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1). I have had a horrible undergraduate experience. Between grappling with health concerns, as well as two ill parents Ive had to care for. I took the LSAT three times, and scored 178 on the third attempt. My LSAC gpa is abysmal (2.75). In addition, I have semester upon semesters of withdrawals (for a good reason), though they didnt effect LSAC gpa, there will be a psychological factor in seeing them I am sure.

2). What schools would I be looking at with a 2.75/178 LSAT. I know law school predictor says Top 14 is a possibility, but I cant fathom how any of them would accept a sub 3.0 gpa, though.

3). Has anyone had a messy transcript (negative grades and Ws), and did it impede on your cycle, or was it strictly based on the numbers, and not other factors?

Thanks...I am new to this application process and just wanted any feedback I could get.

First off, congrats on doing so well on the LSAT. I think the important thing is to ask what your goals are. What kind of job do you want? Where do you want to live? How debt-adverse are you? You can definitely get into T14s (UVA and Northwestern, the latter if you have work experience) and maybe some others. Sounds like you could write a really solid addendum/personal statement that obviously won't be enough to overcome the GPA, but will at least give the schools a better idea of what happened.

i ran a search for 170+ scores with gpas between 2.0 and 2.8 in this cycle and the previous two:

uva
Accepted 176 2.80 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/Hagenomics
Accepted 173 2.20 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/aroquentin
Waitlisted 177 2.79 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/tehwetbandit
Waitlisted 176 2.48 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/MrFrog
Waitlisted 176 2.48 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/Mr_Frog
Waitlisted 175 2.80 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/jdb2013
Waitlisted 173 2.66 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/Splitter2014
Waitlisted 173 2.59 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/SplitDecision
Waitlisted 172 2.78 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/cpslo12
Waitlisted 172 2.60 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/bananasplit19
Denied 173 2.80 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/Augustusthecrab
Denied 173 2.38 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/splittersdilemma
Denied 171 2.70 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/splitacular
Denied 170 2.72 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/AlwaysSplit8s
Denied 170 2.50 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/unreasonable
Denied 170 2.49 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/d2verge

duke
Waitlisted -> Accepted 175 2.80 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/jdb2013
Waitlisted 179 2.80 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/kcdc1
Waitlisted 173 2.66 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/Splitter2014
Denied 172 2.78 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/worldwidestub
Denied 171 2.70 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/splitacular
Denied 170 2.49 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/d2verge

northwestern
Accepted 179 2.80 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/kcdc1
Accepted 177 2.79 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/tehwetbandit
Accepted 173 2.66 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/Splitter2014
Accepted 173 2.20 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/aroquentin
Accepted 172 2.60 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/bananasplit19
Accepted 172 2.20 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/geyser21
Accepted 171 2.30 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/Wipfelder
Accepted 170 2.00 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/rossybee
Waitlisted -> Accepted 175 2.80 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/jdb2013
Waitlisted -> Accepted 173 2.38 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/splittersdilemma
Waitlisted -> Accepted 171 2.70 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/splitacular
Waitlisted -> Accepted 170 2.72 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/AlwaysSplit8s
Waitlisted -> Accepted 170 2.54 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/pammie0415
Waitlisted -> Accepted 170 2.50 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/dstars823
Waitlisted -> Accepted 170 2.49 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/d2verge
Waitlisted 173 2.80 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/Augustusthecrab
Waitlisted 173 2.59 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/SplitDecision
Waitlisted 172 2.78 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/worldwidestub
Waitlisted 172 2.78 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/cpslo12
Denied 171 2.80 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/an0therdatap0int

gulc
Accepted 179 2.80 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/kcdc1
Accepted 173 2.79 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/freshmaker
Accepted 173 2.66 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/Splitter2014
Accepted 172 2.78 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/worldwidestub
Waitlisted 176 2.80 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/Hagenomics
Waitlisted 172 2.78 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/cpslo12
Waitlisted 170 2.54 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/pammie0415
Denied 175 2.80 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/jdb2013
Denied 173 2.38 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/splittersdilemma
Denied 173 2.20 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/aroquentin
Denied 172 2.45 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/PeanutsNJam
Denied 171 2.80 http://lawschoolnumbers.com/an0therdatap0int

so it's pretty unpredictable, tho i think you'll probably be able to eke out a t14 or two
school job placement ability is more a curve than a cliff. so why a t14 specifically? if you go, it'll probably be at or near sticker, which isn't exactly a great outcome. what are your goals?

Do you have work experience?