How can one bad year affect your chances? Forum

[anilomevin]

It irks me that I slipped up on one, since I'm normally a straight-A student and have been since. Any thoughts, comments, or suggestions are very well appreciated as that is why I'm here.
I started out in a community college and earned about a 3.88 GPA with over 90 credits (I changed majors). Then I transferred to a party school, almost completely withdrew the first semester, and got straight Fs the second semester (I don't think I even set foot in a classroom that semester). The two semesters netted a 0.80 GPA with 15 hours. I took some classes at a correspondence university, 3.76 GPA with 25 hours. Then I transferred to a middle-of-the-road university--not too shabby, it is expected to become a T1 in a few years--and have a 4.1 GPA (when counting A+ grades as 4.3s). I'll graduate next year with a BBA in Accounting simultaneously with a M.S. Accy. For the next year, I would be surprised if I don't have a mix of A and A+ grades. Expected Undergarduate GPA at graduation: 3.68. Undergraduate GPA without bad semester: 3.92. Graduate GPA 4.0. The upward trend is pretty obvious.
My plans after graduation are to work either at a Big 4 accounting firm, compliance at a bank, or regulatory (FDIC or IRS) for 2-3 years. In this time I will earn a CPA license. Then I will take the LSAT. With an appropriate study regimen I should be able to score 170, give or take.
There are a few other less important things, but they may sway a borderline decision. I am fluent in Mandarin. I've lived and worked abroad in the UK and Hong Kong. I grew up as an expatriate in the Middle East and have remained fairly current on affairs in that region. I've overcome a pervasive developmental disorder--coincidentally I made great strides in overcoming this in the same time as my bad academic year.
That's a lot about myself, so here's my question: would my circumstances merit consideration beyond simply punching 3.68 GPA and 170 LSAT into the admissions calculator?

[Penguin515]

I think a 3.68 is a pretty good gpa considering that one off year. Work experience at a big four accounting firm will certainly help, but a 170 or above on the LSAT will certainly be your ticket to a T-14.

[Randomnumbers]

Would my circumstances merit consideration beyond simply punching 3.68 GPA and 170 LSAT into the admissions calculator?

No.

But speaking Mandarin and working at a Big4 and having a CPA license might help at OCI. Kick ass on that LSAT.

[jbagelboy]

I mean, it might even be best for you if schools just took the 3.68 and didnt read into it too much. Grades from four different schools, including cc's, a below 1.0 gpa in a semester and a series of withdrawals in another.. Those would be troubling signs for a top law program and it might end up being good for you that they will be largely overlooked with the emphasis on one LSAC GPA used for USNWR metric.

Your stellar graduate grades/degree will serve as a positive soft outside of your lsac gpa consideration.

Your plan sounds good. Distance yourself from the jumbled college experience with solid, consistent work experience -- try to stay at the same accounting/finance firm for 1+ years to demonstrate professional commitment -- and licensing yourself as a CPA is usually a small plus, esp. at OCI.

With a 170 on the LSAT and your ~3.7 gpa, you'll be in at NYU and down. Yale wont take kindly to your party school days, but you arent in the running there anyway so it hardly matters.

[Ti Malice]

That's a lot about myself, so here's my question: would my circumstances merit consideration beyond simply punching 3.68 GPA and 170 LSAT into the admissions calculator?

No, not really. With good work experience, you'll be above-average for an applicant with those numbers, but the numbers will still be almost everything. With a 174+, you would have a chance at Harvard, assuming that applicant numbers don't rebound by the time you apply (they probably won't). A 172 will give you a good shot at Columbia, and a 171 essentially makes you a lock at NYU.

[jbagelboy]

That's a lot about myself, so here's my question: would my circumstances merit consideration beyond simply punching 3.68 GPA and 170 LSAT into the admissions calculator?

No, not really. With good work experience, you'll be above-average for an applicant with those numbers, but the numbers will still be almost everything. With a 174+, you would have a chance at Harvard, assuming that applicant numbers don't rebound by the time you apply (they probably won't). A 172 will give you a good shot at Columbia, and a 171 essentially makes you a lock at NYU.

Im thinking more like 176+ for Harvard for a realistic shot tho

[Ti Malice]

That's a lot about myself, so here's my question: would my circumstances merit consideration beyond simply punching 3.68 GPA and 170 LSAT into the admissions calculator?

No, not really. With good work experience, you'll be above-average for an applicant with those numbers, but the numbers will still be almost everything. With a 174+, you would have a chance at Harvard, assuming that applicant numbers don't rebound by the time you apply (they probably won't). A 172 will give you a good shot at Columbia, and a 171 essentially makes you a lock at NYU.

Im thinking more like 176+ for Harvard for a realistic shot tho

Oh, definitely. I was just thinking of 174 as the point where chances would probably become non-zero, with the continuing contraction of the applicant pool. I should have made that more clear. But hitting or, far better, exceeding the LSAT 75th would be essential for having anything better than extreme long-shot odds.