AA Male URM 177 LSAT 2.38 GPA Chance Me Forum

[Thelonious Kwiggz]

I posted earlier with my 173 LSAT score and a 2.43 GPA
but after my final transcripts went through LSAC my GPA dipped to 2.38. I am currently re-prepping for June. My PT scores are varying between 175-178 median being at 178. I am actually in pursuit of the mythic AA male 180 LSAT.

Top 50 School
Double Major Philosophy, History (I know adcoms will have no sympathy for my poor performance in such "easy" majors)
No legitimate reasons for poor performance besides immaturity
Majority of bad grades in Freshman year (9 F's 4 D's)

Here are some of my softs

Chess Society President (Two Years) Vice President (One Year)
National Association of Black Journalist Vice President and Secretary
Karate Club Vice President
Indian Student Association Service Chair and Fiction Writer for Newsletter
Philosophy Club Leader
Magellan Society Secretary
Zoo Guide at local zoo
Internship with law firm in Kuala Lumpur
Enrolled for visiting scholar in Denmark
Started self publishing company while in college
Tons of community service and organized a couple city events

Diversity Statement
British and American Citizen
I am African American Malaysian Indian
Lived in Hong Kong for six years

Work Experience
Teaching English in Hong Kong

I am wondering what are my chances for T-14 School with a score between 177-180 More specifically any chance at Penn, Cornell, Colombia, NYU, UV, and maybe H
(I understand due to the unpredictable nature of "day of" scoring compared to PT scoring makes test day performance difficult to predict, and that uncontrollable testing factors that are difficult/impossible to simulate make 175+ scores never guaranteed)

Thank you for your time and insight

[bizzybone1313]

Can you come back to TLS and post your cycle outcomes at the T-14? I cannot wait to see what they do with your apps.

[Thelonious Kwiggz]

Will do

Do you have any insight on what the outcome could be? Educated guesses and instinctual inferences are also welcome.

[TripTrip]

Man, I don't want to give you false hope with that GPA. Break 175 and SOME T14 will take you, but it's hard to predict which.

Did you apply with your 173 this cycle?

[Thelonious Kwiggz]

Decided to sit out this cycle because of a teaching opportunity that presented itself in Hong Kong (starting in August), that coupled with my GPA being lower than anticipated I decided to re open my LSAT books after my graduation in December and swing for the proverbial fences. Thanks for not being a champion of false hope, we have to live with the consequences of our actions and lack of actions. I am currently in Kuala Lumpur, and my study/pt environment is everything but sound sterile so i am hoping it prepares me for any "day of" distractions. Do you think I have any shot at UPenn? (175+)

[bizzybone1313]

Out at Yale, Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, NYU, Chicago, Penn, Duke, Virginia, Berkeley and Michigan. In at 2 out of 3 of Georgetown, Northwestern and Cornell. If you get real lucky, you might get one of Virginia or Michigan but probably not. Virginia is a pretty big whore when it comes to the LSAT though. Virginia is part of a running joke on TLS: Anytime someone asks for their chances with a semi low GPA and below median LSAT score; they are told to retake and ED to Virginia. In your case, I would not ED because you are a URM.

[Crowing]

Decided to sit out this cycle because of a teaching opportunity that presented itself in Hong Kong (starting in August), that coupled with my GPA being lower than anticipated I decided to re open my LSAT books after my graduation in December and swing for the proverbial fences. Thanks for not being a champion of false hope, we have to live with the consequences of our actions and lack actions. I am currently in Kuala Lumpur, and my study/pt environment is everything but sound sterile so i am hoping it prepares me for any "day of" distractions. Do you think I have any shot at UPenn? (175+)

I don't think so; it doesn't look like Penn has ever taken anybody with <3.0 on LSN. There's not a lot of data to compare you to, but here are some super-splitter AA URM applicants:

2.19/174: http://lawschoolnumbers.com/Chise13/jd
2.66/174: http://lawschoolnumbers.com/snowctu7/jd
2.8/175: http://lawschoolnumbers.com/reup/jd

I mean, it doesn't look good, and a 2.38 is going to be a lot worse than a 2.8 even. I'm not sure if NU has even ever taken a 2.38 or lower.

[bizzybone1313]

You essentially have one of the highest LSAT scores of any URM's in the entire country. As an African American, you probably are in the T-10 of LSAT scores for blacks. Your future is relatively bright considering your GPA. There will be a few T-14's that will love you because of the LSAT score.

[BruceWayne]

You need to work for a year, do the HK teaching thing, and then apply to Northwestern. If you get your prep scores you'll probably get in. They are really the only top 14 I could see admitting you that would be worth attending. Cornell and GULC might let you in but it would probably be at sticker and they don't place well enough for that. I might consider NU at sticker. You are in a really odd spot because you'll get into a great school like NU; but you won't get big money from a lower decent school like a lot of NU admits would. You're one of the few applicants who it might make sene to pay sticker to go to a non HYS school (assuming you truly want to be a lawyer). Quite frankly, if you don't your other options will probably just be a worse school for sticker or a really bad one for free.

[Thelonious Kwiggz]

Thank you for the prompt reply, judging from UV and their current cycle(LSN) they are hurting for AA URMs. I saw them put a 158 LSAT 2.7 GPA on waitlist, but that could also be due to the dearth of applicants this year. Next cycle might not be as amiable toward URMs, but thank you for a response. So for sure no chance at Upenn? Also would it be better to potentially get money from Vandi than Cornell at sticker price (Assuming either looks pass my abysmal GPA). My legal interest consists of JAG and after that politics, what schools would you all suggest I look at?

Thank you

Thelonious

[sinfiery]

Regardless of the sound advice youve gotten so far, I would blanket the T14 and see what happens.

[Crowing]

Thank you for the prompt reply, judging from UV and their current cycle(LSN) they are hurting for AA URMs. I saw them put a 158 LSAT 2.7 GPA on waitlist, but that could also be due to the dearth of applicants this year. Next cycle might not be as amiable toward URMs, but thank you for a response. So for sure no chance at Upenn? Also would it be better to potentially get money from Vandi than Cornell at sticker price (Assuming either looks pass my abysmal GPA). My legal interest consists of JAG and after that politics, what schools would you all suggest I look at?

Thank you

Thelonious

Idk if it's no chance. It's unprecedented based on LSN data. But your situation is so rare that if I were you I'd go ahead and blanket the T-14 anyway.

[Tiago Splitter]

You are in a really odd spot because you'll get into a great school like NU; but you won't get big money from a lower decent school like a lot of NU admits would.

Classic splitter conundrum. But I do think OP will get a small amount of money from some T-14's that don't care about dipping down for a GPA, because he lets them check off the URM and above median LSAT boxes.

[Thelonious Kwiggz]

I would not mind paying sticker for Cornell or Georgetown and utilizing the name recognition in another region of the country after JAG. Though it might sound shallow, one of my primary concerns is academic pedigree. Primarily because I would like to pursue a future in politics. Should I potentially get more years of W.E to distance myself from my GPA, doing some other teaching position in Moscow maybe? Thank you for your responses, I truly appreciate it.

[wert3813]

.

[BruceWayne]

Thank you for the prompt reply, judging from UV and their current cycle(LSN) they are hurting for AA URMs. I saw them put a 158 LSAT 2.7 GPA on waitlist, but that could also be due to the dearth of applicants this year. Next cycle might not be as amiable toward URMs, but thank you for a response. So for sure no chance at Upenn? Also would it be better to potentially get money from Vandi than Cornell at sticker price (Assuming either looks pass my abysmal GPA). My legal interest consists of JAG and after that politics, what schools would you all suggest I look at?

Thank you

Thelonious

If your first choice is JAG your law school doesn't matter and you should just minimize debt. They don't care about law school prestige AT ALL--just grades and resume.

You are in a really odd spot because you'll get into a great school like NU; but you won't get big money from a lower decent school like a lot of NU admits would.

Classic splitter conundrum. But I do think OP will get a small amount of money from some T-14's that don't care about dipping down for a GPA, because he lets them check off the URM and above median LSAT boxes.

It's not all that classic for a URM. A URM splitter with his LSAT but who just had a low instead of exceptionally low GPA (i.e. 3.0-3.2 or even 2.7-2.9) would still get full rides from strong regionals and maybe even UVA/Michigan. His GPA is in a range that would make him almost ineligible for a tier 1 law schools if not for his extraordinary LSAT.

[Thelonious Kwiggz]

Thank you for your responses, I will do my best to achieve the elusive AA Male 180 and report back with my cycles results. I wish you all the best with your law careers.

Sincerely

Thelonious

[blacklawboss]

NU, Cornell, GULC... Outside shot at UVA. Other than that why not... What was your gpa last 2 years? With 9 F's in 1st year, how did you live to fight another day at your college?

[Thelonious Kwiggz]

I was able to sustain attendance at my university due to there being a two semester probationary period before the school suspended me but I appealed the decision and it was overturned. My GPA has a upward trend but not consecutive 4.0 semesters.

Will Ad coms take much notice in my soft?

[bizzybone1313]

What would really be cool is if you could get Georgetown, Cornell or Northwestern to cough up some money with your acceptance. You might get lucky and get $30K or something. Georgetown would be perfect for a future political career. Just try to keep your debt down. Politics is what I am going to do in the future myself, but I don't think I can justify attending Cornell or Georgetown over UT-Austin since I am from Texas unless I was thrown a significant amount of cash flow from them. Even then, I don't think I would attend. UT-Austin is one of the best bangs for the buck in the country if you are in-state.

[Stanford4Me]

Since you're such a splitter it's really hard to predict, but I have to imagine you'll receive at least one (though I think more) acceptances from T-14 schools.

[Thelonious Kwiggz]

I am hoping that the trend of decreased LSAT takers continues, as the 175+ bracket has been the most impacted.
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 6&t=170835, if the trend continues that would mean that there will only be around 550-600 175+ (assuming that there are not many 175+ scorers sitting on their score from previous years) which means that HYS would absorb most of those applicants leaving a seat open at some great schools (ideally).

[lutcf2021]

Keep us posted!

[jgloster]

I wanna know what happened to this kid.