3.3 gpa Forum

[lcpquinitio]

Hi..
My undergrad gpa is 3.3 and I have not yet taken the LSAT.
However I have:
1) A Masters in Public Administration with a 3.98 GPA
2) Interned at the Office of the Attorney General of Guam
3) Currently work at a high profile law firm
4) Professors Assistant in College for law professors
5) served in Student Government for 2 years

I can also obtain several strong LORs from my professors, the chief prosecutor at the Office of the Attorney General, and other prominent people in the community..

I'm just really concerned about my GPA and finding ways to compensate for it..
Anyway I wanted to attend law schools in either SF, Seattle, Chicago, DC, or NY--I was wondering what schools in those areas are within reach..
I've looked at most of them already but I would appreciate more advice.

[Mack.Hambleton]

They things on your list do not matter for law school admissions. What will matter is your GPA and more so your LSAT score. Your GPA isn't so low that it excludes you from most things, so don't keep worrying about it and focus on the LSAT.

Your best outcome would either be attending a splitter friendly T14 at sticker or near sticker, which is a good option if you have outside funding. If not, not so much.
Or attending a regional school with a good sized scholarship.

First I would try and narrow down where you want to work. Don't just go to the best school you get into because schools outside the T14 are regional and unless you have ties to that area, you're going to have a much harder time breaking into the job market there.

Also figure out why you want to go to law school. If you want to work at a high profile firm like the one you're currently working at, its probably not going to happen from a regional school, and not worth it if you attend a T14 at sticker and are paying 3k a month for 10 years.

[El Pollito]

you can only compensate for it with a very high lsat score

[still]

score a 170+ and apply as early as possible and broadly. if you havent taken your lsat yet i'd treat this app cycle as a practice-run. even a december application is late for a splitter (yes applying early matters that much for splitters)

not trying to be offensive but your softs may be impressive to you, but they are very run of the mill and stereotypically pre-law and wont stand out at all.
the kinds of softs that do help are military service, publications in scientific american, etc

[kray]

Same GPA, 171 LSAT, headed to Georgetown with a decent scholarship. Do well on your LSAT!

[CanadianWolf]

Most law school searches start with one's LSAT score. Typically, a 3.3 GPA is too low for the top three (3) ranked law schools--Yale, Harvard & Stanford--as well as for UCal-Berkeley & Chicago. Columbia & Duke are also unlikely targets for a recent college graduate with a 3.3 GPA.
If you want to break into the Top 14 law schools, you'll need to get at least a 169 or 170 on the LSAT. This should give you a reasonable chance as a "splitter" at lower T-14 law schools such as Georgetown & Cornell.
Since you are interested in attending law school in Seattle, a 166 or higher LSAT score should give you a fair chance of admission at the University of Washington School of Law.

Post undergraduate full-time work experience & an LSAT score above 170 are the best ways to counter a low undergraduate GPA.

[lcpquinitio]

Appreciate all the information, everyone!

[lcpquinitio]

Same GPA, 171 LSAT, headed to Georgetown with a decent scholarship. Do well on your LSAT!

Georgetown is my dream school. Congrats! When did you submit your application?
I can take the test in October, but I would rather wait until December.

[kray]

Same GPA, 171 LSAT, headed to Georgetown with a decent scholarship. Do well on your LSAT!

Georgetown is my dream school. Congrats! When did you submit your application?
I can take the test in October, but I would rather wait until December.

Ha-- I actually took the February LSAT meaning my app didn't complete until about March 3.