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I'm graduating this week and I'm not sure of my exact gpa but I have a pretty good estimate. The cumm gpa from community college and my university will be around a 3.58. That's in the bottom 25percentile for nyu but is it still possible to get in if my LSAT is in the mid 170s? I got a 160 on my diagnostic so I'm hoping with tutoring I can get in the 170s. Also, I'm not sure if my university gpa will matter more than my community college one. The only reason my gpa at the university got so bad is because of two four credit courses. I got a C in accounting and a D in Finance.

I'm planning on working at a law firm for my year off and hopefully get good recommendations. I know that's only a soft factor.

Sorry for the bad spelling and grammar, I'm typing on my phone lol

Yeah you should be good as long as you can score 171+. Probably won't be getting much $$ not sure if that matters to you though.

Kellanj wrote:Yeah you should be good as long as you can score 171+. Probably won't be getting much $$ not sure if that matters to you though.

I don't care too much about the money since law is all about ranking and it's near impossible to get a good job straight out of a law school if it's an unheard of law school. Would Columbia be possible? I know HYS are all out

H isn't out and Columbia definitely isn't. Just do really well on the LSAT. Like 176+. My GPA is worse than yours and I got H and $$ at NYU.

Pneumonia wrote:H isn't out and Columbia definitely isn't. Just do really well on the LSAT. Like 176+. My GPA is worse than yours and I got H and $$ at NYU.

Harvard isn't? That's my top choice but after this semester I thought I would have no shot since I'm well below their 25percentile. Does it matter that my university gpa is lower than my community college, or does only cumm gpa and lsat score matter?

Pneumonia wrote:H isn't out and Columbia definitely isn't. Just do really well on the LSAT. Like 176+. My GPA is worse than yours and I got H and $$ at NYU.

I have similar stats, and am planning on applying next cycle. Mind PMing me and telling me what your GPA/LSAT combo was so I have an idea of where I stand?

2014grad wrote:

Kellanj wrote:Yeah you should be good as long as you can score 171+. Probably won't be getting much $$ not sure if that matters to you though.

I don't care too much about the money since law is all about ranking and it's near impossible to get a good job straight out of a law school if it's an unheard of law school. Would Columbia be possible? I know HYS are all out

1. Do you understand what percentiles mean? Up to a quarter of the class has a lower GPA than the 25 so where on earth are you getting this impossible attitude?

2. You should certainly care about money. That's an absurd statement, unless your family or you are rich.

3. Law school admissions aren't ALL about numbers. People above the 75/75 get rejected from HYSCCN and people below 25/25 get accepted.

2014grad wrote:

Pneumonia wrote:H isn't out and Columbia definitely isn't. Just do really well on the LSAT. Like 176+. My GPA is worse than yours and I got H and $$ at NYU.

Harvard isn't? That's my top choice but after this semester I thought I would have no shot since I'm well below their 25percentile. Does it matter that my university gpa is lower than my community college, or does only cumm gpa and lsat score matter?

check the H LSN scatterplot for this cycle; it should give you some hope

2014grad wrote:

Pneumonia wrote:H isn't out and Columbia definitely isn't. Just do really well on the LSAT. Like 176+. My GPA is worse than yours and I got H and $$ at NYU.

Harvard isn't? That's my top choice but after this semester I thought I would have no shot since I'm well below their 25percentile. Does it matter that my university gpa is lower than my community college, or does only cumm gpa and lsat score matter?

I got an interview at HLS as well as $ at Columbia and NYU w/ a 3.46, 175. Just ace this one test and a world of options will remain open despite the gpa. Dedicate the time, and you'll thank yourself later.

SFrost wrote:

2014grad wrote:

Kellanj wrote:Yeah you should be good as long as you can score 171+. Probably won't be getting much $$ not sure if that matters to you though.

I don't care too much about the money since law is all about ranking and it's near impossible to get a good job straight out of a law school if it's an unheard of law school. Would Columbia be possible? I know HYS are all out

1. Do you understand what percentiles mean? Up to a quarter of the class has a lower GPA than the 25 so where on earth are you getting this impossible attitude?

2. You should certainly care about money. That's an absurd statement, unless your family or you are rich.

3. Law school admissions aren't ALL about numbers. People above the 75/75 get rejected from HYSCCN and people below 25/25 get accepted.

1) yes i understand that but that also means 75%of the people have a gpa higher than that. So while it's still possible the chances are really limited. And Harvard's 25percentile is like 3.78 or something around there so kinda discouraging.

2) Of course money matters but I don't see myself turning down Harvard for NYU over money.

3) Yes i understand that but aside from this job that I'm starting after graduation, I don't have any other experiences. So I don't really have soft factors to help me out.

does anyone know if the fact that I'm an asian female will help a little? Typically I would think being a minority helps but asians are also usually the least underrepresented minority...

2014grad wrote:does anyone know if the fact that I'm an asian female will help a little? Typically I would think being a minority helps but asians are also usually the least underrepresented minority...

I hate to break this to you, but Asians are an OVERrepresented minority.

SFrost wrote:

2014grad wrote:does anyone know if the fact that I'm an asian female will help a little? Typically I would think being a minority helps but asians are also usually the least underrepresented minority...

I hate to break this to you, but Asians are an OVERrepresented minority.

:/ i know

2014grad wrote:does anyone know if the fact that I'm an asian female will help a little? Typically I would think being a minority helps but asians are also usually the least underrepresented minority...

It can help with getting a job.

It won't help with LS admissions.

SFrost wrote:

2014grad wrote:does anyone know if the fact that I'm an asian female will help a little? Typically I would think being a minority helps but asians are also usually the least underrepresented minority...

I hate to break this to you, but Asians are an OVERrepresented minority.

I guess this is especially true at Cornell. http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 1&t=228421

2014grad wrote:

SFrost wrote:

2014grad wrote:

Kellanj wrote:Yeah you should be good as long as you can score 171+. Probably won't be getting much $$ not sure if that matters to you though.

I don't care too much about the money since law is all about ranking and it's near impossible to get a good job straight out of a law school if it's an unheard of law school. Would Columbia be possible? I know HYS are all out

1. Do you understand what percentiles mean? Up to a quarter of the class has a lower GPA than the 25 so where on earth are you getting this impossible attitude?

2. You should certainly care about money. That's an absurd statement, unless your family or you are rich.

3. Law school admissions aren't ALL about numbers. People above the 75/75 get rejected from HYSCCN and people below 25/25 get accepted.

1) yes i understand that but that also means 75%of the people have a gpa higher than that. So while it's still possible the chances are really limited. And Harvard's 25percentile is like 3.78 or something around there so kinda discouraging.

2) Of course money matters but I don't see myself turning down Harvard for NYU over money.

3) Yes i understand that but aside from this job that I'm starting after graduation, I don't have any other experiences. So I don't really have soft factors to help me out.

You need to completely overhaul and recalibrate your understanding of choosing a law school. It's far from all about ranking - in fact, ranking should matter very little, because the"rankings" are based on flawed methodological assumptions and boomer signaling. Forget rankings. What matters is minimizing student loan debt and how well the school you choose employs its graduates in the field & region you want to practice in. Ranking will very often not correlate with these critical factors.

You sound like someone who has been fed shitty information. If you land in the 160s with your LSAT, you will very likely be faced with a choice of T14 at sticker or a regional school with a large scholarship. Unless your parents are very wealthy, the best decision would be to take the strong regional school.

Similarly, if you were faced with a school like NYU at sticker and a large to full scholarship at a school like Duke, you would take Duke. Same goes for NYU and Harvard.

Don't blind yourself and wander aimlessly into the wilderness of crippling debt in search of the law

Got Columbia/NYU/Chi with exactly a 3.58 LSAT GPA and a 172 LSAT. $ at Chicago.

I got in with a 3.42 studying music at a pretty poorly-regarded state school, a clear downward grade trend, and almost no relevant work experience. Kill the LSAT, you'll be fine.

2014grad wrote:2) Of course money matters but I don't see myself turning down Harvard for NYU over money.

Premature to be making that calculation, IMO. Figure out what your goals are and see what the actual aid offers look like. At equal cost it's a no-brainer. With a $75k difference (which becomes $88k by graduation), you're looking at a couple more years in debt and a couple less years investing (or just enjoying the money).