157/3.16 Forum

[heffrey]

Hi all,

If anyone would be kind enough to chance me at the schools I applied to, that would be awesome.

Stats:
157 June 2012 / 156 October 2012 LSAT
3.16 LSDAS GPA (3.68 in-major, wrote an addendum because my first major, engineering, killed my GPA)
Attend Penn State
2 VERY strong LORs, one average LOR
DUI on my record, wrote an addendum for it

Schools:
Drexel
Duquesne
Penn State
Rutgers - Camden
Temple
Villanova
Widener (Accepted with $20,000/year scholarship)

Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

[20130312]

[heffrey]

I checked LSN, and based on that I'm possible at every school, and likely at Rutgers, Nova, and Drexel. However, the LSAC site results are a bit less hopeful. Plus, LSN does not factor "two very strong LORs" or a DUI. Which, granted, probably don't make a huge difference anyway. And that's exactly why I came here for some human input. While your flowchart is witty and original, at least some advice (other than "retake" or LSN) would be appreciated. If not, then no problem.

[bk1]

Ignore the LSAC results, they don't factor in medians. LORs won't be a factor. I don't know whether DUI will be, I would suggest searching for people who have had similar issues in this forum and see how things hurt them. My guess is if it's a one time thing it's not going to be a factor.

[heffrey]

Ignore the LSAC results, they don't factor in medians. LORs won't be a factor. I don't know whether DUI will be, I would suggest searching for people who have had similar issues in this forum and see how things hurt them. My guess is if it's a one time thing it's not going to be a factor.

Regarding the DUI, that's my understanding as well. I did look around the forums and the general consensus seems to be that it's not that big of a deal if it's a one-time thing. And in my addendum for it, I made it out to be a learning experience/wake up call (which it truly was). It all factors in though. Thanks for the reply!

[BigZuck]

Unfortunately, due to your low numbers and your immaturity you are, in the immortal words of Mr. Pancakes, disqualified from attending law school at this point in time. I'm sure you can find some school to take your money but that school would not be worth it.

But hope is not lost! Work for a couple years to distance yourself from the GPA and gain some valuable life experience and then kill the LSAT and attend UVA or Northwestern.

*And before I get flamed for calling him immature the dude is a K-JD with a DUI under his belt who thinks his letters of rec are "strong" and will propel him past his numbers.

[ScottRiqui]

But hope is not lost! Work for a couple years to distance yourself from the GPA and gain some valuable life experience and then kill the LSAT and attend UVA or Northwestern.

Encouraging, but do you ever really "distance yourself" from your uGPA enough that you'll fare significantly better in admissions compared to k-JD types with similar numbers?

I'll have a twenty-year military career and a master's in physics (w/ a 3.85 GPA) separating my undergraduate graduation and my law school admission cycle, but the conventional wisdom here on TLS seems to be that while those are "nice softs", I'm still not going to fight significantly above my weight class when it comes to admissions.