3.71 175; Different circumstance Forum

[JJH94]

.

[pupshaw]

You played a college sport at 13?

[sasquatchsam]

You played a college sport at 13?

[twenty]

I am a rising senior have a 3.71 in a "hard" science at a top LAC, and my graduate course GPA is a 3.87 (my school lets UGs take grad courses for credit. This GPA is not posted separately though.)

If the graduate GPA is not calculated into the 3.71, your LSAC GPA will actually be higher.

I am graduating 5 years early, at the age of 17.

18-year old college graduate here. Trust me when I tell you that you do not want to be "that one kid" in law school. Take a year or two off and go enjoy life. Go join the peace corps. Heck, do a funded hard-science Ph.D (which is both very impressive for law school admissions, and equally very valuable if you want to do patent law). But don't take on 200k+ debt, even from HYS, in order to "start life" 4-5 years earlier.

Also, there's a good chance you weren't playing college sports at 13. Just saying.

[Xixak]

Did you really just call a 3.71 a "poor" GPA?

And lol at a 13 year old playing a college sport.

[rinkrat19]

I would think that being that young is more of a detriment than anything else. You can't drink with/socialize with/relate to clients and colleagues at all (can't even go INTO a bar--law firms have mixers for students at bars all the time), you have zero real-world experience, and no client is going to trust you with anything important. I would get a job in that hard science for a few years, which would only make you even more valuable for IP law, for instance. Then apply when you're 20/21. You're still one of the youngest students, WITH (probably excellent) work experience, and you won't be such an outlier, socially.

[jbagelboy]

Lolwut. This must be a flame

17 year old LAC college graduate who wants harvard law? Why? Why go to law school and ruin the funnest years of your life? (17-22). I mean really thats a decision you'll regret your entre life. Have you ever even been laid? Like whats the deal? If you are a real person, take the advice of the previous poster and go do something with your life for 3-5 to enjoy yourself and mature a little. You are clearly precocious and academically brilliant, but you will fuck up your entire life if you put yourself in situations you arent mature enough to handle - socially, professionally, sexually. If I were JS or Asha or Faye Id be like "awww cute" and then look at your application and say lolnocomebackin4yearsbro

[NYstate]

I don't think you need to retake.

What kind of law do you want to practice? I agree that you can find more rewarding ways to use your talents.

[JJH94]

I would think that being that young is more of a detriment than anything else. You can't drink with/socialize with/relate to clients and colleagues at all (can't even go INTO a bar--law firms have mixers for students at bars all the time), you have zero real-world experience, and no client is going to trust you with anything important. I would get a job in that hard science for a few years, which would only make you even more valuable for IP law, for instance. Then apply when you're 20/21. You're still one of the youngest students, WITH (probably excellent) work experience, and you won't be such an outlier, socially.

By the time I enter LS I would be 18, and if I enter in the fall, I would be 21 by the time I join a firm. This is not to address your "social outlier" point, although even as a senior right now, few people can distinguish my age socially or physically. I don't know what you consider to be real world work experience - maybe post-grad work? - but I have worked the maximum number of hours a week throughout the school year (as is allowed by law), among having other jobs while not in school.

Did you really just call a 3.71 a "poor" GPA?

And lol at a 13 year old playing a college sport.

For HYS purposes, yes, I think 3.71 is a "poor" GPA. Also, while playing a college sport at 13 seems very unlikely (even for a school with a terrible athletic program), this isn't something I have claimed to have done. In fact, I trained with the team freshman and sophomore year, until finally making it this past year - I am 16. Besides, this is a chances thread, not a "should go to LS or not" thread.

Lolwut. This must be a flame

17 year old LAC college graduate who wants harvard law? Why? Why go to law school and ruin the funnest years of your life? (17-22). I mean really thats a decision you'll regret your entre life. Have you ever even been laid? Like whats the deal? If you are a real person, take the advice of the previous poster and go do something with your life for 3-5 to enjoy yourself and mature a little. You are clearly precocious and academically brilliant, but you will fuck up your entire life if you put yourself in situations you arent mature enough to handle - socially, professionally, sexually. If I were JS or Asha or Faye Id be like "awww cute" and then look at your application and say lolnocomebackin4yearsbro

If you knew me at all, your preconcieved notion of what a 16 year-old in college can accomplish both academically and (especially) socially would be shattered. People like you are the reason why I have kept, and have had to have kept, my age a secret - they can't seem to get over this idea that a high-school-aged student cannot assimilate into a college-aged lifestyle.

I don't think you need to retake.

What kind of law do you want to practice? I agree that you can find more rewarding ways to use your talents.

I am most interested in fields of public interest like education and children's rights law.

Now, can someone answer my question?

[blsingindisguise]

Flamey flame is flamey

[NYstate]

I thought your question was about retaking?
How much did you study for the exam? Do you think you can improve?

About your softs? They seem good. What were you asking exactly?

[JJH94]

I thought your question was about retaking?
How much did you study for the exam? Do you think you can improve?

About your softs? They seem good. What were you asking exactly?

Sorry to be confusing; I was asking what my chances are at HYS (and if they are not-so-great if I should retake)

[jbagelboy]

I think your chances at HYS could be hurt by your age. A higher LSAT would make no difference. Otherwise you have mylsn at your disposal.

Im not underestimating what you could "achieve" socially: Im saying 1) you will regret jumping so far ahead and attending professional school without being able to make use of these years of your life, I mean shit, you are still developing physiologically and mentally at that age; Im advising you against making a poor life decision that could cripple you existentially even if it abets your immediate net earning potential; and 2) there are many instances in which your age could prove a disadvantage in this line of work, i.e. as a 19 yr old summer associate, as an attorney who cant relate to his coworkers and clients' experiences simply because you lack the reservoir of experiences of your own, and ageism works both ways: others will be 24 minimum and they could be granted more trust & more responsibility as a result when compared to you.

Im not judging you. Your accomplishments are impressive. Im just helping you

[Monochromatic Oeuvre]

You may want to check into minimum age requirements. I know for a fact NYU applicants have to be eighteen, although I would imagine there wouldn't be legal problems as long as you were eighteen by the time you started. Still worth double checking.

OP: I'm a relatively young student myself--I'll be graduating law school at 23. And trust me, I'm pretty frightened that my age is going to be a detriment in hiring. I can't imagine how freaked out I'd be if my age shot up a bunch of red flags (like yours does) instead of just raising an eyebrow or two. I've had plenty of experiences with people not taking me seriously because of my age, and that was in fields much less "rigid" than law. It's not like STEM work, which is relatively meritocratic; your career could legitimately be stonewalled because people may outright not listen to you because you're so young, regardless of the quality of work you produce.

I don't think it will be a disqualifier in the T6, but it certainly won't be helpful. I don't see it as more than a slightly negative soft, although you couldn't blame them if they basically said "come back when you're older." I really think a year of WE would do you wonders, because employers are more likely to question whether someone could take you seriously as a professional than whether you're qualified as a lawyer. Have a year to show them you can put on a suit and tie and work at an office ten hours a day without crapping yourself.

[jbagelboy]

Big difference b/t 20 and 17

Also Mono is like lil wayne, he was getting with the beezees at 12 so he's been way ahead of the game for a while

[NYstate]

OP you need to consider that law school is professional school leading to a job. The job part is going to be a hurdle for you. How old will you be when you graduate?
My firm will have a hard time hiring a 21 year old unless they are truly a savant at law school. I don't know how that will play out in the areas you are interested in practicing.
I think you may want to look into hiring at jobs you may be pursuing.

The good thing for you is that you have nothing to lose by applying. If you don't get in where you want, you can reapply after you get more experience.

If you think you can improve, you might consider a retake. A higher score never hurts. I'm just not sure if it will overcome your age.

I think this is another great question to ask in the Mike Spivey thread.

[BigZuck]

Kid- work some crappy job and go out and have fun for a few years. Do something cool/unique if you want to improve your chances at HYS. Don't even think about law school until you're at least 22 or 23.

I can speak for all crusty old people when I say that just trying to have a conversation with someone in their early 20s is annoying enough, let alone having to work alongside them day in and day out. Your age will hurt you, I'm sure.

[Ramius]

Kid- work some crappy job and go out and have fun for a few years. Do something cool/unique if you want to improve your chances at HYS. Don't even think about law school until you're at least 22 or 23.

I can speak for all crusty old people when I say that just trying to have a conversation with someone in their early 20s is annoying enough, let alone having to work alongside them day in and day out. Your age will hurt you, I'm sure.

+1

[Monochromatic Oeuvre]

Also Mono is like lil wayne, he was getting with the beezees at 12 so he's been way ahead of the game for a while

I Googled this and I still don't know what it means. I'll have to defer to Professor andre douglas pond cummings for how this bit of rap relates to my legal career.

OP, think of it like this: You are Prodigy from Mobb Deep in "Shook Ones Part II", who proclaimed "I'm only nineteen but my mind is older." Biglaw recruiters are like Tupac in "Hit 'Em Up", who responed "You little young-ass motherfuckers." Prodigy was a black male who had work experience in the Queensbridge housing projects, and strong softs like a commercially successful rap album, and still got rejected from the Tupac Shakur School of Law. Don't go to law school until you're at least as old as Prodigy was.

[achilles470]

Also Mono is like lil wayne, he was getting with the beezees at 12 so he's been way ahead of the game for a while

I Googled this and I still don't know what it means. I'll have to defer to Professor andre douglas pond cummings for how this bit of rap relates to my legal career.

OP, think of it like this: You are Prodigy from Mobb Deep in "Shook Ones Part II", who proclaimed "I'm only nineteen but my mind is older." Biglaw recruiters are like Tupac in "Hit 'Em Up", who responed "You little young-ass motherfuckers." Prodigy was a black male who had work experience in the Queensbridge housing projects, and strong softs like a commercially successful rap album, and still got rejected from the Tupac Shakur School of Law. Don't go to law school until you're at least as old as Prodigy was.

Words of wisdom. Jay-Z blew up the scene with applicable work experience and a compelling PS (balancing out his median LSAT). By '99 Prodigy was shitcanned. Just look at him now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlgZpWK7qEM