Top Law Schools

Waiting to hear from Mich, Penn, Columbia, Harvard, Texas
In at UCLA, Emory, & W&M
Under 2nd faculty review at Berkeley
165/3.8
1/2 AA female
1 arrest for underage drinking-charges dismissed

Any chance of getting into Yale? The law school predictor gives me less than a 5% chance, so I'm hesitant to spend the $100.

Aqua wrote:Waiting to hear from Mich, Penn, Columbia, Harvard, Texas
In at UCLA, Emory, & W&M
Under 2nd faculty review at Berkeley
165/3.8
1/2 AA female
1 arrest for underage drinking-charges dismissed

Any chance of getting into Yale? The law school predictor gives me less than a 5% chance, so I'm hesitant to spend the $100.

I'd say no shot, but this applicant would disagree: http://lawschoolnumbers.com/capitals123/jd

AA means blanket T14. I would think one of HYS will bite, probably H. You should have cast a wider net since URM cycles are unpredictable.

Wow. Is is true that once you are below the 25th percentiles, the difference between a 165 and say a 163 or a 3.7 and 3.8 are irrelevant? Obviously there are GPA/LSAT floors for the top schools, but once you surpass the floors do small number differences matter?

Didn't want to apply to schools that asked about arrests because of shame over the fact I was even arrested. Probably a dumb strategy in retrospect. Or I could retake LSAT in June and shoot for a 170. Can't afford a course, but will have more time to study in the spring

Aqua wrote:Wow. Is is true that once you are below the 25th percentiles, the difference between a 165 and say a 163 or a 3.7 and 3.8 are irrelevant? Obviously there are GPA/LSAT floors for the top schools, but once you surpass the floors do small number differences matter?

I'd say at that point, your softs (PS, DS, LORs, WE) are going to make a much bigger difference compared to an additional .1 of GPA or 2 points on the LSAT.

Note: I'm only saying softs matter because 1) URM and 2) Yale.

Aqua wrote:Wow. Is is true that once you are below the 25th percentiles, the difference between a 165 and say a 163 or a 3.7 and 3.8 are irrelevant? Obviously there are GPA/LSAT floors for the top schools, but once you surpass the floors do small number differences matter?

Did you apply late? I'm no expert on URM cycles but I wouldn't settle for less than HYSCCN with your numbers. Retake to 170 you are HYS lock unless the arrest was a felony conviction.

InGoodFaith wrote:

Aqua wrote:Wow. Is is true that once you are below the 25th percentiles, the difference between a 165 and say a 163 or a 3.7 and 3.8 are irrelevant? Obviously there are GPA/LSAT floors for the top schools, but once you surpass the floors do small number differences matter?

I'd say at that point, your softs (PS, DS, LORs, WE) are going to make a much bigger difference compared to an additional .1 of GPA or 2 points on the LSAT.

Note: I'm only saying softs matter because 1) URM and 2) Yale.

Arrest was for underage drinking and a misdemeanor
How about for other schools where 2 URM candidates are below the 25th percentile for LSAT and GPA? Just curious because the difference between a 160 and 165 or even 165 and 167 is usually a big deal

we have similar stats, but both of my parent are AA. From your list - I'm in at Berkeley and Mich. Waiting for Penn and didn't apply to Columbia (preferred NYU).

I'm not sure what your softs are, but unless they are super duper extraordinary - no on Yale. Admittedly, I didn't apply to Y or H (didn't want to go to school in New England). But, Yale is the #1 school in the country and has small class sizes; they can be confident that many of the rare 170+ URMs that get accepted will attend. So, they don't need to dip too low. Harvard's class size is significantly bigger and they seem friendlier to minorities, so maybe...

But if you're just applying to Yale now, then I'd give a definite no.

cylon_clone wrote:we have similar stats, but both of my parent are AA. From your list - I'm in at Berkeley and Mich. Waiting for Penn and didn't apply to Columbia (preferred NYU).

I'm not sure what your softs are, but unless they are super duper extraordinary - no on Yale. Admittedly, I didn't apply to Y or H (didn't want to go to school in New England). But, Yale is the #1 school in the country and has small class sizes; they can be confident that many of the rare 170+ URMs that get accepted will attend. So, they don't need to dip too low. Harvard's class size is significantly bigger and they seem friendlier to minorities, so maybe...

But if you're just applying to Yale now, then I'd give a definite no.

Wow, our outcomes are looking similar so far. In at Berk and Mich, waiting for Penn/Columbia/HYS. It seems like we may have a decent shot at Stanford. I'm shocked I got into Berkeley because I applied pretty late. I wonder how a June retake will bode for chances at Yale. I'm so in love with Yale it's ridiculous.

didn't you already post one of these threads? Like really recently

I just got my first rejection, which came from Penn. I worked super hard on my "Why Penn" essay and was disappointed to not get waitlisted, but I guess that's just the way it goes. Also held at Harvard today. Feeling like a rejection at Penn means I'm out at Columbia/Harvard/Yale/Stanford?