Top Law Schools

Part 1:
Originally posted in URM forum.

First timer, plan on entering law school September 2014. Expecting above 160 (based on practice tests and Kaplan course results) on LSAT, really been studying my noggin' off.

Here is a brief synopsis..

UC Davis UG/ 2.86/ AA Male URM/ Strong Softs/ 2 years WE (government)/ Community Service ALOT/ D1 athlete (career ending injury)/ UGPA low due to MAJOR family crisis' throughout undergrad - father was extremely sick for two years and had to do a ton of commuting from San Diego to Davis.

Chances of T14 admission? (assuming T6 is OUT) T20? Any insight would be helpful really.

Any potential for money?

Part 2:

Unique situation: Needed one more spanish class to graduate, completed that this fall semester at a JC. So technically, still haven't graduated. HYPOTHETICALLY, If I take 9 more (3 unit) JC classes assuming A's in each, I could defer graduation and pull my UGPA up above 3.0.

Thoughts?

..

Thanks,

I was reading the LSAC's website and they say they exclude remedial courses, but don't make any distinction. Wondering if I could take a number of intro to XYZ classes and Ace those to get that bump.

The admissions are so across the board for 16X/3.X urm's I have no idea what to expect. I guess I'll just keep my head down and keep working on mastering this logic.

..

sublime wrote:Take as many bullshit CC classes as you can before you graduate to get your GPA as high as possible. With your GPA, you will need to really kill the LSAT. The good news is that as an AA, you have more to gain than anyone else (aside from AA female) from a high LSAT score. It may take more than a 160 though.

I agree with this advice. Take as many classes as you can OP to get that GPA up. A 3.0 GPA is still on the low side, but you have a legit reason for an addendum which schools will take seriously.

What has your range been on the tests? 160+ is a bit vague.

SDtoDavisTo... wrote:
Chances of T14 admission? (assuming T6 is OUT) T20? Any insight would be helpful really.

Any potential for money?

Any place you are at or above the LSAT median should give you good money. Its tough to be a URM splitter. If you are not at /above the LSAT median, URMs with lower LSAT scores and median/above GPAs will be more valuable for the school.


LSN sample sizes are too small, but dont look good.




http://www.mylsn.info/l41k9f

If you dont get 170+ you should retake it during this cycle. twice if necessary. My stats were URM 3.0 high 16X, and if I could do anything different it would be to retake it after scoring solid the first time.

Take as many GPA boosting classes (Summer, Fall, Winter, etc) as you can.

Your prospects between 2.7-2.99 look like this - basically shut out of the T14 but solid from WUSTL on down:



Whereas this is what your chances look like between 3.0-3.2:



Also, 165+ LSAT minimum. If I were you I wouldn't settle for anything less than a 170 to mitigate that GPA. 3.0+/170+ opens up Harvard and Stanford:

Wow thats a huge difference

Nova wrote:

SDtoDavisTo... wrote:
Chances of T14 admission? (assuming T6 is OUT) T20? Any insight would be helpful really.

Any potential for money?

Any place you are at or above the LSAT median should give you good money. Its tough to be a URM splitter. If you are not at /above the LSAT median, URMs with lower LSAT scores and median/above GPAs will be more valuable for the school.


LSN sample sizes are too small, but dont look good.




http://www.mylsn.info/l41k9f

If you dont get 170+ you should retake it during this cycle. twice if necessary. My stats were URM 3.0 high 16X, and if I could do anything different it would be to retake it after scoring solid the first time.

Nova, your charts are unrealistically bad because your range is too broad and too deep. Dont select 2.0-3.0 or you will draw all red of course, since its based on % and your including 2.5s and 2.4s with OPs 2.9. The narrower the range the more accurate here. I would disregard those charts showing all red for T14 above 165, OP. you'll have a shot at a few.

Wow, thanks a lot everyone for the speedy responses.

I definitely have a better strategy and a clearer picture of the possibilities. Step 1: Try to push back this graduation to the fall quarter and then load up on intro to everything online! Cant wait.

If I'm not hitting 165 on the regular in my practice, would it be worth taking the June test AND then the October or just postpone until October?

I want to take June to set a bench mark, but don't want that to come back and potentially bite me in the arse.

Furthermore, how much weight does a STRONG LOR hold in this equation?

I went with "under 3.0" becasue there are so few data points available. I didnt mean to suggest that OP would have that % of chance at those schools.

0/46 at HYSCC with a sub 3.0/165-175 is not a disregardable stat, IMO.

SDtoDavisTo... wrote:If I'm not hitting 165 on the regular in my practice, would it be worth taking the June test AND then the October or just postpone until October?

I wouldnt take it unless youre close to peaking

SDtoDavisTo... wrote:Furthermore, how much weight does a STRONG LOR hold in this equation?

not much

SDtoDavisTo... wrote:Wow, thanks a lot everyone for the speedy responses.

I definitely have a better strategy and a clearer picture of the possibilities. Step 1: Try to push back this graduation to the fall quarter and then load up on intro to everything online! Cant wait.

If I'm not hitting 165 on the regular in my practice, would it be worth taking the June test AND then the October or just postpone until October?

I want to take June to set a bench mark, but don't want that to come back and potentially bite me in the arse.

With your GPA, I wouldn't take the LSAT until you're averaging in the high 160s. You should just plan on taking the October LSAT (at least that's what I would do), as the June LSAT is right around the corner. If you don't feel adequately prepared, there's nothing to lose by opting out besides a small chunk of change. Also, postponing graduation to inflate your GPA to above a 3.0 is an excellent idea. If you end up scoring in the mid- to high 160s with a 3.0+ GPA, you'll have somewhat of a shot at the lower portion of the T14 and certainly at T20s and T25s.