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Just got my LSAT score back, and it's making me nervous. I was hoping for a 175+, was scoring that on practice tests...got a 172. I have a 3.6 GPA from a Big Ten, public university. I know I'm not getting into HYS, wasn't dreaming of that, but I was eyeing UChicago. Also very interested in Michigan and Northwestern. I feel like I might fit the profile of the kind of kid they reject with my numbers (not URM, good but not otherworldly extracurriculars). Wondering if anyone could shed some light.

Also, I am strongly considering doing an MPP as well. Does that factor in at all to the schools, if they see I have a solid plan for why I want to come there? For example, I like UChicago in large part b/c I have work experience in the city, am interested in their grad programs, and am especially interested in their housing law program (also b/c it's UChicago). Do they care?

EDIT: Just wanted to add, is there a chance a retake would help? I know it's a very high score but I think I could do better and I am not at all confident in my transcripts.

UChicago is probably going to be a long shot based on your GPA, but you never know.

I got into Northwestern and Michigan this cycle with a 168 and the same GPA as you from a Big Ten school. As long as you have WE you should get in easily at Northwestern, and have an above average shot without the WE.

Thanks for the feedback! Just wondering, what does WE stand for? Can't figure it out. Sorry, I'm new here.

Congrats on getting into Northwestern and Michigan! Did you decide to go to either of those, or somewhere else you got in?

EDIT: WE = Work experience? I will have that.

mrnovember wrote:Thanks for the feedback! Just wondering, what does WE stand for? Can't figure it out. Sorry, I'm new here.

Congrats on getting into Northwestern and Michigan! Did you decide to go to either of those, or somewhere else you got in?

With any good W/E I bet you get most of T14 up to Columbia and NYU.

172, 3.6, has work experience, and likes Chicago. This has Northwestern ED written all over it. You have a good shot at the 150k scholarship (which unfortunately doesn't scale with tuition increases). I'm pretty much your twin with a slightly higher LSAT and that's what I did.

Hey if you were scoring consistently higher i think a retake would be in order. Wait a cycle. Y is out so it doesn't matter if you score less the second time around. 172 is not a bad outcome and actually expected if you were scoring a bit higher. But a couple more points could very well get you full scholarships at lower t14s.

If you think you have a legitimate chance of going above 175, then I think you need to retake. You'll probably get in to some the schools you're interested not - but the cost might be too high. Get above 175 and you might get into a better school or nab a much better scholarship somewhere.

Are you looking at getting an MPP and a JD? I'll warn you that this move almost never makes sense. Its just a bunch of credentialing that isn't really good for anything.

A higher LSAT could improve OP'S chances significantly at Columbia and slightly at Harvard. It might not result in much bigger scholarships to the lower t14, where he will already be above 75ths.

mrnovember wrote:Thanks for the feedback! Just wondering, what does WE stand for? Can't figure it out. Sorry, I'm new here.

Congrats on getting into Northwestern and Michigan! Did you decide to go to either of those, or somewhere else you got in?

EDIT: WE = Work experience? I will have that.

Still waiting on Northwestern to make scholarship decisions, but I got 30k from Michigan. I'll probably wait until later in the cycle to make a decision as I plan on negotiating as long as I can; but if money wasn't an issue I'd pick Northwestern.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Appreciate it a lot. I'm leaning towards a retake now, and definitely looking harder at Northwestern. Was completely unaware of the ED scholarship arrangement.

Just curious Nomo, could you elaborate a little on why a JD/MPP is a bad idea? I'm still trying to figure out exactly what sort of career I want, but I am leaning more towards public policy/legislative work. Figured that the MPP would cover more of the technical analysis skills that would be useful (statistics, etc.). Although maybe those are attainable within certain JD programs?