Hi! 3.98 gpa from NYU and last practice LSAT score of 172... Forum

bethanyadawson · Post by **bethanyadawson** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:19 pm

What score should I aim for to gain admission to a T14 school... specifically Columbia or NYU?

Any and all advice is more than appreciated!

bk1 · Post by **bk1** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:20 pm

Play around on http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com to your heart's content.

People are going to give you shit (deservedly so) for your hypothetical LSAT score.

laxbrah420 · Post by **laxbrah420** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:21 pm

for t-14, aim for a 165

20130312 · Post by **20130312** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:22 pm

TYBGrizz

FryBreadPower · Post by **FryBreadPower** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:22 pm

bk187 wrote:Play around on http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com to your heart's content.

People are going to give you shit (deservedly so) for your hypothetical LSAT score.

Re: Hi! 3.98 gpa from NYU and last practice LSAT score of 172...

Stopped reading here...you caught me

bethanyadawson · Post by **bethanyadawson** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:23 pm

Haha, I'm confused! I'm a newbie here.... what did I do wrong? (give it to me straight, people...)

bk1 · Post by **bk1** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:25 pm

bethanyadawson wrote:Haha, I'm confused! I'm a newbie here.... what did I do wrong? (give it to me straight, people...)

You don't have a real LSAT. There is a chance you choke on test day and get a 165 or a 160 or a 180 or whatever so there is no point in giving advice when your LSAT isn't real. That being said, you can figure out your chances of admission at any school with any possible LSAT you could think of just by looking at http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com.

bethanyadawson · Post by **bethanyadawson** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:27 pm

I mean, to be fair... I've seen others post on this thread with no "real" LSAT score, asking for advice and they seemed to get it. Haha, I wasn't aware! Sorry... I just joined today and got excited.

FryBreadPower · Post by **FryBreadPower** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:29 pm

bethanyadawson wrote:I mean, to be fair... I've seen others post on this thread with no "real" LSAT score, asking for advice and they seemed to get it. Haha, I wasn't aware! Sorry... I just joined today and got excited.

They got lucky. Posters with hypothetical scores almost always get shit rained on them.

bk1 · Post by **bk1** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:29 pm

bethanyadawson wrote:I mean, to be fair... I've seen others post on this thread with no "real" LSAT score, asking for advice and they seemed to get it. Haha, I wasn't aware! Sorry... I just joined today and got excited.

Those people generally get snarky responses too (if they get real responses it's because people don't notice). As I said, there's a plethora of data available on LSN and that should be all you need. Once you have an LSAT people will give actual advice, but I honestly don't think you'll need to since LSN has all you need.

Good luck with LSAT prep (the LSAT prep forum on here is very useful, even for people who are already scoring highly). If you're starting around a 172 you should be able to do very well on the actual LSAT. If you end up living up to your potential Harvard, Yale, Stanford could definitely be within reach (or large scholarships to places like NYU/CLS).

bethanyadawson · Post by **bethanyadawson** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:30 pm

Well, my actual question in my post was what score should I aim for to have a shot at a t14 school...

bethanyadawson · Post by **bethanyadawson** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:31 pm

Thanks for the responses so far, btw!

Mal Reynolds · Post by **Mal Reynolds** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:33 pm

The advice people will give comes straight from LSN anyway. If you have any special circumstances, e.g. you are a racial minority, ridiculously well accomplished, come back and ask a question AFTER you receive an LSAT score. Odds are that LSN will be just fine though.

ETA: A 170 will get you IN to the top 14. Probably with money from MVP down. A 173 will give you a real shot at HYS. A 175+ will give you shots at full rides from CCN down and a very good shot at HYS.

FryBreadPower · Post by **FryBreadPower** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:36 pm

Mal Reynolds wrote:The advice people will give comes straight from LSN anyway. If you have any special circumstances, e.g. you are a racial minority, ridiculously well accomplished, come back and ask a question AFTER you receive an LSAT score. Odds are that LSN will be just fine though.

ETA: A 170 will get you IN to the top 14. Probably with money from MVP down. A 173 will give you a real shot at HYS. A 175+ will give you shots at full rides from CCN down and a very good shot at HYS.

Exactly. At this point your goal should only be a 180. If you are already at a 172, I think its counterproductive to set a goal that is only a point or two higher. Work your ass off and aim for the perfect score. Worst comes to worst, you don't get it but you may fall to a 176 or a 177 (which will most certainly open every door for you).

bethanyadawson · Post by **bethanyadawson** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:41 pm

Thank you guys so much. This was all seriously motivating.

I'm not a minority, by the way. And, at this point, I certainly wouldn't say I'm very well accomplished. I have a lot of work to do before I start applying...

I have the Powerscore Bible trilogy and am planning to study my ass off. I love the advice of shooting for a 180. Very good point there.

justicefishy · Post by **justicefishy** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:54 pm

Good luck!

Nom Sawyer · Post by **Nom Sawyer** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 3:01 pm

Mal Reynolds wrote:The advice people will give comes straight from LSN anyway. If you have any special circumstances, e.g. you are a racial minority, ridiculously well accomplished, come back and ask a question AFTER you receive an LSAT score. Odds are that LSN will be just fine though.

ETA: A 170 will get you IN to the top 14. Probably with money from MVP down. A 173 will give you a real shot at HYS. A 175+ will give you shots at full rides from CCN down and a very good shot at HYS.

Slight correction... we're talking about a 3.98 GPA so a 168 will be enough for the lower T14. HYS will have a real shot at around the 171, 172 level (by real, as in around a 1 in 3 chance).

The main difference is if she hits a 173, the chances of Harvard and Stanford go way up. In fact odds for H with 3.98, 173 are probably roughly around 60 to 70%.

thexfactor · Post by **thexfactor** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 3:07 pm

anything 160 and above will get you in UVA ED.

bk1 · Post by **bk1** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 3:20 pm

bethanyadawson wrote:Well, my actual question in my post was what score should I aim for to have a shot at a t14 school...

You can get the T14 with a high 160's. You should get at least a 170+ since that'll snag you scholarships at T14's. However there is no reason not to shoot as high as possible.

I think if you get lower than a 170 on your LSAT that you should retake it to get a 170+ since that is clearly possible and a 170+ would snag you some hefty scholarships to T14's whereas a 160's LSAT probably wouldn't.

bethanyadawson · Post by **bethanyadawson** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 3:21 pm

I still see HYS as quite a reach for me, to be honest. Those three just seem so untouchable. My goal is Columbia, so hopefully (fingers crossed) I get in.

Also, I'm not in love with the idea of going to UVA. I went to undergrad at NYU so I'm definitely missing city life, especially New York City life...

bethanyadawson · Post by **bethanyadawson** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 3:23 pm

I would honestly pass out and die if I get a full ride to a T14 school.... (which, I'm aware, defeats the entire purpose of applying in the first place... since, then I'd be dead and all, and therefore couldn't go.... womp womp.)

Onthebrink · Post by **Onthebrink** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 3:26 pm

As someone with identical GPA, I would say best of luck with prep. Break 170 and work your tail off on the application because I firmly believe that when you get to the t6 the softs do matter. Especially if you are one of those who just has the 1 in 3 shot at a place like H.

Dr. Filth · Post by **Dr. Filth** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 3:27 pm

You should probably create an account that isn't your name.

bethanyadawson · Post by **bethanyadawson** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 3:34 pm

Meh, I don't really care about anonymity. Should I on here?

nametaken · Post by **nametaken** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 3:37 pm

bethanyadawson wrote:I still see HYS as quite a reach for me, to be honest. Those three just seem so untouchable. My goal is Columbia, so hopefully (fingers crossed) I get in.

Also, I'm not in love with the idea of going to UVA. I went to undergrad at NYU so I'm definitely missing city life, especially New York City life...

I thought this too. I went to NYU undergrad and had a slightly lower GPA then yours. Then I studied my ass off, got a 175, and got into Harvard. I get what it feels like to sell yourself short, but you shouldn't! You have an amazzzing GPA, and if you can get 173+ you will definitely have a shot at all of the t14 and full rides at some of them. Good luck! feel free to PM me if you want any more advice (like places to take good classes at in NYC, if you still live here, etc)