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Hey everyone,

So I've been on Law School Predictor and every other law school acceptance calculator available on the internet, but I need to hear from some real people concerning variables not considered in those calculators.
I'll be applying early decision in September to Columbia Law (aka The Dream).
I'm a low gpa splitter: 3.2 BUT 178 lsat, which I worked my butt off to get. My poor gpa stems from my first 2 years of college at an Ivy notorious for grade DE-flation, but I took a gap year after sophomore year to teach English in China and figured out that I wanted to be a lawyer, and I really buckled down when I returned to school for my last two years. I intend to include much of that explanation in my personal statement. In terms of work experience, I've been working as a paralegal at a NYC law firm all summer, and I'm hoping to attend cooking school part time while working during this intermittent year. Cooking is a genuine passion of mine, but I think it's also a resume booster (extracurricular/interesting hobbies). Additionally I'm URM female and international in that my family is from west Africa, and I was born there.

Other schools I'm considering: Harvard (alumna relative), Yale (not a snowball's chance), NYU, Chicago, Georgetown, Northwestern, UPenn

Hope that's enough info, lemme know if more is needed, and please be brutally honest.
Thanks for your help!

I think you're in for a wild ride. An AA with a 178 is pretty rare. That GPA definitely will hurt you, but having that 178 LSAT keeps you from being an auto-ding from anywhere, in my opinion. I really can't give you very specific odds, because as a URM severe splitter it just isn't predictable. I would blanket the T14 and you will get some very good acceptances. Polish up the rest of your app and I think you'll be happy with your results, I just don't know what they'll be.

Enjoy HYS (or Columbia if you want)

shoeshine wrote:Enjoy HYS (or Columbia if you want)

TITCR.

PSUdevon wrote:

shoeshine wrote:Enjoy HYS (or Columbia if you want)

TITCR.

HYS is overly optimistic if you are straight out of undergrad. Even with that LSAT YS are out and H is likely a possibility only if you have some good work experience. Every single AA male I know who got into Harvard with a sub 3.5 GPA had a few years of good work experience and the chances are a bit more bleak for an AA female.

Every single AA male I know who got into Harvard with a sub 3.5 GPA had a few years of good work experience and the chances are a bit more bleak for an AA female.

wouldn't the chances be better for an AA female than male; more of a commodity?

londonluvlie wrote:

Every single AA male I know who got into Harvard with a sub 3.5 GPA had a few years of good work experience and the chances are a bit more bleak for an AA female.

wouldn't the chances be better for an AA female than male; more of a commodity?

Never looked into it, but it seems AA males get the biggest boost. If your ivy notorious for deflation happens to be Princeton, that's another + for your app.

terrybhs06 wrote:

PSUdevon wrote:

shoeshine wrote:Enjoy HYS (or Columbia if you want)

TITCR.

HYS is overly optimistic if you are straight out of undergrad. Even with that LSAT YS are out and H is likely a possibility only if you have some good work experience. Every single AA male I know who got into Harvard with a sub 3.5 GPA had a few years of good work experience and the chances are a bit more bleak for an AA female.

LSN shows a female AA with similar numbers who got into S last year straight out of undergrad. I wouldn't write off any schools. In fact, every URM I could find with numbers approximating OP's got into at least one of HYS, with and w/o work experience. Not a lock, but far from being "out."

..

acrossthelake wrote:

londonluvlie wrote:

Every single AA male I know who got into Harvard with a sub 3.5 GPA had a few years of good work experience and the chances are a bit more bleak for an AA female.

wouldn't the chances be better for an AA female than male; more of a commodity?

I'm under the impression that AA females tend to do have better objective stats than males and that thus there is a bigger boost for males. Unsure about this, though.

This is my understanding.

birdlaw117 wrote:

acrossthelake wrote:

londonluvlie wrote:

Every single AA male I know who got into Harvard with a sub 3.5 GPA had a few years of good work experience and the chances are a bit more bleak for an AA female.

wouldn't the chances be better for an AA female than male; more of a commodity?

I'm under the impression that AA females tend to do have better objective stats than males and that thus there is a bigger boost for males. Unsure about this, though.

This is my understanding.

+1. OP, I think Yale and Stanford are out due to the low GPA, but HLS or CLS will most likely bite.

lack of WE won't really hurt too much imo.

YS are a little less certain (depends on your app as well as the #s). i'd bet $ you'll get CLS and HLS.

I mean, how many AA 178s are there a year?

..

acrossthelake wrote:

bport hopeful wrote:I mean, how many AA 178s are there a year?

Well in 2004 it was 30 for the 170s, so less than 30 is my rough broad guess.

-http://www.jbhe.com/news_views/51_gradu ... _test.html

I knew it was low, but didnt know how low, so I didnt want to throw numbers around.

Yeah, Id say youre likely in.

acrossthelake wrote:

bport hopeful wrote:I mean, how many AA 178s are there a year?

Well in 2004 it was 30 for the 170s, so less than 30 is my rough broad guess.

-http://www.jbhe.com/news_views/51_gradu ... _test.html

Wow..

acrossthelake wrote:

bport hopeful wrote:I mean, how many AA 178s are there a year?

Well in 2004 it was 30 for the 170s, so less than 30 is my rough broad guess.

-http://www.jbhe.com/news_views/51_gradu ... _test.html

Yea, I've gotten the impression from admissions here at HLS that there are barely a handful of AA males who get a LSAT above HLS' (175+ range) median.

OP, in light of the changed thread title, I wouldn't be surprised if you got a half-ride scholarship (Butler) or a full-ride scholarship (Hamilton) at Columbia Law.

Moxie wrote:OP, I think Yale and Stanford are out due to the low GPA, but HLS or CLS will most likely bite.

This is basically my expectation, but I do think you still have a small chance at Y and S. H is probable, CLS is likely. But again, those are just guesses. Your cycle will almost surely have some weird surprises. I hope it's an acceptance at HYSC and a rejection from Georgetown, or something like that.

You should blanket to t14 (if that many schools) and enjoy what comes to you. You have a legit shot anywhere.

I agree with everyone else, blanket the T14 and you'll get some great results. How'd you like China?

There are likely less than 10 AA males in the country with a 178+

Enjoy Harvard.

Just curious. Columbia is certainly a strong school and NYC is the bomb, but why is it your dream?

Rock-N-Roll wrote:Just curious. Columbia is certainly a strong school and NYC is the bomb, but why is it your dream?

Guessing maybe because she didn't think H was as possible as it is. It used to be my dream when I wanted to be next commissioner of the NBA though, so maybe that's in play too.

Kabuo wrote:

Rock-N-Roll wrote:Just curious. Columbia is certainly a strong school and NYC is the bomb, but why is it your dream?

Guessing maybe because she didn't think H was as possible as it is. It used to be my dream when I wanted to be next commissioner of the NBA though, so maybe that's in play too.

Maybe you're right about that. I was only trying to raise the point that in terms of culture, I think H and C are quite similar.

Just for fun since you opened the door: Two other powerful sports-attorneys.



UVA grad.

--ImageRemoved--
(Leigh Steinberg)

Boalt grad (ahem).

Kabuo wrote:

Rock-N-Roll wrote:Just curious. Columbia is certainly a strong school and NYC is the bomb, but why is it your dream?

Guessing maybe because she didn't think H was as possible as it is. It used to be my dream when I wanted to be next commissioner of the NBA though, so maybe that's in play too.

Why Columbia is the DREAM:
1. NYC
2. international law
3. if I decide to get a joint/dual degree, 3 year JD/MBA program and 4 year JD/LLB program with the London School of Economics.

I genuinely have very little interest in attending HYS, and I'm not even applying to Stanford cause I'm an east coast girl. Also, I went to Princeton as an undergrad, and the Harvard atmosphere seems a little too similar for my liking, and Yale is similarly too small and isolated. Not to say, of course, that if I got into either I would turn it down, but I'm applying ED to Columbia because it really is my first choice.

Thanks everyone who took the time to respond, you've given me more hope than I should probably have.

I read that there was a LSN index calculator, but I haven't been able to find it, so if anyone could post the link, I'd be eternally grateful. Also anyone with scholarship/financial aide advice/predictions?