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I am considering law school in a few years and would like some opinions from you guys. I started college off strong, then had a bit of a snag where I was depressed for a couple years, then finished strong in the final semester, coming back from 3.3 GPAs to a 4.0. Next year I am starting full time work at Goldman Sachs doing investment banking, where I plan to work for a couple of years, and then maybe go to a hedge fund or private equity. Perhaps after Goldman, however, I will want to go to law school. My cumulative GPA will be a 3.6 or so (maybe a bit higher), and I got a 172 on the LSAT.

All of this taken together, could you guys handicap the chances of an applicant such as myself getting into HYS and the top 14? For reference, I am a white male. Will I want to explain my GPA situation in the app?

Thanks!

HYS is probably out of the question, but I bet you'd get a few T-14 bites (e.g. Northwestern).

YSH are out. Probably out at Columbia. Good shot at NYU. Decent shot at Chi. Youll probably get 1 or 2 of MVP. Probably 3 or 4 of DNGC

I disagree with Nova about Columbia but agree with the rest. Nobody has been rejected with your numbers from CLS in the last two cycles (7 admit, 1 reject), and only 3 out of 41 have been flat out rejected since 2007. Probably out at Berkeley because they are GPA whores but good shot at everywhere else. Should get a good amount of money at some of the lower T14.

nebula666 wrote:I disagree with Nova about Columbia but agree with the rest. Nobody has been rejected with your numbers from CLS in the last two cycles (7 admit, 1 reject), and only 3 out of 41 have been flat out rejected since 2007. Probably out at Berkeley because they are GPA whores but good shot at everywhere else. Should get a good amount of money at some of the lower T14.

He'll likely catch the permanent waitlist at CLS - i.e. rejected

polkij333 wrote:

nebula666 wrote:I disagree with Nova about Columbia but agree with the rest. Nobody has been rejected with your numbers from CLS in the last two cycles (7 admit, 1 reject), and only 3 out of 41 have been flat out rejected since 2007. Probably out at Berkeley because they are GPA whores but good shot at everywhere else. Should get a good amount of money at some of the lower T14.

He'll likely catch the permanent waitlist at CLS - i.e. rejected

http://myLSN.info/qtua7v

To be fair, a few of these were ED and it's a small sample size, but the drop in applications is definitely going to help OP's chances at CLS.

Ok thanks follow up question- is it looked down upon in any way if LSAT scores aren't really fresh i.e. a year or so old? So, if scores are about 2 or 4 years old, as could be the situation in my case, is that discounted in any way whatsoever?

Nah

If your app is good you should be in at NYU down with a good shot at CLS and excluding Berkley because they DGAF about the LSAT.

Rejoice.

I appreciate the responses. Another quick follow up question- at what point do law schools stop caring about my 3.6 GPA? With age and great work experience, does it become meaningless? I mean lets say just for fun that I happened to get a job being Obama's aide or something, and he writes a great LoC. Would that and a decent LSAT trump a 3.6 GPA at Harvard or Yale?

double

wanttolearn wrote:I appreciate the responses. Another quick follow up question- at what point do law schools stop caring about my 3.6 GPA? With age and great work experience, does it become meaningless? I mean lets say just for fun that I happened to get a job being Obama's aide or something, and he writes a great LoC. Would that and a decent LSAT trump a 3.6 GPA at Harvard or Yale?

I think that's the sort of thing which could help. Something extraordinary. Also, you'd have a non-zero chance at Harvard with a higher LSAT score that would help them overlook a 3.6.

wanttolearn wrote:I appreciate the responses. Another quick follow up question- at what point do law schools stop caring about my 3.6 GPA? With age and great work experience, does it become meaningless? I mean lets say just for fun that I happened to get a job being Obama's aide or something, and he writes a great LoC. Would that and a decent LSAT trump a 3.6 GPA at Harvard or Yale?

Softs are more used to compare people with the same numbers. Only some amazing softs (military, actual rec from POTUS) would make you jump a person in front of you with a better LSAt, GPA or both. There is not much you could do to give yourself a shot at HYS with a 3.6 (non URM).

nebula666 wrote:I disagree with Nova about Columbia but agree with the rest. Nobody has been rejected with your numbers from CLS in the last two cycles (7 admit, 1 reject), and only 3 out of 41 have been flat out rejected since 2007. Probably out at Berkeley because they are GPA whores but good shot at everywhere else. Should get a good amount of money at some of the lower T14.

ED to CLS.

My guess is in at CLS on down, WL to rejection at Harvard, straight rejections at Yale and Stanford. Might get significant scholarships at some T-14s too.