Top Law Schools

My expanded info:
1) UGPA: 3.83 (The first year I had tough family issues and had a 2.8 -- the next 6 semesters I got straight As -- hoping they will look at my upward trend)

2) Masters from the London School of Economics with Merit (high honors)

3) 4+ years of work experience in high level positions in public service & politics (very good resume)

4) Low LSAT. Also have low SAT (1040) but still graduated Summa in undergrad and High Honors from LSE. Am considering an addendum pointing out that I don't take standardized test well. Also have letters of rec from professors that talk about my excellent performance in the classroom.

What are my chances at T14? Also, is the addendum worth it?

seriously, retake the LSAT. just retake it once and if you still don't do so hot, go from there. but you should retake

otherwise no chance at a t14

What should I aim for on the LSAT? How many points do I need to increase?

austinv wrote:What should I aim for on the LSAT? How many points do I need to increase?

i'd say for cornell, probably a 165 and a really early application, and that's nowhere near guaranteed because your GPA isn't THAT high, though it's decent. with that GPA i'd say a 167 to have a good chance at cornell and georgetown. probably above that for the rest of the t14. i'm guessing you're not a URM?

No, I am not a URM.

I thought schools like Berkley and Penn looked at higher GPA and lower LSATs. MY GPA is a 4.0+ after my freshman year where I had a lot of really hard family stuff going on that I explain in my personal statement.

Does none of that really matter? I thought grade trends were looked at.

austinv wrote:No, I am not a URM.

I thought schools like Berkley and Penn looked at higher GPA and lower LSATs. MY GPA is a 4.0+ after my freshman year where I had a lot of really hard family stuff going on that I explain in my personal statement.

Does none of that really matter? I thought grade trends were looked at.

You may have an outside shot at Berkeley. What was the caliber of your UG school and major?

Top 50 Undergrad School
Political Science

Does a Master's count for nothing? I thought that would be a good boost.

austinv wrote:No, I am not a URM.

I thought schools like Berkley and Penn looked at higher GPA and lower LSATs. MY GPA is a 4.0+ after my freshman year where I had a lot of really hard family stuff going on that I explain in my personal statement.

Does none of that really matter? I thought grade trends were looked at.

yeah....that's kind of a myth. overall GPA matters more than anything, and schools like penn and berk will look at high GPAs, yes, but only if they are 4.0s or close to it. and even then they will be looking at people with 164-165+/3.9-4.0, not 160+. your GPA is not there and neither is your LSAT and you will not get a t14 with those #s, unless it's berkeley on a crapshoot

austinv wrote:Top 50 Undergrad School
Political Science

Does a Master's count for nothing? I thought that would be a good boost.

eh, no not really. PhD is a pretty good soft, masters not so much

Retake, barring a serious narcotics overdose in the Admissions Office, you have no chance at a T14.

austinv wrote:Top 50 Undergrad School
Political Science

Does a Master's count for nothing? I thought that would be a good boost.

No, your master's deg. won't matter too much. I would have said you would have a much better shot with a really top tier UG or lib. arts school, but a 4.0 in 7/8 semesters in poli sci from a T50 is not blindingly impressive.

bdubs wrote:

austinv wrote:Top 50 Undergrad School
Political Science

Does a Master's count for nothing? I thought that would be a good boost.

No, your master's deg. won't matter too much. I would have said you would have a much better shot with a really top tier UG or lib. arts school, but a 4.0 in 7/8 semesters in poli sci from a T50 is not blindingly impressive.

Even if OP graduated from HYP, T14 wasn't going to happen.

Okay, I haven't actually taken it yet. I am taking the LSAT June 6. 160 was my second diagnostic after some studying.

I wanted to know if I topped out there, what my chances were. So, keep studying and break 165? Is that possible is three weeks? I'm still missing more than half on games and can't ever finish reading comp. I guess on the last 1 1/2.

Advice?

austinv wrote:Okay, I haven't actually taken it yet. I am taking the LSAT June 6. 160 was my second diagnostic after some studying.

I wanted to know if I topped out there, what my chances were. So, keep studying and break 165? Is that possible is three weeks? I'm still missing more than half on games and can't ever finish reading comp. I guess on the last 1 1/2.

Advice?

Oh my goodness. Please come back with a real score.

austinv wrote:Okay, I haven't actually taken it yet. I am taking the LSAT June 6. 160 was my second diagnostic after some studying.

I wanted to know if I topped out there, what my chances were. So, keep studying and break 165? Is that possible is three weeks? I'm still missing more than half on games and can't ever finish reading comp. I guess on the last 1 1/2.

Advice?

Advice is to cancel if you can't get through games and have to guess on more than 2 or 3 in RC. I would hit the books hard and take again in October if you do end up without a score.

austinv wrote:Okay, I haven't actually taken it yet. I am taking the LSAT June 6. 160 was my second diagnostic after some studying.

I wanted to know if I topped out there, what my chances were. So, keep studying and break 165? Is that possible is three weeks? I'm still missing more than half on games and can't ever finish reading comp. I guess on the last 1 1/2.

Advice?

Don't take the June test. Take an absence and try in Sept. You absolutely need to get LG fixed. Missing more than half isn't acceptable. RC guessing on the last two isn't terrible, but you should keep practicing, and you'll get faster.

You've got a good GPA, and if you fix LG, which by the way is the most easily learned section, you'll have a good score.

Don't fuck up your application by having a 160 on your report because you took it too early.

dpk711 wrote:

austinv wrote:Okay, I haven't actually taken it yet. I am taking the LSAT June 6. 160 was my second diagnostic after some studying.

I wanted to know if I topped out there, what my chances were. So, keep studying and break 165? Is that possible is three weeks? I'm still missing more than half on games and can't ever finish reading comp. I guess on the last 1 1/2.

Advice?

Oh my goodness. Please come back with a real score.

lolololol

Get a 167+, and you're looking at BU, BC, UIUC, IU-B, UM, GW, WUSTL, USC, UCLA, Texas, and maybe Vandy, with money.

Get a 170+, and you're looking at the T14 from Michigan through GTown. UChicago is probably even within reach with ED. You're also looking at serious $$$ from the rest of the T1.

Get a 172+, and CCN is likely, maybe with money, and definitely with major $$$ at the lower T14. HYS is even within range.



Also, the above advice is credited. Sit June out and study for October. Hell, even waiting until February might be worth it. Every point matters on the LSAT.