3.25 gpa/178 lsat Forum

[gm2012]

I am hoping to get an honest assessment of my chances at non HYS top 10 schools.
My stats and info:
LSDAS GPA 3.25
GPA on transcript is 3.87
178 LSAT
Top 25 UG
Econ major
Low GPA freshman year
Strong upward grade trend (~3.9 last 3 years)
Graduated with high honors
One strong LOR and two okay LORS
Average softs
Not a URM

[JamMasterJ]

wow that must have been a terrible Freshman gpa. Not sure about NYU, but out at CC, Berkeley and Duke. In everywhere else

[gm2012]

wow that must have been a terrible Freshman gpa. Not sure about NYU, but out at CC, Berkeley and Duke. In everywhere else

Thanks for replying. Yes, I received mostly C's and F's my first year. It certainly put tremendous pressure on me to perform well on the LSAT. But I actually like the test, and I studied hard in preparation.

[UnamSanctam]

Blanket T14 except HYS. Take a shot at Chicago and Columbia as reaches if you want, but understand that you're under their GPA floors. You could have a weird cycle with Duke and Berkeley because of their emphasis on GPA, but I still think you're in.

Actually, do you have any work experience? If you do, you might want to think about an ED application to Northwestern next cycle for their scholarship. If not, your shot at NU is diminished, but you'll get in at higher ranked schools anyway.

[JamMasterJ]

Blanket T14 except HYS. Take a shot at Chicago and Columbia as reaches if you want, but understand that you're under their GPA floors. You could have a weird cycle with Duke and Berkeley because of their emphasis on GPA, but I still think you're in.

Actually, do you have any work experience? If you do, you might want to think about an ED application to Northwestern next cycle for their scholarship. If not, your shot at NU is diminished, but you'll get in at higher ranked schools anyway.

meh. He's probably in at NU even without ED or WE

[gm2012]

Blanket T14 except HYS. Take a shot at Chicago and Columbia as reaches if you want, but understand that you're under their GPA floors. You could have a weird cycle with Duke and Berkeley because of their emphasis on GPA, but I still think you're in.

Actually, do you have any work experience? If you do, you might want to think about an ED application to Northwestern next cycle for their scholarship. If not, your shot at NU is diminished, but you'll get in at higher ranked schools anyway.

Yes, I do have work experience. By the time I apply I will have spent over a year as an analyst at a real estate development firm. But I was thinking about saving my ED for somewhere like Penn, Virginia or NYU. What do you guys think? And thank you for you reply.

[whitman]

If you ED at the schools you listed, you'll get no money. If you ED to NU and are accepted, you'll get a free ride. I have no idea if you're competitive for the NU ED, but if you are, that sounds like a much better deal to me than sticker at any top 10.

[senorhosh]

you need to ED
ED gives you a decent chance at CCN, good (almost lock) at MVP.

Don't know about NU.

[UnamSanctam]

Blanket T14 except HYS. Take a shot at Chicago and Columbia as reaches if you want, but understand that you're under their GPA floors. You could have a weird cycle with Duke and Berkeley because of their emphasis on GPA, but I still think you're in.

Actually, do you have any work experience? If you do, you might want to think about an ED application to Northwestern next cycle for their scholarship. If not, your shot at NU is diminished, but you'll get in at higher ranked schools anyway.

meh. He's probably in at NU even without ED or WE

Yeah, but the ED would give him free ride.

You don't need to ED to MVPB. If you want to ED to one of CCN, that's up to you, but again I think you're below GPA floor at Chicago and Columbia.

[Samara]

If you ED at the schools you listed, you'll get no money. If you ED to NU and are accepted, you'll get a free ride. I have no idea if you're competitive for the NU ED, but if you are, that sounds like a much better deal to me than sticker at any top 10.

Keep an eye on how the NU ED plays out, but so far the lowest GPA to get it (as reported to TLS) is 3.60. The other advice ITT is solid. You may enjoy this post I made: http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 2&t=162680

[gm2012]

Judging from the replies I should add that financial aid and scholarships are not as important to me as the school's placement into the NYC and Northern California large firms markets. Thanks again for your advice.

[UnamSanctam]

Judging from the replies I should add that financial aid and scholarships are not as important to me as the school's placement into the NYC and Northern California large firms markets. Thanks again for your advice.

Then you should apply to NYC or CA schools. I'd take a shot at NYU.

[JamMasterJ]

Judging from the replies I should add that financial aid and scholarships are not as important to me as the school's placement into the NYC and Northern California large firms markets. Thanks again for your advice.

ED NYU. Penn, Berkeley, UVA, and Michigan are good options for RD.

Though I think if you ED to NYU, you have a really good shot and it's really you're only chance at the T6

[gm2012]

Judging from the replies I should add that financial aid and scholarships are not as important to me as the school's placement into the NYC and Northern California large firms markets. Thanks again for your advice.

Then you should apply to NYC or CA schools. I'd take a shot at NYU.

I am from the SF Bay Area, and my dad is a relatively well connected lawyer in the Bay Area. I was under the impression that with my background if I don't get into Boalt I would be better served by attending MVP or NYU than UCLA, USC or Hastings when trying to crack the Bay Area market.

[JamMasterJ]

Judging from the replies I should add that financial aid and scholarships are not as important to me as the school's placement into the NYC and Northern California large firms markets. Thanks again for your advice.

Then you should apply to NYC or CA schools. I'd take a shot at NYU.

I am from the SF Bay Area, and my dad is a relatively well connected lawyer in the Bay Area. I was under the impression that with my background if I don't get into Boalt I would be better served by attending MVP or NYU than UCLA, USC or Hastings when trying to crack the Bay Area market.

yeah, probably. You have ties, so coming from NYU or MVP will not be as hard as it is for the average person, and it gives you options in other markets that UCLA and USC grads wouldn't have had.

[UnamSanctam]

Judging from the replies I should add that financial aid and scholarships are not as important to me as the school's placement into the NYC and Northern California large firms markets. Thanks again for your advice.

Then you should apply to NYC or CA schools. I'd take a shot at NYU.

I am from the SF Bay Area, and my dad is a relatively well connected lawyer in the Bay Area. I was under the impression that with my background if I don't get into Boalt I would be better served by attending MVP or NYU than UCLA, USC or Hastings when trying to crack the Bay Area market.

Yeah I should've just said BOALT instead of CA schools in general. My bad. With ties to the region, you definitely have a better shot of making it back there from MVP.

tl;dr- what Jam said.

[gm2012]

If you ED at the schools you listed, you'll get no money. If you ED to NU and are accepted, you'll get a free ride. I have no idea if you're competitive for the NU ED, but if you are, that sounds like a much better deal to me than sticker at any top 10.

Keep an eye on how the NU ED plays out, but so far the lowest GPA to get it (as reported to TLS) is 3.60. The other advice ITT is solid. You may enjoy this post I made: http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 2&t=162680

Thank you, Samara, for taking the time to accumulate this information and share it with me. Also, thank you, to JamMasterJ and UnamSanctam for the repeated responses to my inquires. Before my original post I was planning to apply ED to NYU next Fall and get me RD apps into MVPB in September of next Fall to give myself the best chance of being accepted into a T10 that would provide reasonable access to NYC and the SF Bay Area. It appears that you guys agree. Please feel free to share any other advice in this thread that comes to mind in the future. And I will make sure to post any questions that arise on my end.

Happy Holidays!

[Samara]

If you ED at the schools you listed, you'll get no money. If you ED to NU and are accepted, you'll get a free ride. I have no idea if you're competitive for the NU ED, but if you are, that sounds like a much better deal to me than sticker at any top 10.

Keep an eye on how the NU ED plays out, but so far the lowest GPA to get it (as reported to TLS) is 3.60. The other advice ITT is solid. You may enjoy this post I made: http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 2&t=162680

Thank you, Samara, for taking the time to accumulate this information and share it with me. Also, thank you, to JamMasterJ and UnamSanctam for the repeated responses to my inquires. Before my original post I was planning to apply ED to NYU next Fall and get me RD apps into MVPB in September of next Fall to give myself the best chance of being accepted into a T10 that would provide reasonable access to NYC and the SF Bay Area. It appears that you guys agree. Please feel free to share any other advice in this thread that comes to mind in the future. And I will make sure to post any questions that arise on my end.

Happy Holidays!

Glad I could help!

[JamMasterJ]

If you ED at the schools you listed, you'll get no money. If you ED to NU and are accepted, you'll get a free ride. I have no idea if you're competitive for the NU ED, but if you are, that sounds like a much better deal to me than sticker at any top 10.

Keep an eye on how the NU ED plays out, but so far the lowest GPA to get it (as reported to TLS) is 3.60. The other advice ITT is solid. You may enjoy this post I made: http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 2&t=162680

Thank you, Samara, for taking the time to accumulate this information and share it with me. Also, thank you, to JamMasterJ and UnamSanctam for the repeated responses to my inquires. Before my original post I was planning to apply ED to NYU next Fall and get me RD apps into MVPB in September of next Fall to give myself the best chance of being accepted into a T10 that would provide reasonable access to NYC and the SF Bay Area. It appears that you guys agree. Please feel free to share any other advice in this thread that comes to mind in the future. And I will make sure to post any questions that arise on my end.

Happy Holidays!

no problem dude

[soitgoes9]

If you ED at the schools you listed, you'll get no money. If you ED to NU and are accepted, you'll get a free ride. I have no idea if you're competitive for the NU ED, but if you are, that sounds like a much better deal to me than sticker at any top 10.

+1