Top Law Schools

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 12:35 pm**

Hey peeps! I'm applying for the 2011-2012 Cycle. I have a 4.06/170 from a Top Public, and I'm a non-URM Hispanic. What are my chances at HYS if I apply early? Thanks!

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 12:41 pm**

Is 4.06 your LSAC GPA? If so, you're lucky - not many schools give A+s

I would say you will most likely get at least 1 of HYSC - probably S or C, but perhaps one of the other two.

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 12:45 pm**

Ya, it's my LSAC GPA. My University GPA is a 3.96. You're right, I'm very lucky. One of my two departments gave quite a few A+s!

Thanks for your response! I appreciate it!

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 12:57 pm**

You seem like someone HYSC would like. That's about the depth of knowledge you can expect here since semi-URM cycles are unpredictable, especially with an above 4.0 GPA. Worth the app fees.

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 12:58 pm**

Also, are you:

A) A US citizen / permanent resident, white, who lived in South America.
B) A citizen of a South American country, Hispanic.
C) A US citizen / permanent resident, Hispanic / of Hispanic decent.

The common view around here is that, in terms of diversity bumps, C > B > A, but that even C is much less of a bump than being AA.

I had assumed you were B, in my previous post.

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 1:04 pm**

Woops, sorry I wasn't clear! I'm a US citizen of South American decent. I'm glad that C is the greatest of the three! I have noticed on LSN that non-URM Hispanic cycles are unpredictable... sometimes the person seems to get the URM Hispanic boost, and sometimes little boost if any at all :/

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 2:53 pm**

I think your best shot is at S.

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 4:25 pm**

Cool, thanks. I'm holding out hope for H because I saw on LSN that someone got in this year with a 4.04 and a 170... but maybe she had really cool softs.

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 4:29 pm**

Just play up the 'South American' link, volunteer there over summer if possible. They get hot for intelligent foreigners.

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 8:11 pm**

Haha more like intelligent, diverse Americans (I was born here.) I do have some Hispanic-related internships so hopefully that will help!

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 8:31 pm**

Is there anyway to ask your school to grant you A+'s for classes you scored in that range for LSAC, even if they don't do it normally?

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 8:37 pm**

Haha I don't think so, mostly because

1) LSAC doesn't have an A+ "range". It's up to the specific department at the specific school to decide the cut-offs for A+s. And in a couple of cases, I was meant to get an A+ and the teacher "forgot" to give me one, and then didn't want to go through the trouble of changing the grade. It's pretty arbitrary.
2) It would be pretty hard to convince a professor or department to change their policy to help you get admitted to law school. But I guess it's worth a try?

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 9:12 pm**

LaCumparsita wrote:Cool, thanks. I'm holding out hope for H because I saw on LSN that someone got in this year with a 4.04 and a 170... but maybe she had really cool softs.

Hello. Nice to see you on TLS too!

Like I said before, I think you have a great shot on HYSC and you should apply to all of them. Since you have that Latin American status, you can play that up as much as you can with your personal statement/internships/etc. I also don't think it's necessary to get your school to change your grades to A+....don't law schools look at your LSAC GPA? So as long as LSAC gives you a 4.06, that is the GPA that law schools will see on your application.

When I applied this cycle (I'm a non-URM), people said I had the most chance at CLS/SLS and little to no chance at HLS/YLS, but those are two of the schools that hadn't responded to me by the time I withdrew in April. And in fact, I got in at HLS and WLed at YLS. Looking at our LSAT score (170), it's reasonable to say CLS/SLS first and then MAYBE HLS/YLS, but I think it's healthy to keep in mind that admissions can be crapshoot. Just put your best foot forward, market your softs, and keep your GPA up for a little bit longer. If you're set on going to law school in 2012, I'd suggest also applying to a few other schools just in case even though I think you have a great shot on HYSC. I just don't know if I would recommend playing Russian Roulette like I did, lol.

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 9:28 pm**

Hey girl! I just joined today! Or rather, I took the plunge into the deep dark waters of law school application obsession haha

I really appreciate all your encouragement. You are my inspiration and I hope that my cycle will be similar to yours. But not to worry, I will definitely apply to other schools. In fact, I will quote you- Being a relative reverse splitter, I'm extremely anxious about the unpredictability of my cycle, so I'm not taking any chances. You probably wrote a beautiful PS and it sounds like you had really awesome internships that set you apart.

On a side note, I'm pretty embarrassed that I didn't mention to you that I'm a semi-URM, but my reasoning was that I'm a non-traditional URM so I don't even know if it will give me any sort of a boost. But as you said, maybe I can still show diversity

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 10:02 pm**

I can't believe nobody has pointed out the egregious Columbia trolling.

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 10:14 pm**

I'm sorry to say that I still don't understand what trolling means. I said that my top choices were HYSC because I didn't want to sound TOO pretentious by just saying HYS. I did not go to Columbia undergrad nor do I have any connections to Columbia, but I think most would agree that it's an awesome school. So, if I understand you correctly, no "trolling" intended.

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 10:18 pm**

LaCumparsita wrote:I'm sorry to say that I still don't understand what trolling means. I said that my top choices were HYSC because I didn't want to sound TOO pretentious by just saying HYS. I did not go to Columbia undergrad nor do I have any connections to Columbia, but I think most would agree that it's an awesome school. So, if I understand you correctly, no "trolling" intended.

It means you were puffing up the value/prestige of Columbia by including it with HYS(C)

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 10:26 pm**

Haha, so I understood correctly. No trolling intended or necessary. After all, Columbia is number 4 behind HYS, so it makes sense to tack it on.

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 10:29 pm**

LaCumparsita wrote:Haha, so I understood correctly. No trolling intended or necessary. After all, Columbia is number 4 behind HYS, so it makes sense to tack it on.

Egregious Columbia trolling

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 10:34 pm**

aliarrow wrote:
LaCumparsita wrote:Haha, so I understood correctly. No trolling intended or necessary. After all, Columbia is number 4 behind HYS, so it makes sense to tack it on.
Egregious Columbia trolling

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 10:35 pm**

L O L. Ok then, for everyone else who posts, what are my chances at HYS?

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 10:43 pm**

I think you could get any or none. 50/50+ at all though

Posted: **Mon May 02, 2011 12:02 am**

LaCumparsita wrote:Hey girl! I just joined today! Or rather, I took the plunge into the deep dark waters of law school application obsession haha

I really appreciate all your encouragement. You are my inspiration and I hope that my cycle will be similar to yours. But not to worry, I will definitely apply to other schools. In fact, I will quote you- Being a relative reverse splitter, I'm extremely anxious about the unpredictability of my cycle, so I'm not taking any chances. You probably wrote a beautiful PS and it sounds like you had really awesome internships that set you apart.

On a side note, I'm pretty embarrassed that I didn't mention to you that I'm a semi-URM, but my reasoning was that I'm a non-traditional URM so I don't even know if it will give me any sort of a boost. But as you said, maybe I can still show diversity

I think you'll have much better luck than me! I hope your cycle turns out well or even better than mine (seeing as I only really heard back from 1/4 of my schools...). Either way, you're in a great place with your stats. It's true that some URMs get more boosts than others (PR, Mexican, AA), but you're a competitive candidate regardless just based on stats and I'm sure PA/DS/LOR/etc.

Posted: **Mon May 02, 2011 12:29 am**

Confused7 wrote:
LaCumparsita wrote:Hey girl! I just joined today! Or rather, I took the plunge into the deep dark waters of law school application obsession haha

I really appreciate all your encouragement. You are my inspiration and I hope that my cycle will be similar to yours. But not to worry, I will definitely apply to other schools. In fact, I will quote you- Being a relative reverse splitter, I'm extremely anxious about the unpredictability of my cycle, so I'm not taking any chances. You probably wrote a beautiful PS and it sounds like you had really awesome internships that set you apart.

On a side note, I'm pretty embarrassed that I didn't mention to you that I'm a semi-URM, but my reasoning was that I'm a non-traditional URM so I don't even know if it will give me any sort of a boost. But as you said, maybe I can still show diversity
I think you'll have much better luck than me! I hope your cycle turns out well or even better than mine (seeing as I only really heard back from 1/4 of my schools...). Either way, you're in a great place with your stats. It's true that some URMs get more boosts than others (PR, Mexican, AA), but you're a competitive candidate regardless just based on stats and I'm sure PA/DS/LOR/etc.

You got into Harvard...

Posted: **Mon May 02, 2011 12:37 am**

AssumptionRequired wrote: You got into Harvard...

I was referring to the fact that I only heard back from 1/4 schools, and therefore essentially couldn't choose between comparable schools/financial aid. Just hoping that OP will have more options with more schools and possible scholarship money.

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