Columbia Law School Forum

[Godfather]

Hey everyone, I am a junior at a public college in NYC pursuing a Finance degree with an English major and I am doing this in 3 years instead of 4 (so I am in my second year at school, will graduate spring 2012). What are my chances at getting into columbia Early Action with a 172 lsat and lsac 3.59 gpa (I kno it's low but I had my first death in the family of my close uncle and it was pretty much a family crisis which happened the may of my first year in school and affected my spring 2010 gpa and fall 2010 and caused me to get a C in my second level bio class which brought my cum. gpa down significantly). I am heavily involved in political campaigns and such though and have worked at law and finance firms. I can get nice LOR and such. What are my chances of getting into Columbia with these stats? What about NYU, Cornell, Penn, or other T-14s? I mainly want Columbia just because I dreamed of this.

So basically 3.59 gpa/172 lsat. Chances at cls, nyu, cornell, penn, and other T-14. I will apply to all T-14s.

[123kl]

It's mostly WLs/rejections based on last year's LSN. This person got in ED though:

http://lawschoolnumbers.com/taylor/jd

[QuailMan]

do you have a 172 LSAT score right now or just on PTs? Ever thought about sticking around for another semester or 2 to get your GPA up?

[CanadianWolf]

Try lawschoolpredictor.com

[ladybug89]

Is there any way you can do a fourth year? Another year of good grades would definitely pull up your GPA, if that's feasible. If the issue is money, I'd say it's a worthwhile investment to get into a law school that's worth the even more massive tuition investment you'll be making later.

[Heat]

Your mostly looking at a rejection at Columbia. As for your question about T-14s... I'd think Penn on down is definitely plausible with your numbers. I got into UVA with same GPA and 1 point less on the LSAT this cycle. I did ED but your softs are likely better then mine. Regular decision applying through the T-14 would likely net you some acceptances (though little in the way of $$$) and an ED would definitly improve your chances wherever your trying to go. Also, since you can't improve your GPA much but you do have a decent amount of time to work on your LSAT (and you said you were busy while you presumably would have been studying for it) - any chance you can up it a little more through studying?

[Miracle]

according to lawschoolpredictor you're a "weak consider". I would not extend my graduation, and pay extra tuition to raise my GPA, I would instead work harder to raise my LSAT if I was in your shoes. You will definitely crack T-14 even with your current numbers.

[Godfather]

Thanks for all the input. I will try to raise my lsat but I am way ahead credit wise so if I did wait til the 2012 cycle, I would have a 3.7 gpa, which is only 1 point higher and would have to work 1 year. Would that 1 point significantly improve my chances? I am also going to ED to Columbia this fall. As for my lsat, I will try to raise it but I have been scoring within the same range on pts, so lets see. Do law schools take into acc if you have two semesters of 4.0's consecutively before applying? I mean its an upward trend and shows you can handle the work.. (I really wish I freaking kept my grades up, I bet I could be looking at Harvard right now..... )

3.59/172 would get rejected even if ED?

Also, I visited the lawschoolpredictor just now and wow its scary.. I hope it's not that accurate.

[Miracle]

Thanks for all the input. I will try to raise my lsat but I am way ahead credit wise so if I did wait til the 2012 cycle, I would have a 3.7 gpa, which is only 1 point higher and would have to work 1 year. Would that 1 point significantly improve my chances? I am also going to ED to Columbia this fall. As for my lsat, I will try to raise it but I have been scoring within the same range on pts, so lets see. Do law schools take into acc if you have two semesters of 4.0's consecutively before applying? I mean its an upward trend and shows you can handle the work.. (I really wish I freaking kept my grades up, I bet I could be looking at Harvard right now..... )

3.59/172 would get rejected even if ED?

Also, I visited the lawschoolpredictor just now and wow its scary.. I hope it's not that accurate.

Why is it scary? You're "consider" at most schools which gives you 50/50 chance. If you can raise your GPA to 174+ you would improve your chances, especially with ED, but you need that 174+. I don't think a point in your case will help you all that much. You GPA is pretty good.

[Godfather]

Thanks for all the input. I will try to raise my lsat but I am way ahead credit wise so if I did wait til the 2012 cycle, I would have a 3.7 gpa, which is only 1 point higher and would have to work 1 year. Would that 1 point significantly improve my chances? I am also going to ED to Columbia this fall. As for my lsat, I will try to raise it but I have been scoring within the same range on pts, so lets see. Do law schools take into acc if you have two semesters of 4.0's consecutively before applying? I mean its an upward trend and shows you can handle the work.. (I really wish I freaking kept my grades up, I bet I could be looking at Harvard right now..... )

3.59/172 would get rejected even if ED?

Also, I visited the lawschoolpredictor just now and wow its scary.. I hope it's not that accurate.

Why is it scary? You're "consider" at most schools which gives you 50/50 chance. If you can raise your GPA to 174+ you would improve your chances, especially with ED, but you need that 174+. I don't think a point in your case will help you all that much. You GPA is pretty good.

I will definitely try my hardest and hopefully I can get in with ED, I wish I worked harder on my gpa.. And im scared because I really wanted to always attend columbia. Thanks for the advice though, I really appreciate it.

[Godfather]

Also I read a lot about schools not wanting younger candidates because they are not yet mature so I really hope my 3 year undergrad won't be the reason I get rejected because that would really tick me off. I have a bunch of credits through summer and high school courses and my parents have to support my sister next year for her undergrad so I really had no choice.. should I write a addendum about this to them?

[StillHerexxx]

I was in college when my brother and sister were, and I am sure most other people were. Also, I think it would come off immature. Countless people put themselves through college, so complaining that you "had to" graduate early so your parents could put your sister through college would be a bad angle. Not worth writing an addendum for.

Get your GPA up for however much longer you are there and retake the LSAT in june or october. If you aren't applying until 2012 it will be well worth doing. Plenty of time to raise your score.

[dr123]

Yo man, I graduated in three years too. I think the best thing to do when you graduate early is to get out there in the real world for a bit and experience life outside of the "college bubble", You'll gain a lot of perspective on life and it will help you decide where you want to take your life

[Godfather]

Thanks for the input so I wont write the addendum. I will apply the 2011 cycle and hopefully I can get in with proper Lsat numbers.

[AztecaRex]

If it puts your mind at ease at all, I am graduating early as well, and have been accepted at Harvard and other T-14s. Just make sure not to come across as immature in your PS, and I'm sure you'll be fine.