2.66 GPA / 170 LSAT Non-Trad Forum

[Dads707]

170 LSAT
2.66 LSDAS GPA
Non-URM
Academic Suspension after first two years. No really good reason other than lack of focus/direction. First Bachelor's in family.

Re-enrolled in local CC and transferred to flagship state school. Majored Electrical Engineering, minored Mechanical Engineering.

Will have 4 years Government civilian WE (GS12 for last 1.5)
Completing MBA in top 40 PT program. Est GPA 3.8

Kind of at a loss for my odds at various places.

Would like to stay east coast (VA resident).

The range I'm looking at is Penn as a reach and Richmond as a floor. Depending on the school I'd take on loans, but am not opposed to trading prestige for money.

[Dads707]

Bump

[trebekismyhero]

You'll be in at George Mason, Richmond, and Maryland with probably a full ride.

Probably in at GW, but not sure about money.

Only t14 you'd have a shot at with that GPA is Northwestern and you'd need to increase your LSAT a couple points still even with your resume.

Can you keep your job and just go to law school PT at George Mason or GW? Otherwise I am not sure it worth going to law school, even if your patent eligible

[Clemenceau]

I think you probably have a decent shot at uva as well, seeing as you're a VA resident

[KissMyAxe]

I think you probably have a decent shot at uva as well, seeing as you're a VA resident

Agreed, definitely worth the application there. I'd apply broadly to schools that interest you in that area since as a super-splitter, your cycle can be unpredictable.

[Dads707]

Will likely be attending WUSTL in the fall. Got offered about 94% tuition (if rates stay the same). I had a phone interview; it was casual, but I feel that it helped my case a lot.

I ended up putting out 27 applications, all with Fee Waivers (some waivers I had to request; Duke gave me one after sending them a "Why Duke" essay, others made their decisions mostly based on numbers). About a third of the way through my cycle I started including a partially canned "Why X?" with all my applications.

My name is also DADS707 on LSN if anyone with similar numbers/etc wants to check out the net I cast and the acceptances/$$$.

If anyone is looking for any insight, let me know.

[hukchobo]

Will likely be attending WUSTL in the fall. Got offered about 94% tuition (if rates stay the same). I had a phone interview; it was casual, but I feel that it helped my case a lot.

I ended up putting out 27 applications, all with Fee Waivers (some waivers I had to request; Duke gave me one after sending them a "Why Duke" essay, others made their decisions mostly based on numbers). About a third of the way through my cycle I started including a partially canned "Why X?" with all my applications.

My name is also DADS707 on LSN if anyone with similar numbers/etc wants to check out the net I cast and the acceptances/$$$.

If anyone is looking for any insight, let me know.

i want to add a data point for splitters even though it was 2 years ago. i had a much lower gpa and slightly lower lsat. my ug major was business and i worked for 5-6 years after i graduated. i taught english in a foreign country, founded my own small company, and worked at a management consulting firm during that time (not bragging, just want people to know that the work i did was very well received in both admissions interviews and oci interviews; i.e. if you're gonna get w/e do something interesting or something that'll teach you practical shit - fyi, none of my work paid too well either but i saved like a possessed man).

I received a 50%+ scholarship at wustl and a near full scholly at uiuc. iirc, i was also accepted with a 33%-50% at smu and had that in-state tuition match + ~5k scholarship to uga. i was also waitlisted at emory before getting a call (in mid august) asking me if i was still interested in attending. i already made up my mind at that point to attend a different school and told them no. i assume they would have admitted me with a small scholarship if i told them i was interested. i was rejected at nd/minn/iowa/bc/usc/nu and many many others.

this isn't really related but i want to say it anyways because i think it's important. i took the lsat 5 times. once in '07 (156), once in '08 (163), and three times in '13 (165, 166, 168). i didn't study much for the first try, about 50% capa the second time, and went all out the last 3 times. sure, i was disappointed i couldn't raise my score higher but shit, 5 points for me was about a 130k difference in scholarships. i applied to schools after the second time and the best school i got into was like michigan state or somewhere similar. i was not offered a scholarship. i was worried about what would happen to the overall job market since the lehman crisis had hit. i knew shit would hit the fan soon and did not want to be in front of it so i got a run-of-the-mill job teaching english. i enjoyed it and learned a lot about professionalism and all that other growing up shit. this led to consulting and eventually the company thing. obviously, that decision was a life changer. i didn't think law school apps/admission standards would go down as much as it did at the time so i also got lucky. also, i was blessed to have good people around me who supported me emotionally, mentally, and professionally. looking back, i took for granted how lucky i was for the support group around me. without them i would be in a much darker place right now.

either way, taking a long break and retaking/reapplying after i grew up a bit and experiencing life with great people was the best decision i ever made. i hear people on this board as well as irl worrying about not wanting to go to law school when they're older but for many of them (most?) it's a better decision to wait a few years and get some experience. it helps, more than you think, with the grind of 1L and your job interviews become much more comfortable.

tl;dr no need to hurry to law school. law school will always be here. work and life experience before law school will only help you in law school.