Top Law Schools

I'm a longtime lurker, but I had to register today to post this question.

I'm a third year student, and I'm probably applying to schools this Fall. I already took the LSAT (176), so I feel good about that, but my GPA is a struggle.

I barely have any As or Bs... My transcript is almost entirely composed of A- grades. Right now, I have a 3.68. I was hoping to boost that considerably this semester, but I just talked to my professors, and I'm having the same problem: It looks like each class will probably be an A-, unless I get near perfect scores on my finals.

I go to a top small liberal arts school, and I think that professors just expect a little bit more engagement than I have been able to give, because I work two jobs on campus and I am very active in student government.

My question is this: As it stands, how do I look for Chicago, Columbia, and Harvard? Will lower numbers of applicants help me out? Or do I need to give up on K-JD, give up at least one of my jobs, and focus solely on schoolwork for my last year in undergrad, so that I can hopefully pull off a 3.73 or something and apply later. [I would have to take on a bit more undergrad debt, but I'm willing to do that, if it is a huge boost to my app.] Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Getting over the 3.7 threshold would be helpful for H, though it's less crucial than it used to be. Quit one of your jobs and consider padding your GPA with 12 easy hours of community college coursework over the summer, if at all possible.

bananapepper wrote:I'm a longtime lurker, but I had to register today to post this question.

I'm a third year student, and I'm probably applying to schools this Fall. I already took the LSAT (176), so I feel good about that, but my GPA is a struggle.

I barely have any As or Bs... My transcript is almost entirely composed of A- grades. Right now, I have a 3.68. I was hoping to boost that considerably this semester, but I just talked to my professors, and I'm having the same problem: It looks like each class will probably be an A-, unless I get near perfect scores on my finals.

I go to a top small liberal arts school, and I think that professors just expect a little bit more engagement than I have been able to give, because I work two jobs on campus and I am very active in student government.

My question is this: As it stands, how do I look for Chicago, Columbia, and Harvard? Will lower numbers of applicants help me out? Or do I need to give up on K-JD, give up at least one of my jobs, and focus solely on schoolwork for my last year in undergrad, so that I can hopefully pull off a 3.73 or something and apply later. [I would have to take on a bit more undergrad debt, but I'm willing to do that, if it is a huge boost to my app.] Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I think the answer is clear here, even if you aren't sure you want to hear it. Quit your campus jobs. Take a few easier courses -- I was stuck in the A- rut for a while but broke out senior year to near all A's. I taught SAT prep on wkends and worked as a mentor for several classes for extra $ and it hurt my academics. Get good grades all through senior year, ace your finals, and if you get 3.75 you are in at Harvard Class of 2018.

Don't apply in the fall. Get a good post-grad position; if you're at Amherst or Pomona or Swarthmore or a peer (fyi I was at one of these too), you should have plenty of support for prestigious fellowships/NGO's or management/lit consulting if you're more corporate-minded. There's no rush to get into law school.

Also I'm not sure how you would have UG debt if you went to one of those schools since they presumably guarantee 100% need based aid -- If your package includes loans you have a shit deal son.

edit: I just wanted to re-emphasize that no matter your LSAT (congrats btw), that 3.75 mark can be critical at H and S.