3.4, 170 Forum

[sanssoin]

less than great softs, straight out of university with only retail work experience, south asian so i'm thinking not a URM

3.4 is my university gpa, but i have an associates from community college and my gpa there was 3.0

applying to GWU ED, then georgetown, BC, BU, columbia, NYU, fordham, and UVA

[crumpetsandtea]

DO NOT apply to GWU ED unless their ED program gives you a full ride or something. You can get GULC or UVA with your numbers and possibly an ED application.

Is your LSAC final transcript GPA a 3.4 or lower? This is pretty important. With a 3.4 you might have a shot at Michigan as well. I'm assuming you want DC/NY though, so IMO you should be shooting for UVa or GULC.

[sanssoin]

thanks. i'm pretty sure the GWU ED acceptance does give a full ride, which is my main incentive for applying there. otherwise my top choice would be UVA or georgetown

i calculated my LSAC final transcript GPA minus my community college gpa because i don't have that transcript available right now, and it's 3.33

[Kabuo]

DO NOT apply to GWU ED unless their ED program gives you a full ride or something. You can get GULC or UVA with your numbers and possibly an ED application.

Is your LSAC final transcript GPA a 3.4 or lower? This is pretty important. With a 3.4 you might have a shot at Michigan as well. I'm assuming you want DC/NY though, so IMO you should be shooting for UVa or GULC.

Isn't 171 kind of important for UVA? And you have no shot at Michigan without blowing them away in your PS. I applied ED there last year with a 3.2/172, had no good softs but some volunteer work, an average PS, and only retail WE. Waitlisted, retook in Feb and got a 176, and never got off the waitlist. If you ED anywhere, make it UVA. GW ED admits typically have #s like 3.9/169. This is from someone on the phone in admissions at GW last year when I called. As far as GULC, that might be a good shot.

[crumpetsandtea]

thanks. i'm pretty sure the GWU ED acceptance does give a full ride, which is my main incentive for applying there. otherwise my top choice would be UVA or georgetown

i calculated my LSAC final transcript GPA minus my community college gpa because i don't have that transcript available right now, and it's 3.33

Do you not have your transcripts submitted to LSAC yet? If not, dude...do that ASAP. Ditto with LORs and writing your PS. If you do have it submitted to LSAC, check THAT number, don't calculate it yourself.

I say this because LSAC counts ALL your college credits, so your GPA is probably more like ~3.2 than ~3.4. IMO you'd be better off applying to GULC or UVa ED than GWU. If they offer a full ride with their ED program, then they're most likely looking for candidates who are above both of their medians, which I don't believe you are.

My suggestion in terms of strategy would be to look at which of GULC/UVa you most prefer and (assuming you aren't TOO debt averse) apply ED there. If you are worried about debt, then don't ED and take your chances with RD, but I don't see you getting too much money from either school for RD either. Have you taken a look at LSN yet?

UVA: http://uva.lawschoolnumbers.com/applica ... r=desc&p=7
GULC: http://gulc.lawschoolnumbers.com/applic ... r=desc&p=7

For UVA it seems like most/all of the candidates who got in with your stats were ED. For GULC it seems like it could go either way: A/WL/R if you do RD, but probably a lock if you do ED.

[sach1282]

http://lawschoolnumbers.com/oscodasa

170/3.46, ED to UVA and got in last cycle. There's a couple others, some exactly 170/3.4, and it seems like all (or at least most) were ED.

[crumpetsandtea]

http://lawschoolnumbers.com/oscodasa

170/3.46, ED to UVA and got in last cycle. There's a couple others, some exactly 170/3.4, and it seems like all (or at least most) were ED.

Y'got scoooppeeed Also, OP has something more like a 3.2-3.3, given that his current GPA w/o the CC grades is a 3.33 and the CC grades are ~3.0

[sanssoin]

i am really worried about debt.. what do you think about any of the other schools in terms of money? maybe one of the boston schools or fordham. alternatively, what you do think my chances are of getting accepted RD at gwu and possibly getting money from them?

http://lawschoolnumbers.com/oscodasa

170/3.46, ED to UVA and got in last cycle. There's a couple others, some exactly 170/3.4, and it seems like all (or at least most) were ED.

Y'got scoooppeeed Also, OP has something more like a 3.2-3.3, given that his current GPA w/o the CC grades is a 3.33 and the CC grades are ~3.0

i'm a she

[paul34]

.

[Seneca]

i am really worried about debt.. what do you think about any of the other schools in terms of money? maybe one of the boston schools or fordham. alternatively, what you do think my chances are of getting accepted RD at gwu and possibly getting money from them?

http://lawschoolnumbers.com/oscodasa

170/3.46, ED to UVA and got in last cycle. There's a couple others, some exactly 170/3.4, and it seems like all (or at least most) were ED.

Y'got scoooppeeed Also, OP has something more like a 3.2-3.3, given that his current GPA w/o the CC grades is a 3.33 and the CC grades are ~3.0

i'm a she

Unfortunately, a 3.4/170 likely won't be getting $ anywhere in the T14. There are schools (IUB, WUSTL) that tend to award an LSAT score above 168 - and of course consider schools in your preferred region (you'd be better off doing that than going to WUSTL with a plan to end up in Phoenix, for instance) - but otherwise you are looking at debt. I agree you don't have good enough chances at GW to burn your ED (I'm guessing they'll keep you waiting for a decision longer than you can afford to wait to ED elsewhere). 171+ is pretty credited for UVA (and the earlier the better), but assuming you can apply today, I think ED is worth a shot, with the short turnaround. But keep in mind that Mich/GULC are worth an ED, and may have deadlines, while UVA does not. Hurry up and get everything in to LSAC, and then make a choice about debt, and a choice for ED. Good luck.

[Tiago Splitter]

Unfortunately, a 3.4/170 likely won't be getting $ anywhere in the T14.

Good advice. The decision on where to attend generally comes down to a balance between job prospects and debt. Big money goes to people who are above both medians, and you have to go through several dozen schools in the US News rankings before finding a median GPA that low. Your LSAT, though, is top 14 material. For those of us with lower GPAs and higher LSATs, taking on a fair amount of debt is usually the right answer. You just aren't likely be offered enough money at slightly lower ranked schools to turn down the T-14.

[joemoviebuff]

I have the exact same numbers, but with two years of also working in a firm. Got into UVA with an ED in Feb. 2009. Attending now because I got lucky and they offered me a scholarship to defer a year. I like your chances if you ED now.

[boalthopeful]

i have your exact stats (and am south asian too actually), and am aiming for berkeley, but happy with ucla/northwestern/usc

[Zabini]

i have your exact stats (and am south asian too actually), and am aiming for berkeley, but happy with ucla/northwestern/usc

Berkeley and UCLA are gonna be tough with a 3.4, the California schools realllyyy love high GPAs. I was 3.4/170 + URM + CA resident, was rejected by Boalt and waitlisted by UCLA (at CLS now). I was a really late applicant, which hurt, but yeah you can look at LSN and see what that part of the graph looks like. gl.

As for OP, I'm gonna agree with the others saying don't use your ED on GW. The 105k scholly they give is nice, but with DC CoL you're still looking at 100k+ debt (assuming you're footing it all with loans). I think its def. better to ED Michigan or Virginia and take the 50k extra debt with the significantly improved job prospects.

[beachbum]

Unfortunately, a 3.4/170 likely won't be getting $ anywhere in the T14.

I dunno, I ended up with a little money at Duke (ED). I know a few others with similar stats who got small (under $10k/year) scholarships around the T14. It's not a game-changer in terms of your overall debt load, but every little bit helps.

[Dinho]

I was accepted ED to UVA back in September with the same numbers, but November/early December is relatively late by UVA ED standards. If you decide UVA is really what you want then you might have to wait a cycle, which is what I ended up doing.

[Hopefully2012]

And you have no shot at Michigan without blowing them away in your PS.

I beg to differ. My PS was not stellar. I was a business/finance major in college who did not "read for fun"(read: my writing skills are probably subpar compared to the rest of t14 applicants). In fact, I noticed a minor typo in one of my essays. My 170 was a retake. With a decrease in applicants this year, UMich is worth an app. I think last year's LSN shows that UMich is becoming one of the less numbers obsessed/more "holistic" black holes as well.

[crumpetsandtea]

And you have no shot at Michigan without blowing them away in your PS.

I beg to differ. My PS was not stellar. I was a business/finance major in college who did not "read for fun"(read: my writing skills are probably subpar compared to the rest of t14 applicants). In fact, I noticed a minor typo in one of my essays. My 170 was a retake. With a decrease in applicants this year, UMich is worth an app. I think last year's LSN shows that UMich is becoming one of the less numbers obsessed/more "holistic" black holes as well.

FWIW, though, you have a 3.4 solid and OP seems to have between a 3.2 and 3.33 GPA, which might make it harder. I do agree it's worth a shot though.

[Hopefully2012]

FWIW, though, you have a 3.4 solid and OP seems to have between a 3.2 and 3.33 GPA, which might make it harder. I do agree it's worth a shot though.

Good point. RC fail.