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How accurate are "Prediction Calculators"?

Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 7:57 pm
by TexasRebel
Was wondering if anybody can give me an idea of how accurate some of these prediction calculators are. I realize they can only be accurate to an extent because they focus purely on quantitative data, and actual admissions decisions are made in addition to with some qualitative factors. Which ones are the most accurate, and which ones if any can be tailored to my specific situation?

I'v recently gotten a fair amount of feedback on this, but my information is:
White Male
Managerial Finance Major
3.4 Overall LSAC calculated GPA
168 LSAT

My dream school is UTexas, and i'm absolutely hellbent on going there regardless of what it takes. Some of these calculators have my chances listed as low as 40%, and others as high as 80%, I'm at a complete loss as to whether I need to retake, whether ED would be a good decision for me, or where my chances stand right now.

Thanks guys.

Re: How accurate are "Prediction Calculators"?

Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 8:05 pm
by hairbear7
You can play around with the input numbers but this should be pretty accurate: http://mylsn.info/9xkl7o/

I would retake regardless to increase your chances of admission/scholarship opportunities. Do not ED.

Re: How accurate are "Prediction Calculators"?

Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 8:06 pm
by landshoes
If you're making a decision about retaking, you should retake. If you're hellbent on going, even 80% isn't good enough considering how relatively easy it is to retake the LSAT.

There's no crystal ball, but the answer is (for every school but Yale) that you should retake if you have any doubt at all about the adequacy of your LSAT score. It can only help.

Re: How accurate are "Prediction Calculators"?

Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 8:07 pm
by The Mixed Tape
i havnt been keeping up w cycles for a few years but

mylsn.info, which organizes data from lawschoolnumbers.com, is abt as accurate as it gets

all the other calculators ive seen r bunk

Re: How accurate are "Prediction Calculators"?

Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 9:12 pm
by ScottRiqui
The Mixed Tape wrote:i havnt been keeping up w cycles for a few years but

mylsn.info, which organizes data from lawschoolnumbers.com, is abt as accurate as it gets

all the other calculators ive seen r bunk
Agree about LSN, although it obviously helps if there are a lot of past applicants with similar numbers. I was a big time super-splitter at the schools where I applied, so my acceptances actually skewed the LSN predictions for future pretty significantly for future visitors to the site, since I was one of about 5-10 applicants with those approximate numbers.

Re: How accurate are "Prediction Calculators"?

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 5:05 pm
by emkay625
hairbear7 wrote:You can play around with the input numbers but this should be pretty accurate: http://mylsn.info/9xkl7o/

I would retake regardless to increase your chances of admission/scholarship opportunities. Do not ED.
ED at Texas comes with a guaranteed scholarship, and thus is a better deal then other schools. If Texas is his dream school, ED'ing is not a bad idea.

But yes retake. I think you are likely in, but a few point up won't hurt. (Neither will a slight GPA bump this semester, so really buckle down on classes OP).

Also, OP: prediction calculators for Texas are not as accurate as for other schools because prior to 2012, the school did not let in splitters and generally had a GPA floor of around a 3.5. That changed in 2012 though, and now the school is splitter-friendly. S

Re: How accurate are "Prediction Calculators"?

Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2015 7:34 am
by TexasRebel
emkay625 wrote:
hairbear7 wrote:You can play around with the input numbers but this should be pretty accurate: http://mylsn.info/9xkl7o/

I would retake regardless to increase your chances of admission/scholarship opportunities. Do not ED.
ED at Texas comes with a guaranteed scholarship, and thus is a better deal then other schools. If Texas is his dream school, ED'ing is not a bad idea.

But yes retake. I think you are likely in, but a few point up won't hurt. (Neither will a slight GPA bump this semester, so really buckle down on classes OP).

Also, OP: prediction calculators for Texas are not as accurate as for other schools because prior to 2012, the school did not let in splitters and generally had a GPA floor of around a 3.5. That changed in 2012 though, and now the school is splitter-friendly. S
Hey, thank you for your posts. I looked further in to it and you seem to be right that way more splitters are being admitted than previously. My only question is to ask if in your opinion UT is "Splitter Friendly" as in they give a larger boost to splitters than similarly ranked schools, or if they're just more friendly than they used to be, which as you pointed out could be described as "Hostile" haha.

Re: How accurate are "Prediction Calculators"?

Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2015 9:51 am
by Broncos15
Splitter friendly: see here

Image

Re: How accurate are "Prediction Calculators"?

Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2015 4:53 pm
by emkay625
TexasRebel wrote:
emkay625 wrote:
hairbear7 wrote:You can play around with the input numbers but this should be pretty accurate: http://mylsn.info/9xkl7o/

I would retake regardless to increase your chances of admission/scholarship opportunities. Do not ED.
ED at Texas comes with a guaranteed scholarship, and thus is a better deal then other schools. If Texas is his dream school, ED'ing is not a bad idea.

But yes retake. I think you are likely in, but a few point up won't hurt. (Neither will a slight GPA bump this semester, so really buckle down on classes OP).

Also, OP: prediction calculators for Texas are not as accurate as for other schools because prior to 2012, the school did not let in splitters and generally had a GPA floor of around a 3.5. That changed in 2012 though, and now the school is splitter-friendly. S
Hey, thank you for your posts. I looked further in to it and you seem to be right that way more splitters are being admitted than previously. My only question is to ask if in your opinion UT is "Splitter Friendly" as in they give a larger boost to splitters than similarly ranked schools, or if they're just more friendly than they used to be, which as you pointed out could be described as "Hostile" haha.
I concur with the poster above and would now describe them as splitter friendly. They were able to keep the 167 median even as schools around them fell to 166. Accepting splitters seemed to be, at least from the LSN data, a key part of that strategy.