3.54, 170, what are my chances? Forum

[legallybrunette12345]

i'm trying to figure out what my chances are for a t14 law school.
i'm currently an undergrad at an ivy league school
softs - VP of a pre-law fraternity, involved in asian american activist movements on campus, interned with the local government and will be interning with a pro-bono legal defense fund this summer.
gpa is at a 3.54, and my practice tests are averaging at a 170.
i'm thinking -
reach - nyu/columbia
targets - cornell, duke, northwestern, chicago, penn
any other suggestions?
?

[théo]

Chicago is going to be a reach for you too.

[Mike12188]

Chicago is going to be a reach for you too.

And Penn

[Muenchen]

First, come back when you have a REAL LSAT score. No one is really going to give you substantive advice with just your PT scores.

And based on this, like other people have said, Chicago should definitely be among the reaches, and possibly also Penn.

Assuming these end up being your actual stats, blanket the T15 and maybe throw in apps to CCN.

[lawyerwannabe]

If you do actually score a 170, taking a quick glance at LSN would tell you that...

With an ED application you will probably get these results:

CCN : Out (may get a consolation spot on a WL)
MVPD : In
CG : In

With a RD application you will probably get these results:

CCN : See above
MVPD : Rejected / WL
CG : WL / In


The only thing that may swing things slightly in your favor is your Ivy undergrad. Sometimes that can be a bit of a wild card in admissions to top law schools.

Also, with a 172+ LSAT, and ED application to CCN (more so CN excluding Columbia) could result in acceptance.

Note: With Penn and Duke have nearly identical class sizes as well as class medians, if Penn is a reach, then Duke is also a reach (so add it to the reach list!).

[wojo96]

No WE and low-ish GPA = no NU.

[dpk711]

come back when you have a REAL LSAT score

[lawyerwannabe]

Also, NW with those stats and no work experience is WL / reject.

Thus, if you intend on applying RD to all of those school to see Fin Aid and/or scholarship offers, your school list categorized as reaches or targets looks like this:

Reach : Columbia, NYU, Chicago, NW
Semi - Reach: Penn, Duke (once again, you could gain acceptance because of your Ivy undergrad but stats very borderline)
Target : Cornell

[CanadianWolf]

Until you have an actual LSAT score, it is difficult to offer a reasonable guess. lawschoolnumbers.com & lawschoolpredictor.com may be helpful to you.

Which Ivy & what major ? I ask because most Ivies are known for grade inflation & a 3.54 from several Ivies may be considered low. Once you register with LSDAS & have an actual LSAT score, you will receive a summary that includes the average GPA for law school applicants from your university.

[CanadianWolf]

Who administered your practice LSAT tests ? If it was self-administered, then you may not score as high on an actual sitting for the LSAT due to nerves, test-day pressures & strictly enforced time limits.

P.S. If you score in the 160s, you need to consider geographic preferences since almost all non-Top 14 law schools are regional with respect to placement.

[dpk711]

Who administered your practice LSAT tests ? If it was self-administered, then you may not score as high on an actual sitting for the LSAT due to nerves, test-day pressures & strictly enforced time limits.

P.S. If you score in the 160s, you need to consider geographic preferences since almost all non-Top 14 law schools are regional with respect to placement.

Yes, and further even non-HYS T14 are regional to some degree.

[Salty]

.

[legallybrunette12345]

Until you have an actual LSAT score, it is difficult to offer a reasonable guess. lawschoolnumbers.com & lawschoolpredictor.com may be helpful to you.

Which Ivy & what major ? I ask because most Ivies are known for grade inflation & a 3.54 from several Ivies may be considered low. Once you register with LSDAS & have an actual LSAT score, you will receive a summary that includes the average GPA for law school applicants from your university.

- Cornell undergrad, which is known for its grade deflation.


Would applying ED anywhere up my chances?

[Mike12188]

Until you have an actual LSAT score, it is difficult to offer a reasonable guess. lawschoolnumbers.com & lawschoolpredictor.com may be helpful to you.

Which Ivy & what major ? I ask because most Ivies are known for grade inflation & a 3.54 from several Ivies may be considered low. Once you register with LSDAS & have an actual LSAT score, you will receive a summary that includes the average GPA for law school applicants from your university.

- Cornell undergrad, which is known for its grade deflation.


Would applying ED anywhere up my chances?

Everyone says their UG is known for grade deflation. Thing is, Adcomms don't care. Well at least there is plenty of evidence to suggest it doesn't help.

ED would substantially increase your chances and you're most likely looking at sticker at all T14 anyway. I'd ED to an MVP.

[théo]

Until you have an actual LSAT score, it is difficult to offer a reasonable guess. lawschoolnumbers.com & lawschoolpredictor.com may be helpful to you.

Which Ivy & what major ? I ask because most Ivies are known for grade inflation & a 3.54 from several Ivies may be considered low. Once you register with LSDAS & have an actual LSAT score, you will receive a summary that includes the average GPA for law school applicants from your university.

- Cornell undergrad, which is known for its grade deflation.


Would applying ED anywhere up my chances?

Is your major something like biochem or more like gender studies?

Also since it seems like you are Asian and there has been some confusion on the boards about this before, you are not considered an URM, so don't count on a boost.

[wojo96]

The only thing that may swing things slightly in your favor is your Ivy undergrad.

Not to be that guy, but anecdotally, I don't think Cornell is the kind of Ivy that's going to give you a bump.

[stylishlaw]

This has been discussed before. Undergrad gives pretty much no boost. That said, maximize your chances of getting into Michigan.

[Muenchen]

The only thing that may swing things slightly in your favor is your Ivy undergrad.

Not to be that guy, but anecdotally, I don't think Cornell is the kind of Ivy that's going to give you a bump.

This. Similarly anecdotally, it's basically HYP or Whatever Else when it comes to UG helping your app.

[théo]

The only thing that may swing things slightly in your favor is your Ivy undergrad.

Not to be that guy, but anecdotally, I don't think Cornell is the kind of Ivy that's going to give you a bump.

This. Similarly anecdotally, it's basically HYP or Whatever Else when it comes to UG helping your app.

+MIT

[DaftAndDirect]

Until you have an actual LSAT score, it is difficult to offer a reasonable guess. lawschoolnumbers.com & lawschoolpredictor.com may be helpful to you.

Which Ivy & what major ? I ask because most Ivies are known for grade inflation & a 3.54 from several Ivies may be considered low. Once you register with LSDAS & have an actual LSAT score, you will receive a summary that includes the average GPA for law school applicants from your university.

- Cornell undergrad, which is known for its grade deflation.


Would applying ED anywhere up my chances?

Everyone says their UG is known for grade deflation. Thing is, Adcomms don't care. Well at least there is plenty of evidence to suggest it doesn't help.

ED would substantially increase your chances and you're most likely looking at sticker at all T14 anyway. I'd ED to an MVP.

Since when does ED-ing anywhere "substantially" increase your chances? In the best cases I've read it's only a "feather on the scale" - per Johann at NU - and in the worst case I've read it's nothing more than a marketing gimmick to net a few more above median LSATs per cycle - per Ann Levine of lawschoolexpert.com.

[Corwin]

The only thing that may swing things slightly in your favor is your Ivy undergrad.

Not to be that guy, but anecdotally, I don't think Cornell is the kind of Ivy that's going to give you a bump.

This. Similarly anecdotally, it's basically HYP or Whatever Else when it comes to UG helping your app.

From what I've been able to glean from LSN, MIT can give a bump in certain situations.

[Snape]

The Only thing that will matter that you can change anymore is LSAT! IVY deflated grading blah blah blah means nothing...unless it makes you feel better...otherwise you are hoping for a 172 with that GPA to have a good shot at regualr admissions to anything below Cornell...a 170 shot for a realistic ED shot anywhere...hit 169 and not much hope for anything but maybe Michigan/Cornell/GTown

[upwardtrend]

Would you be interested in attending Cornell? Since its where you got your undergrad, I think you'd get in there- most schools show some slight favoritism to their own (and I believe its been confirmed that Cornell accepts a higher percentage of their own undergrads?) Plus your numbers make Cornell a target anyway in my opinion.

[Mike12188]

Until you have an actual LSAT score, it is difficult to offer a reasonable guess. lawschoolnumbers.com & lawschoolpredictor.com may be helpful to you.

Which Ivy & what major ? I ask because most Ivies are known for grade inflation & a 3.54 from several Ivies may be considered low. Once you register with LSDAS & have an actual LSAT score, you will receive a summary that includes the average GPA for law school applicants from your university.

- Cornell undergrad, which is known for its grade deflation.


Would applying ED anywhere up my chances?

Everyone says their UG is known for grade deflation. Thing is, Adcomms don't care. Well at least there is plenty of evidence to suggest it doesn't help.

ED would substantially increase your chances and you're most likely looking at sticker at all T14 anyway. I'd ED to an MVP.

Since when does ED-ing anywhere "substantially" increase your chances? In the best cases I've read it's only a "feather on the scale" - per Johann at NU - and in the worst case I've read it's nothing more than a marketing gimmick to net a few more above median LSATs per cycle - per Ann Levine of lawschoolexpert.com.

You clearly don't read these boards too much do you. There is a reason "ED to UVA" is the most common response to an splitter advice thread. Just because it may not help at some schools does not mean it is a gimmick everywhere, which is why I advised him to ED to an MVP.