2.7 / 166 URM (AA Male) Splitter - What Are My Chances? Forum

[AdAstraPerAspera]

Hello friends, long time lurker first time poster here.

I am an AA Male 2 years removed from my sub-par undergraduate performance, currently gearing up for a September retake.

possibly relevant softs:
A consistent record of community service throughout my undergrad, ranging from mentoring at-risk youth to organizing local fundraisers for undergraduate scholarships.

possibly relevant explanations for my sub-par undergraduate performance, and why I took five years to finish:
I worked various jobs throughout my undergrad, occasionally having to go part-time to do so. In addition, I suffered through several personal tragedies ( three close family members, two of which were mentors to me, died within roughly 1.5 years of each other)

Based on this information what are my chances at these schools (with my current LSAT) and how likely are scholarships? I just want a general feel, as I know my chances will improve when I retake in September and kick the test in the teeth.
NYU (possible ED)
Stanford (I am well below the GPA floor, hoping URM and a better LSAT may change that)
Georgetown
Upenn
Columbia
UCLA
Cornell
Florida (safety regional, I am from the state and plan to practice here should any of the above not work out)
Florida State (same as above)

If there are any other schools within the T20 that are extremely friendly to URM splitters, please feel free to suggest them. This is my current short-list based on personal preference and the type of law I want to practice (Public interest, preferably in domestic or international policy).

[arklaw13]

Hello friends, long time lurker first time poster here.

I am an AA Male 2 years removed from my sub-par undergraduate performance, currently gearing up for a September retake.

possibly relevant softs:
A consistent record of community service throughout my undergrad, ranging from mentoring at-risk youth to organizing local fundraisers for undergraduate scholarships.

possibly relevant explanations for my sub-par undergraduate performance, and why I took five years to finish:
I worked various jobs throughout my undergrad, occasionally having to go part-time to do so. In addition, I suffered through several personal tragedies ( three close family members, two of which were mentors to me, died within roughly 1.5 years of each other)

Based on this information what are my chances at these schools (with my current LSAT) and how likely are scholarships? I just want a general feel, as I know my chances will improve when I retake in September and kick the test in the teeth.
NYU (possible ED)
Stanford (I am well below the GPA floor, hoping URM and a better LSAT may change that)
Georgetown
Upenn
Columbia
UCLA
Cornell
Florida (safety regional, I am from the state and plan to practice here should any of the above not work out)
Florida State (same as above)

If there are any other schools within the T20 that are extremely friendly to URM splitters, please feel free to suggest them. This is my current short-list based on personal preference and the type of law I want to practice (Public interest, preferably in domestic or international policy).

Looking at last cycle's LSN:

Penn didn't take anyone under 3.0
NYU didn't take anyone under 3.0
Columbia didn't take anyone under a 3.0
Cornell didn't take anyone under a 3.14
Georgetown took a 2.78/172
UCLA took a 2.98/172
Stanford is a definite no

Dunno about Florida schools.

[dowu]

Hello friends, long time lurker first time poster here.

I am an AA Male 2 years removed from my sub-par undergraduate performance, currently gearing up for a September retake.

possibly relevant softs:
A consistent record of community service throughout my undergrad, ranging from mentoring at-risk youth to organizing local fundraisers for undergraduate scholarships.

possibly relevant explanations for my sub-par undergraduate performance, and why I took five years to finish:
I worked various jobs throughout my undergrad, occasionally having to go part-time to do so. In addition, I suffered through several personal tragedies ( three close family members, two of which were mentors to me, died within roughly 1.5 years of each other)

Based on this information what are my chances at these schools (with my current LSAT) and how likely are scholarships? I just want a general feel, as I know my chances will improve when I retake in September and kick the test in the teeth.
NYU (possible ED)
Stanford (I am well below the GPA floor, hoping URM and a better LSAT may change that)
Georgetown
Upenn
Columbia
UCLA
Cornell
Florida (safety regional, I am from the state and plan to practice here should any of the above not work out)
Florida State (same as above)

If there are any other schools within the T20 that are extremely friendly to URM splitters, please feel free to suggest them. This is my current short-list based on personal preference and the type of law I want to practice (Public interest, preferably in domestic or international policy).

Looking at last cycle's LSN:

Penn didn't take anyone under 3.0
NYU didn't take anyone under 3.0
Columbia didn't take anyone under a 3.0
Cornell didn't take anyone under a 3.14
Georgetown took a 2.78/172
UCLA took a 2.98/172
Stanford is a definite no

Dunno about Florida schools.

Nice.

Op, some schools will dip below their 25th percentile GPA if your lsat is over their median or 75th percentile. Apply broadly if you can and don't be afraid to negotiate.

[MT Cicero]

Hello friends, long time lurker first time poster here.

I am an AA Male 2 years removed from my sub-par undergraduate performance, currently gearing up for a September retake.

possibly relevant softs:
A consistent record of community service throughout my undergrad, ranging from mentoring at-risk youth to organizing local fundraisers for undergraduate scholarships.

possibly relevant explanations for my sub-par undergraduate performance, and why I took five years to finish:
I worked various jobs throughout my undergrad, occasionally having to go part-time to do so. In addition, I suffered through several personal tragedies ( three close family members, two of which were mentors to me, died within roughly 1.5 years of each other)

Based on this information what are my chances at these schools (with my current LSAT) and how likely are scholarships? I just want a general feel, as I know my chances will improve when I retake in September and kick the test in the teeth.
NYU (possible ED)
Stanford (I am well below the GPA floor, hoping URM and a better LSAT may change that)
Georgetown
Upenn
Columbia
UCLA
Cornell
Florida (safety regional, I am from the state and plan to practice here should any of the above not work out)
Florida State (same as above)

If there are any other schools within the T20 that are extremely friendly to URM splitters, please feel free to suggest them. This is my current short-list based on personal preference and the type of law I want to practice (Public interest, preferably in domestic or international policy).

Looking at last cycle's LSN:

Penn didn't take anyone under 3.0
NYU didn't take anyone under 3.0
Columbia didn't take anyone under a 3.0
Cornell didn't take anyone under a 3.14
Georgetown took a 2.78/172
UCLA took a 2.98/172
Stanford is a definite no

Dunno about Florida schools.

.

[AdAstraPerAspera]

Awesome! Thanks for the quick responses and the PM. May sound silly, but this is already giving me some ideas as to which way I should orientate myself through the application process. I really appreciate it guys

[mt2165]

Awesome! Thanks for the quick responses and the PM. May sound silly, but this is already giving me some ideas as to which way I should orientate myself through the application process. I really appreciate it guys

Hey man two things, first I would ask this in the URM sub forum cause youll get more people familiar with the URM process and two I'm also a AA male so I might be able to shed a tiny bit of light. First, congrats on the LSAT, thats a good score, but just know that your GPA is pretty much prohibitively low for the top 6, someone correct me if im wrong but I've never seen a 2.7 in the t6, not even AA's. You might get in at a couple of the lower t-14's like cornell/georgetown, but you wont get the money where attendance is worthwhile. I mean maybe, but i doubt it. If you get a 170+ the dynamic changes. Your're sweet spot is most like t20, where youll get very solid money at very solid schools i.e less than 100k at vandy or full ride at wustl or EA GW or something like that

[ScottRiqui]

Looking at last cycle's LSN:

Penn didn't take anyone under 3.0
NYU didn't take anyone under 3.0
Columbia didn't take anyone under a 3.0
Cornell didn't take anyone under a 3.14
Georgetown took a 2.78/172
UCLA took a 2.98/172
Stanford is a definite no

Dunno about Florida schools.

Keep in mind that only about 9-15% of the schools' total applicant pools are reflected on LSN, and the applicants who *are* on LSN are stronger, on average, than the schools' overall applicant pools. Couple that with the fact that splitter/super-splitters aren't very common, and I don't think you can say with any certainty that those schools didn't take *anyone* below the GPAs you listed.

[arklaw13]

Looking at last cycle's LSN:

Penn didn't take anyone under 3.0
NYU didn't take anyone under 3.0
Columbia didn't take anyone under a 3.0
Cornell didn't take anyone under a 3.14
Georgetown took a 2.78/172
UCLA took a 2.98/172
Stanford is a definite no

Dunno about Florida schools.

Keep in mind that only about 9-15% of the schools' total applicant pools are reflected on LSN, and the applicants who *are* on LSN are stronger, on average, than the schools' overall applicant pools. Couple that with the fact that splitter/super-splitters aren't very common, and I don't think you can say with any certainty that those schools didn't take *anyone* below the GPAs you listed.

Thought it was pretty obvious that I was pasting data from LSN. Didn't claim to have access to the entire applicant pool data of half of the T14. In any case, looking back at LSN's from prior years, it seems pretty evident that there exists a pretty hard 3.0 GPA floor at several of those schools. Not saying that OP is wasting his app fee by applying, just saying that his chances are slim to none. But he probably already knew that.

[ScottRiqui]

Looking at last cycle's LSN:

Penn didn't take anyone under 3.0
NYU didn't take anyone under 3.0
Columbia didn't take anyone under a 3.0
Cornell didn't take anyone under a 3.14
Georgetown took a 2.78/172
UCLA took a 2.98/172
Stanford is a definite no

Dunno about Florida schools.

Keep in mind that only about 9-15% of the schools' total applicant pools are reflected on LSN, and the applicants who *are* on LSN are stronger, on average, than the schools' overall applicant pools. Couple that with the fact that splitter/super-splitters aren't very common, and I don't think you can say with any certainty that those schools didn't take *anyone* below the GPAs you listed.

Thought it was pretty obvious that I was pasting data from LSN. Didn't claim to have access to the entire applicant pool data of half of the T14. In any case, looking back at LSN's from prior years, it seems pretty evident that there exists a pretty hard 3.0 GPA floor at several of those schools. Not saying that OP is wasting his app fee by applying, just saying that his chances are slim to none. But he probably already knew that.

No, it was clear that you were using LSN data. And while it's probably the best data we have, it's not always obvious just how incomplete and non-representative LSN data can be, especially for URM splitters and other uncommon applicants. I wouldn't feel comfortable saying anything definitive about his chances, especially after the last cycle or two; "grade floors" aren't nearly the 'thing' they were a few cycles ago.