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2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 9:56 pm
by Successedtobreathe
I scored a 166 LSAT. I'm applying early September. I have a 2.85 LSAC GPA (Shitty I know). I'm inquiring about my chances at:

Pepperdine
Florida State
Miami
Wake Forest
Tulane

Or where else should I apply?

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 10:01 pm
by laxbrah420
youll get into those

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 11:01 pm
by Successedtobreathe
100%?. I'm nervous about the 2.85 GPA

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 11:09 pm
by Nova
Successedtobreathe wrote: Pepperdine
Florida State
Miami
Wake Forest
Tulane

Or where else should I apply?
Where are you from? How about UH/SMU?

No, its not a 100%. You are a borderline candidate at all those places (above one median, substancially below the other). But if you apply that broadly, you are bound to get a few hits. Just make sure you are cool with working near wherever you end up attending.

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 11:28 pm
by Successedtobreathe
I live in North Carolina, but I don't think I have a great chance at Wake Forest or UNC. I could look at South Carolina. Pepperdine or Loyola would be my best chances at a Southern California school.

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 11:52 pm
by Successedtobreathe
I'm also adopted (had a rough childhood), Eagle Scout, had a paper published, I do a lot of community service, member of Alpha Tau Omega. Year off with work experience

If any of that stuff would help.

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 12:02 am
by togepi
Depending on where you want to work, I'd throw in:

SMU
Houston
Alabama
UGA
Florida

Even if you're not interested in these, they may help with leveraging more scholarship $$

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 12:15 am
by Successedtobreathe
Florida has a pretty high GPA requirement right?

I'm hoping the number of people applying to law school decreases

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 1:13 am
by togepi
Successedtobreathe wrote:Florida has a pretty high GPA requirement right?

I'm hoping the number of people applying to law school decreases
Ah, yeah they've been a bit shifty here and there towards splitters.

If you can retake and get a 169 that'll open up:
UIUC, WUSTL, GW, etc.

Better yet, smack the June LSAT with a 172+ and you could get ED UVA , etc

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 1:41 am
by Nova
Yeah, you should retake in June or October. Its going to come down to medians. If you're at or over, you have some sort of chance.

You ought to look at LSN and see what similar splitters got. At Miami, a 2.45/161 & 2.6/161 are in this year. At FSU, a 2.6/165 and 2.75/165 are in this year.

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 9:39 am
by togepi
Nova wrote:Yeah, you should retake in June or October. Its going to come down to medians. If you're at or over, you have some sort of chance.

You ought to look at LSN and see what similar splitters got. At Miami, a 2.45/161 & 2.6/161 are in this year. At FSU, a 2.6/165 and 2.75/165 are in this year.
I'll be in this situation (hopefully) come application season.

I have a 2.2 UGPA in engineering (awful I know). I thought splitters had to be over the 75th percentile to accommodate the fact that they are blow the 25th in GPA. Is it only the medians that play into the rankings? I can never find listed medians, only their 25-75 LSAT and GPAs

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 2:05 pm
by Successedtobreathe
I honestly hate the rankings by USA today. I feel like law schools don't accept a lot of students that they would consider to accept (upward trend gpa's, life experiences, splitters) because of the numbers game with usatoday.

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 2:06 pm
by laxbrah420
usa today :lol:

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 2:08 pm
by Nova
togepi wrote:
Nova wrote:Yeah, you should retake in June or October. Its going to come down to medians. If you're at or over, you have some sort of chance.

You ought to look at LSN and see what similar splitters got. At Miami, a 2.45/161 & 2.6/161 are in this year. At FSU, a 2.6/165 and 2.75/165 are in this year.
I'll be in this situation (hopefully) come application season.

I have a 2.2 UGPA in engineering (awful I know). I thought splitters had to be over the 75th percentile to accommodate the fact that they are blow the 25th in GPA. Is it only the medians that play into the rankings? I can never find listed medians, only their 25-75 LSAT and GPAs
Yeah,for the longest time, thats what I figured too . It turns out only medians affect USNWR rankings. I really wish TLS would add medians to their rankings page. Idk where to find them either, except signing up and paying for USNWR (lol).

Im a splitter too, 3.0/167. Im in at a school where the median is 167. Even as trivial as 1 pt on the LSAT is (extreamly trivial), I doubt I would be going there with a 166.

No matter what, splitter cycles are hit or miss. I did not get into Colorado, Alabama, or SMU, despite being above their 75th.

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 2:09 pm
by franklyscarlet
Successedtobreathe wrote:I honestly hate the rankings by USA today. I feel like law schools don't accept a lot of students that they would consider to accept (upward trend gpa's, life experiences, splitters) because of the numbers game with usatoday.
Hating it won't get you a job. Retake to 168+ and you could have some very solid options.

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 2:13 pm
by Nova
Successedtobreathe wrote:I honestly hate the rankings by USA today. I feel like law schools don't accept a lot of students that they would consider to accept (upward trend gpa's, life experiences, splitters) because of the numbers game with usatoday.
USA today =/= USNW

Since we are talking about how we feel... I feel like the ABA should shut down about 100 law schools.

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 4:21 pm
by Wily
2.7/168, just off the WL for Wake Forest today. Not going to attend. Maybe you'd find my cycle predictive of how you'll do:

http://lawschoolnumbers.com/Wily

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 4:30 pm
by TheZoid
Wily wrote:2.7/168, just off the WL for Wake Forest today. Not going to attend. Maybe you'd find my cycle predictive of how you'll do:

http://lawschoolnumbers.com/Wily
I have very similar numbers to Wily, and had a somewhat similar cycle, but with less $$ at some schools, and some acceptances he did not get. Splitter cycles are unpredictable as others have stated, so you should apply to a bunch of schools and see what hits.

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 5:05 pm
by twenty
It's worth pointing out that OP is also MA URM. Probably not going to get him into HYS at this point, but a 2.8 + URM status and a 171+ might get him T14...?

EDIT> LSN basically confirms this, since non-URMs are getting 1-3 low T14s with that extreme of a split. 166, your chances don't look that great, job prospects or otherwise. Even a 170 would probably get you in at GULC/UVA, and a 172+ would get you money at Northwestern

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 5:10 pm
by Nova
twentypercentmore wrote:It's worth pointing out that OP is also MA URM. Probably not going to get him into HYS at this point, but a 2.8 + URM status and a 171+ might get him T14...?
Yeah that certainly makes a big difference. Still, OP needs to be AT LEAST at or above the LSAT median at whatever school to have a decent shot.

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 10:22 pm
by togepi
Nova wrote:
togepi wrote:
Nova wrote:Yeah, you should retake in June or October. Its going to come down to medians. If you're at or over, you have some sort of chance.

You ought to look at LSN and see what similar splitters got. At Miami, a 2.45/161 & 2.6/161 are in this year. At FSU, a 2.6/165 and 2.75/165 are in this year.
I'll be in this situation (hopefully) come application season.

I have a 2.2 UGPA in engineering (awful I know). I thought splitters had to be over the 75th percentile to accommodate the fact that they are blow the 25th in GPA. Is it only the medians that play into the rankings? I can never find listed medians, only their 25-75 LSAT and GPAs
Yeah,for the longest time, thats what I figured too . It turns out only medians affect USNWR rankings. I really wish TLS would add medians to their rankings page. Idk where to find them either, except signing up and paying for USNWR (lol).

Im a splitter too, 3.0/167. Im in at a school where the median is 167. Even as trivial as 1 pt on the LSAT is (extreamly trivial), I doubt I would be going there with a 166.

No matter what, splitter cycles are hit or miss. I did not get into Colorado, Alabama, or SMU, despite being above their 75th.
That's ridiculous. I can understand Colorado, but there's tons of people on LSN with 166/2.x who got in with money and you should have had a really good shot at SMU. Did you apply late or was there something else about your application that would have made them more likely to reject you?

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 10:31 pm
by joban224
I think you're shooting a little low. 166 is solid for schools between 25-40, even with a 2.9 GPA.

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 10:46 pm
by Nova
togepi wrote:
That's ridiculous. I can understand Colorado, but there's tons of people on LSN with 166/2.x who got in with money and you should have had a really good shot at SMU. Did you apply late or was there something else about your application that would have made them more likely to reject you?
I applied in January, about a week after I got my LSAT score. I would consider myself a risky candidate for various reasons...

So yeah, my cycle could have been better, but I ended up surpassing my initial expectations by a mile. http://lawschoolnumbers.com/AFerd/jd

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 12:14 pm
by Successedtobreathe
Should I take my Talents to south beach?! ACCEPTED at U of MIAMI!!

Made me crack up

Re: 2.85, 166. What are my chances and advice..

Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 12:39 am
by Successedtobreathe
I'm a legacy at Boston University. Both my cousin and uncle are dentist alum from BU.

Will that help my chances of getting in?