174/Superior - International Student Forum

[MisterT]

Hi everyone

Applying as a KJD though have 4 years work experience before graduation, very strong softs and Superior LSAC UGPA evaluation. Also have two very strong academic LORs and one strong LOR from a U.S. Lawyer I interned with. 174 LSAT (first take).

What are my chances at YHS? Preference would be Y<<H/S because from what i've read Yale seems more my kind of place.

Any thoughts appreciated.

[aoutis]

Your LSAT is great and you definitely should be looking high. However, I think posters need more info if you want them to give you advice about your chances.

Do you know your LSAC GPA? That's going to determine a lot about your chances at YHS. Do you know whether you are a URM? What are your softs? Strong softs for most schools may not be strong softs for YHS.

With Yale, a lot depends on how you can tie everything in your application together and give a complete picture that tells them who you are and how you got here. You don't necessarily need to write a "This is why I want to be a lawyer and this is why I want to go to Yale" essay. You just need to give a narrative that shows them how you think. Yale gets a lot of applications from great students with superior GPAs, superior LSAT scores and great letters of recommendation. You need to set yourself apart. If you want Yale-specific info, I suggest looking at Asha's blog:

http://www.law.yale.edu/admissions/askAsha.htm

[BKB]

Very good chance at H. Not as good as at S/Y. They are just harder to get into.

Y historically admits very few international students, let alone international students with foreign GPA. If you really want Y, maybe consider retaking and aim for 177+.

[CanadianWolf]

@aoutis: His LSAC GPA is "superior". He is an international applicant with a foreign based undergraduate degree.

[scone]

OP, firstly, check in to the international applicants c/o 2019 thread, it will be good to have you! Secondly, past international applicant threads have spreadsheets of where people got in. Yale is unlikely for anyone, even those with substantially higher LSATs. Unless your softs are ridiculously good, I would realistically set your sights on CCN down. You have a fair shot at H, possibly S (it depends how good your undergrad record is - the LSAC evaluation by itself is not particularly useful, and Stanford places loads of emphasis on GPA).

To get an idea of whether your softs are unusually good, check out the rough guidelines in the OP of this topic: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 9#p8824610

I don't know how viable this is for you, but your LSAT is below the 75 percentile for both Harvard and Yale, so may be worth retaking if you have time? It's a very good LSAT score anyway, but (obviously) higher would increase your chances.

Btw, I think Yale is everyone's kind of place, if only they could get there :3

Hope at least some of that was useful!

[aoutis]

@aoutis: His LSAC GPA is "superior". He is an international applicant with a foreign based undergraduate degree.

Ah, gotcha. I don't know why, but I thought foreign degrees were translated, weighted and given a numerical value by LSAC. I have an MA from the UK and I had some sort of vague recollection of that, but I guess I was mistaken.

[CanadianWolf]

Masters GPAs don't count; only undergraduate GPAs are considered by LSCAS & undergraduate GPAs from foreign institutions are not given numerical grades. "Superior" is the highest grade that OP could receive from LSAC/LSDAS.

[aoutis]

Ah, well that goes to show how much I paid attention to my LSAC file.

[MisterT]

Hi everyone,

First of all thanks for your insights and information. I guess Yale is many people's kind of place lol.


So with regards to my softs (won't go into too much detail), I have won multiple awards and founded a national team in Model United Nations, represented the swiss youth at the UN itself, and was among other things president of the students union. These activities are also my motivation for studying international law which I am tayloring my application towards.

I have two follow-up questions: first, why does Yale not take many international appliants? I have read that it is in part due to the difficulty of obtaining clerkships for foreign nationals. If this is true, it would probably help that I am a US citizen, but maybe there are some other reasons that you know about.

The second question probably warrants a new thread, but I'm sure you can give me a rough answer: would it generally make sense to apply to HS(and CCN) ASAP, before end of November, and just take my time with Y because of the different admissions process, and maybe even consider a retake?

Thanks again in advance!

[UnicornHunter]

Your odds of getting in to any school are as good as anyone's. Makes sense to take a little extra time to tailor the Yale ap. Good luck.

[CanadianWolf]

No need to retake a 174--unless you want to start your own LSAT prep company. However, if Yale's median is 174, then that would be a reason to retake if you're confident that you can do better.