Top Law Schools

The good: a 176, 6 years of work experience and success at a Fortune 200, UG major was Engineering. I have won writing awards, so I feel good about my PS abilities.

The bad: 2.6 with a downward trend, including a 12 month gap between when my last class was taken and when my degree was granted (I took a year to resolve some incompletes).

My assessment is that I won't have a shot at a top-14 without a miracle, so I might as well try to combine my Virginia residency with ED to apply to UVa. But I would not do this if I had a legitimate shot at any other top 14 school.

Thoughts?

You are a perfect fit for northwestern I would ED there

That GPA is rough, though maybe Northwestern ED will bite with that great LSAT and WE.

I would think your only realistic shot at the T14 is with ED, though possibly some late acceptances after WL's. Though maybe a good shot at NU (not sure if you would need an ED, others would have better info).

Best prospects would probably be GULC, NU, UVa.

jcunni5 wrote:You are a perfect fit for northwestern I would ED there

If he prefers UVA, the 176 + engineering + residency + ED will give him a good shot. If I were him I'd try it because UVA instate + low cost of living will save significant cash compared to NU.

Otherwise NU will likely take him via ED.

Okay this is actually encouraging. Thanks to the folks who are responding.

If I had realistic hope of any of NYU/Columbia/Penn/Chicago then I'd have to visit them and do more research before I was comfortable with an ED to NU or UVa. But sounds like you all agree that that ain't happening, and I think you're 100% right. Thanks again!

I know several people who got into Columbia with 2.6 - 2.7 and 175+ but they all ED'd to Columbia.

testmachine45 wrote:I know several people who got into Columbia with 2.6 - 2.7 and 175+ but they all ED'd to Columbia.

Yeah, its possible. But its a high risk because he can't ED anywhere else. Thus he either gets Columbia or gets shut out. Hard gamble, but you never know.

I mean here's the thing, to be safe he would want to ED to Georgetown. This guarantees him a shot in the biglaw game.

I had a 176 and a 2.6!!!


Top 14 lol, I didn't make it in anywhere in the top 50.


But I also didn't have the luxury of applying early, and your WE is better than mine.


Give it a shot, but I think people overestimate the chances of splitters with <2.75 GPAs.

Apply ED to UVA on Sept 1--you'll hear back by the 15th. If that doesn't work, you can still ED to your second choice (sounds like the consensus rallies for Northwestern)

lebroniousjames wrote:Apply ED to UVA on Sept 1--you'll hear back by the 15th. If that doesn't work, you can still ED to your second choice (sounds like the consensus rallies for Northwestern)

+1. this is why you read through threads before posting TCR. That's a PSA from the Department of Redundancy Department.

let/them/eat/cake wrote:

lebroniousjames wrote:Apply ED to UVA on Sept 1--you'll hear back by the 15th. If that doesn't work, you can still ED to your second choice (sounds like the consensus rallies for Northwestern)

+1. this is why you read through threads before posting TCR. That's a PSA from the Department of Redundancy Department.

ah give him/her a break, the TLS search query is deceptively cryptic

lebroniousjames wrote:

let/them/eat/cake wrote:

lebroniousjames wrote:Apply ED to UVA on Sept 1--you'll hear back by the 15th. If that doesn't work, you can still ED to your second choice (sounds like the consensus rallies for Northwestern)

+1. this is why you read through threads before posting TCR. That's a PSA from the Department of Redundancy Department.

ah give him/her a break, the TLS search query is deceptively cryptic

o not how i meant that to be taken. it was just one of those moments where i realized, after about to post immediately upon reading the OP, that i should actually read shit, lest i be a duplicative bastard.

autoding wrote:I had a 176 and a 2.6!!!


Top 14 lol, I didn't make it in anywhere in the top 50.


But I also didn't have the luxury of applying early, and your WE is better than mine.


Give it a shot, but I think people overestimate the chances of splitters with <2.75 GPAs.

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Wow. That totally surprises me. With a 176 I am really surprised you didn't get at least some acceptances to T14 (or at least T20), nevermind T50.. I imagine some schools are more likely to go for the extreme split than others, so maybe this had more to do with where you applied than anything else (or some other aspect of your application). Then again, I think it does highlight the fact that GPA is a very important factor in the admissions process. I think with a .3-.4 increase in my GPA (yes, a large amount) my admissions cycle would have been totally different than it was. I guess that is pretty obvious though.. With a 3 or 4 point increase in my LSAT I think it would have made about the same (dramatic) difference, especially given the cusp score I was at (high enough to be respectable by most standards as a first and only effort, but too low to contend for the very top schools, especially in combo with my mediocre- by law application standards- GPA).

You had a pretty rough cycle for those numbers... Must have applied way too late.

autoding wrote:I had a 176 and a 2.6!!!
Top 14 lol, I didn't make it in anywhere in the top 50.
But I also didn't have the luxury of applying early, and your WE is better than mine.
Give it a shot, but I think people overestimate the chances of splitters with <2.75 GPAs.

Lawquacious wrote:

autoding wrote:I had a 176 and a 2.6!!!


Top 14 lol, I didn't make it in anywhere in the top 50.


But I also didn't have the luxury of applying early, and your WE is better than mine.


Give it a shot, but I think people overestimate the chances of splitters with <2.75 GPAs.

----------------------
Wow. That totally surprises me. With a 176 I am really surprised you didn't get at least some acceptances to T14 (or at least T20), nevermind T50.. I imagine some schools are more likely to go for the extreme split than others, so maybe this had more to do with where you applied than anything else (or some other aspect of your application). Then again, I think it does highlight the fact that GPA is a very important factor in the admissions process. I think with a .3-.4 increase in my GPA (yes, a large amount) my admissions cycle would have been totally different than it was. I guess that is pretty obvious though.. With a 3 or 4 point increase in my LSAT I think it would have made about the same (dramatic) difference, especially given the cusp score I was at (high enough to be respectable by most standards as a first and only effort, but too low to contend for the very top schools, especially in combo with my mediocre- by law application standards- GPA).

I'm happy where I ended up anyways, I just wanted to say that with that low of a GPA your results will vary widely, so apply early and be prepared for anything.


All the other splitters will be doing the same and applying to all the same "splitter-friendly" schools so that just adds to the randomness.

let/them/eat/cake wrote:

lebroniousjames wrote:

let/them/eat/cake wrote:

lebroniousjames wrote:Apply ED to UVA on Sept 1--you'll hear back by the 15th. If that doesn't work, you can still ED to your second choice (sounds like the consensus rallies for Northwestern)

+1. this is why you read through threads before posting TCR. That's a PSA from the Department of Redundancy Department.

ah give him/her a break, the TLS search query is deceptively cryptic

o not how i meant that to be taken. it was just one of those moments where i realized, after about to post immediately upon reading the OP, that i should actually read shit, lest i be a duplicative bastard.

*not how I should have taken it

Lawquacious wrote:Wow. That totally surprises me. With a 176 I am really surprised you didn't get at least some acceptances to T14 (or at least T20), nevermind T50.. I imagine some schools are more likely to go for the extreme split than others, so maybe this had more to do with where you applied than anything else (or some other aspect of your application). Then again, I think it does highlight the fact that GPA is a very important factor in the admissions process. I think with a .3-.4 increase in my GPA (yes, a large amount) my admissions cycle would have been totally different than it was. I guess that is pretty obvious though.. With a 3 or 4 point increase in my LSAT I think it would have made about the same (dramatic) difference, especially given the cusp score I was at (high enough to be respectable by most standards as a first and only effort, but too low to contend for the very top schools, especially in combo with my mediocre- by law application standards- GPA).

Sub 2.7/2.8 is rough. But I really think that not getting into at least a T1 on autodng's part was purely because of not applying early.