2.0 GPA/170 LSAT Score Forum

calwchances · Post by **calwchances** » Sun Nov 01, 2015 2:46 am

Hi. I feel like I have a curious case. I know that the odds are against me but I'm hoping that fate is on my side.

First year of University, I was sexually assaulted and this caused a downward spiral throughout my first two years -- let's say that my average was between the 0.7 and 1.5 range. I don't like looking at this part of my transcript. Last two years of University, however, I pulled my shit together and graduated with a 3.5 GPA (spanning over the two years). Ultimately, my cgpa came up to 2.0. I'm active in the community and will get stellar letters of recommendations... What are my chances of getting into a good school? Top choices are Georgetown, NYU or the University of Chicago. Thanks.

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Sun Nov 01, 2015 3:02 am

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calwchances · Post by **calwchances** » Sun Nov 01, 2015 3:11 am

Yeah - I was in an out of school and in a bit of trouble, but I'd like to hope that those two years were the dark ages of my life.

I'm intimidated by the uncertainty of my situation. On one hand, I was able to turn things around throughout my final two years of University... on the other hand, I've heard that a lot of Universities don't even look at applications with cgpas that fall beneath a specific cut-off. And is law school really not worth attending if I'm not able to receive any scholarships?

Thank you!

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Sun Nov 01, 2015 3:28 am

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crumb cake · Post by **crumb cake** » Sun Nov 01, 2015 6:01 pm

Just to clarify, the data point cited earlier was not an ED decision. ED at Northwestern is more competitive than regular decision because it comes with the scholarship. It's still worth it to apply ED if you want to demonstrate interest — they will eventually roll you into the RD pool.

How many times have you taken the LSAT? Retaking for a few more points can only help you.

Chances aren't great, but your best shot in the T14 is at NU, UVA, and GULC.

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Sun Nov 01, 2015 6:32 pm

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calwchances · Post by **calwchances** » Mon Nov 02, 2015 12:04 am

So.. the ultimate answer to my question is "not likely, but try anyway."

calwchances · Post by **calwchances** » Mon Nov 02, 2015 12:04 am

Thank you for the insight

totesTheGoat · Post by **totesTheGoat** » Mon Nov 02, 2015 2:47 pm

calwchances wrote:So.. the ultimate answer to my question is "not likely, but try anyway."

Yes and no. I think the answer to your questions is another question. What do you want out of law school? Depending on your answer, you may have a decent chance, or you may be completely out of luck. There's no point in investing time and resources if you are shooting for a NY $160k biglaw M&A gig, because your chances of ending up there are probably in the single digits, if not less. If you're happy with a job making $60k after law school, then it's all about finding the best balance of scholarship money (to keep your debt load down) and a school that gives you the best chance of landing that job.

I'm one of those people who think that you should never pay sticker to go to law school. It's entirely too risky, and it's still an enormous amount of debt to dig out from even if you land the $160k biglaw job.