Need help, 3.8 GPA, 3.8 Masters GPA, 153 LSAT Forum

[acmilan1986]

I realize that people on these sorts of forums are very competitive, and very judgmental, but I'm hoping that people will please humor me and help me out. I'm sorry if the way I present myself is very arrogant, that's not my intention, I simply am trying to give you the information about me.

So, I have a 3.8 from my undergrad, double major, double minor and I have a Masters from Georgetown and I graduated with 3.8 (I know grad school GPA doesn't matter), and I have all the diversity and interesting background (I'm a fashionable minority, I started my own magazine in college, I give speeches to various universities on pertinent topics, I've written, produced, and directed my own film [which I'm currently filming])

My letters of recommendation come from, very important and well known professors, who highlight my academic excellence particularly. My Masters is in legal reform, I might add, and my ideas have been highlighted as particularly important considering their impact on today's unfolding political landscape.

But I have a 153. I took the LSAT last year and got a 150.

There are reasons why I did so poorly. The day I took the first one (150) there was tremendous unrest in my home country (I'm an ethnic minority) and it was unclear as to whether my family was okay. The latest 153, which I just got after taking it in December, my grandmother died two days earlier, and I was obviously distraught.

Regardless, I still am having trouble with the LSAT. I took a course, and I've had two instructors mystified at my performances, because they have singled me out, particularly, as an excellent and intelligent student. This may give me comfort, but it does not help me, at all.

Do I simply try harder and retake the LSAT in February, hoping to break 160, so that I can get into the T14 schools, attempting to get into the schools this cycle? Or is it too late in the cycle to try?

Or do I keep studying until the summer, and make the LSAT my life (I run my family's Real Estate business) and apply for the Fall of 2013? I would prefer to start this fall, as opposed to 2013, but that's just because I'd like to finish school earlier (I'd like to graduate at 28 instead of 29, which I realize is not a big deal)

Am I overtaking the exam? I feel like I don't have a choice, at this point.

Should I even consider going to a school that would take me with my current stats, and then just transfer into one of the top schools?

My dream school is Cornell, my father went there, and when I applied last year, they told me to attend a different law school and transfer, and that my LSAT would not matter in that process.

In sum:

I live in DC, should I try and get into GWU, American, Catholic, Mason, and the like? Should I try the transfer-up route? Do I retake in February? Do I wait for the next cycle?

I'm so lost, and I'm sorry that I wrote a novel, but I really need guidance as I've never struggled academically before, and I just need some advice so I know what to do next.

Thank you for reading this entire thing, and again, I sincerely apologize if I came across as arrogant, I just need some helpful advice.

[rinkrat19]

The Feb LSAT is too late to apply this year.

It would be a colossal waste to apply with that GPA and a 153.

Tons of people "plan" on transferring. Very few do.

Wait a cycle and take the LSAT in June.

[acmilan1986]

Thank you for your reply.

Would it be a waste to just apply, and maybe hope to get in? Or would it look bad for me to apply multiple times?

I really want to transfer, or are the disadvantages of being a transfer 2L or dangers of not getting in too high?

[larsoner]

I would wait and study. If you have a job to do next year and if you can manage a mid-160 after studying you will have no trouble with T-14. They would probably offer you money.