But hey, you never know if softs could put you over the edge on a borderline app. I say it makes a difference on the margins, and your experiences are at least moderately awesome.

[rayiner]

You're not that much of a splitter. You have a solid shot at Michigan/Virginia/Penn with a good app.

[yurishima]

Silly me, I was building junks the entire time, and I should have been building yurts.

You fool!! I mean, just the name "junk" should clue you into their relevance!

...BUT YURTS!

[yurishima]

...and maybe you would have had even better luck had you not dissed a great football player, and a great man (TT).

[nillumin]

...and maybe you would have had even better luck had you not dissed a great football player, and a great man (TT).

amen.

[kazu]

Good luck Yuri!!!

[pertristis]

Given that I got into one of the schools at which you're looking, I think I did okay! (Plus, the director of admissions at said school is a huge college basketball and MLB fan; I doubt that my lack of like for Tebow played a roll in my admission.)

With that said, I have no problems with Tebow as a football player. (Perhaps that's because I really couldn't care less about college football.) My religious and political views do not comport well with his, and given how open he is about them, it's fairly easy for me to root against him.

But I digress, as this has nothing to do with your original post: good luck to you next cycle. I'm going to one of your top choices next year, and I'll be happy to see you there, too.

[NU_Jet55]

...and maybe you would have had even better luck had you not dissed a great football player, and a great man (TTT).

FTFY

[Fark-o-vision]

Can my softs be a game-changer?

Absolutely not. I did not see "Cured cancer," "Built yurts" or "Happen to be Bruce Wasserstein's grandson" in there. They're not bad softs and I think you have a shot in the T14 because your numbers aren't necessarily AWFUL, but they ain't gamechangers.

Apparently "wrote a nearly universally panned bunch of books that appeal to crybaby teenage girls" is a great soft, too.