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[jumister5889]

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[FlanAl]

improve your gpa. significantly higher? you mean by like missing 3 less questions? keep that lsat and raise your gpa to like a 3.4 apply ED to a top 10 and profit.

[jumister5889]

what are my chances right now? Could i apply this cycle and still go to a decent (t14) school in the fall?

[CanadianWolf]

Trying to improve upon a one-time LSAT exam sitting score of 174 seems unnecessary especially since Yale & Harvard are unlikely to admit one with such a low GPA. A 174 LSAT is above all law school's medians--including Harvard & Yale. Plus a 174 on the LSAT qualifies you to teach for all LSAT prep companies.

Whether or not you will be admitted to Top-14 law schools may depend upon how your low GPA is viewed. If seen as a sign of immaturity or poor work ethic, then your chances are diminished. If due to other obligations--such as work or family care--then you should have very good chances at several Top 14 law schools, in my opinion.

[jumister5889]

my low gpa is most certainly a result of an extremely poor work ethic, crippling immaturity, and an insatiable desire to party. In fact, i have almost no clue how to apply to law school. My friends suggested i take the LSAT and i scored well.

That said, would admissions look at my second semester GPA for this year if i apply this year? Is there anyway I could spin my GPA to look like it was the result of something other than slacking? Lastly, I was suspended from undergrad freshman year, but i no longer have any kind of a criminal record. How would that affect my applications?

All in all, it looks like i should stay at school another semester and apply ED for class of 2015?

But say that wasn't the most desireable option, what should I do right now to try to get into Georgetown or Northwestern? Could I attend somewhere like cornell and transfer up?

[let/them/eat/cake]

Ed to Penn or UVA and cross your fingers. NW is out w/o work experience. Don't go somewhere intending to xfer.

[jumister5889]

so i ED this cycle hoping to go in the fall of this year?

[CanadianWolf]

You must disclose all criminal matters--even those which have been sealed or expunged. Depending upon the facts & circumstances, these may harm your chances of admission; regardless, they certainly won't help & they will amplify maturity & judgment concerns.
Academic suspensions & other disciplinary actions also must be disclosed & will not help your application chances if due to partying, poor work habits and/or poor judgment.
The good news is that most law schools will love your LSAT score, but it is unlikely that those most receptive to your application will be in the Top 6. The best advice offered above is to apply ED to Penn or Virginia, in my opinion, if finances are not a major concern.

[patrickd139]

OP, your posts raise questions that are going to make predicting your cycle almost impossible. There are some things you can't control (like the suspension and criminal record, which will both have to be disclosed on most applications), but there are things you have working for you. The criminal misstep (presumably) happened several years ago, so if you kept things together since then and stayed out of trouble, time, distance, and a well-written addendum that takes responsibility for your actions can go a long way.

As for the GPA, is there any way you can take a year off after graduation? Kill your classes this semester and maybe add a few more fluff classes to buoy your GPA before you officially graduate, dragging it into this summer if possible. This is one of the few times that I'd advise not to retake. As posters above have noted, it's a solid LSAT score; raising it will not help your chances enough to offset the likelihood that you will score lower on the retest.

Good luck!

[jumister5889]

im not too concerned with top 6 but top 14 would be a must for me to attend law school. basically what im asking is, what are my chances of going to at T14 this coming fall with the following:

174 lsat, 3.125 gpa, 2 felony and 1 misdemeanor charges (charges dropped and arrest expunged), 1 year suspension (with the criminal charges happened within the first 8 weeks of my undergrad freshman year), pretty damn good recommendation letters tho.

If my chances are good, how do i do it?

[09042014]

im not too concerned with top 6 but top 14 would be a must for me to attend law school. basically what im asking is, what are my chances of going to at T14 this coming fall with the following:

174 lsat, 3.125 gpa, 2 felony and 1 misdemeanor charges (charges dropped and arrest expunged), 1 year suspension (with the criminal charges happened within the first 8 weeks of my undergrad freshman year), pretty damn good recommendation letters tho.

If my chances are good, how do i do it?

Probably out of Penn with all those negative softs.

Try ED at UVA. Then if that fails ED to Georgetown.

[jumister5889]

gtown and uva this year? I would actually prefer to go to georgetown over uva. would my chances be good?

btw the felonies were trivial. it was for making fake ids. the misdemeanor was minor in possession of alcohol. since then ive stayed out of trouble and have had a decent academic career. my major GPA is probably somehwere around 4.0 where my electives are somewhere around 1.0. I have many departmental awards and accolades. do those help?

[09042014]

gtown and uva this year? I would actually prefer to go to georgetown over uva. would my chances be good?

btw the felonies were trivial. it was for making fake ids. the misdemeanor was minor in possession of alcohol. since then ive stayed out of trouble and have had a decent academic career. my major GPA is probably somehwere around 4.0 where my electives are somewhere around 1.0. I have many departmental awards and accolades. do those help?

Apply to Georgetown and see what happens. Your numbers put you in their range. But that felony might count for worse than you think. There might be C&F issues because it's fraudulent in nature.

[jumister5889]

what are c&f issues?

[09042014]

what are c&f issues?

You might have trouble getting past the bar because of your crime.

[jumister5889]

even if the charges were dropped and the arrest record was expunged?

[09042014]

even if the charges were dropped and the arrest record was expunged?

I honestly don't know.

[jumister5889]

im also an asian-american. thats an over represented minority isnt it? def not urm?

[09042014]

im also an asian-american. thats an over represented minority isnt it? def not urm?

Yea it won't have an effect either way .