Duke and UVA class of 2015 LSAT median? Forum

[gman1978]

I'm waiting to hear from both schools. Looking at law school numbers I see a ton of people for both schools either pending or waitlisted with LSAT=169.

We know applications are down significantly this year, so......

[Doorkeeper]

Duke and UVA want to sure up their numbers first. They will dip into the high 160s after the people with 172+ start to decline their admission offers.

[Betharl]

The 170 LSAT median is important to schools, perhaps more for symbolic reasons than anything. I think UVA and Duke will do everything in their power to hold on to that mark, and we are more likely to see decreasing class sizes and GPAs. Of course, I would not be surprised to see 25th/75th percentiles drop. Also, if an LSAT median does go down, I would expect the GPA median to possibly go up (ie the school starts off hoping to keep 170, realizes they won't get it but that they have 169 locked up, and so they become more GPA sensitive).

[t14fanboy]

The 170 LSAT median is important to schools, perhaps more for symbolic reasons than anything. I think UVA and Duke will do everything in their power to hold on to that mark, and we are more likely to see decreasing class sizes and GPAs. Of course, I would not be surprised to see 25th/75th percentiles drop. Also, if an LSAT median does go down, I would expect the GPA median to possibly go up (ie the school starts off hoping to keep 170, realizes they won't get it but that they have 169 locked up, and so they become more GPA sensitive).

Uh, no. It affects their USNWR ranking. Despite it being a small sample size, take a quick look at lawschoolnumbers for this cycle. With the exception of URMs, people who do not either have a 170+ or a 3.8+ generally have not been accepted.

LMAO if you really believe that UVa and Duke's LSAT medians will drop to 169. This entire thread reeks of OL optimism.

[5ky]

The 170 LSAT median is important to schools, perhaps more for symbolic reasons than anything. I think UVA and Duke will do everything in their power to hold on to that mark, and we are more likely to see decreasing class sizes and GPAs. Of course, I would not be surprised to see 25th/75th percentiles drop. Also, if an LSAT median does go down, I would expect the GPA median to possibly go up (ie the school starts off hoping to keep 170, realizes they won't get it but that they have 169 locked up, and so they become more GPA sensitive).

Uh, no. It affects their USNWR ranking. Despite it being a small sample size, take a quick look at lawschoolnumbers for this cycle. With the exception of URMs, people who do not either have a 170+ or a 3.8+ generally have not been accepted.

LMAO if you really believe that UVa and Duke's LSAT medians will drop to 169. This entire thread reeks of OL optimism.

Not to bash a future fellow UVA student, but seeing that you are also a 0L, you should probably relax a bit on the 0L name-calling.

[t14fanboy]

Haha, wasn't really meant be be offensive, but does that fact make my observation incorrect? I calls em as I sees em and don't mind including myself in the category of naive 0L

[5ky]

Haha, wasn't really meant be be offensive, but does that fact make my observation incorrect? I calls em as I sees em and don't mind including myself in the category of naive 0L

It's unlikely, but it's certainly not impossible.

[Betharl]

The 170 LSAT median is important to schools, perhaps more for symbolic reasons than anything. I think UVA and Duke will do everything in their power to hold on to that mark, and we are more likely to see decreasing class sizes and GPAs. Of course, I would not be surprised to see 25th/75th percentiles drop. Also, if an LSAT median does go down, I would expect the GPA median to possibly go up (ie the school starts off hoping to keep 170, realizes they won't get it but that they have 169 locked up, and so they become more GPA sensitive).

Uh, no. It affects their USNWR ranking. Despite it being a small sample size, take a quick look at lawschoolnumbers for this cycle. With the exception of URMs, people who do not either have a 170+ or a 3.8+ generally have not been accepted.

LMAO if you really believe that UVa and Duke's LSAT medians will drop to 169. This entire thread reeks of OL optimism.

Ya, I know it affects their ranking. In retrospect, that was poorly phrased, what I meant to say was that for schools that have exactly a 170 median the symbolic nature of that score provides even extra incentive for them not to let it drop, beyond the pressure from USNWR. Also, I agree that their medians will stay at 170 (and voted that way in the poll), I was merely speculating that IF they dropped, I wouldn't be surprised to see a noticeable increase in GPA. People claim something similar happened with Chicago last cylce, in that they started off shooting for a 172 median, saw they weren't going to hit it, so they settled for 171 and went to work on their GPA numbers.

[t14fanboy]

By your reply, I guess I came off a lot snarkier than I intended to be.

--ImageRemoved--

[Betharl]

No problem, I think you read it about right. I just didn't do a very good job of conveying what I actually meant.

FWIW, I think the symbolic nature of hitting 170 is probably an extremely minor consideration when a school decides to maintain that median (and I'm sure USNWR is their primary concern), but I do think it is a significant milestone for them and one they are probably proud of. I suspect dropping one point from 170-> 169 would sting a little more than other one point drops.

[lawyerwannabe]

I think Duke will retain their 170 LSAT median. They demonstrated their willingness to sacrifice some points on their GPA median this past cycle in order to keep it. I don't see them turning back now.