AA Male 3.3 gpa 168 LSAT||Strong Softs, Early App, and GPA Addendum HYSCCN? Forum

[StringerSoprano_6062]

I am an AA male with a 3.3 GPA and a 168 LSAT. I am currently a senior at a tier I LAC (Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore etc). I am the president of the student body, the editor and chief of a legal journal on my campus, I was a legislative intern for a Senator this past summer, and I am the founder/president of a local non profit. My GPA is not as high as it could be because I had to miss about 5 weeks of my sophomore year due to personal/family circumstances--I wrote a GPA addendum to clarify this.

I have already been accepted to Duke via PT and was awarded a full scholarship at a local University in MD. I know that my GPA is low but I received 4 letters of recommendations, three from professors and one from a high ranking administrator of my college so I am hoping that they can shed light on my academic performance in their classes. I put together what I hope was a strong application and sent it out early--11/2. What do you think my chances are at the schools below? Thanks in advance for the advice

Harvard
Columbia
Yale
Stanford
NYU
UPenn
UVA
Berkley
Vanderbilt
UCLA
Georgetown

[Lacepiece23]

I haven't given advice like this in a while, its been four years since I applied to law school. But I'd say in everywhere excluding YS. Pretty good shot at S and decent shot at Y. And just some friendly advice from somone who went to a T14 and is now practicing, if Columbia gives you a full ride take it and "RUN." I would not go to HYS over that. And actually if any T14 offers you a full ride please take the full ride. You will thank me in three years, unless you have rich parents.

[StringerSoprano_6062]

I haven't given advice like this in a while, its been four years since I applied to law school. But I'd say in everywhere excluding YS. Pretty good shot at S and decent shot at Y. And just some friendly advice from somone who went to a T14 and is now practicing, if Columbia gives you a full ride take it and "RUN." I would not go to HYS over that. And actually if any T14 offers you a full ride please take the full ride. You will thank me in three years, unless you have rich parents.

Thanks for the advice, Lacepiece. Do you really think I have that good of a shot at Columbia? Even with a low GPA?

And if I am lucky enough to get into HLS and also get a full ride from Vanderbilt, for example, do you think it makes more sense to go with the full ride in that case too?

Thanks again

[StringerSoprano_6062]

Also any additional advice from TLSers would be amazing. Reading others' threads has been so helpful up until now. Getting your advice will help me survive what feels like an eternal wait for decisions from schools

[Lacepiece23]

I haven't given advice like this in a while, its been four years since I applied to law school. But I'd say in everywhere excluding YS. Pretty good shot at S and decent shot at Y. And just some friendly advice from somone who went to a T14 and is now practicing, if Columbia gives you a full ride take it and "RUN." I would not go to HYS over that. And actually if any T14 offers you a full ride please take the full ride. You will thank me in three years, unless you have rich parents.

Thanks for the advice, Lacepiece. Do you really think I have that good of a shot at Columbia? Even with a low GPA?

And if I am lucky enough to get into HLS and also get a full ride from Vanderbilt, for example, do you think it makes more sense to go with the full ride in that case too?

Thanks again

I'd take the full ride Cornell up. Here some advice that I think is actually fairly specific to AA males. At my school, AA males did do very well while I was there. Most of us were above median, and several were on law review. And that is over a 6 year period. But I still think if you go somewhere like Cornell up, then you're chances at a good outcome near about 95% (Just a guess). And with your numbers a full ride should be a lock.

I can't say for sure whether Vanderbilt would give you such a good outcome. I know that the biglaw rate signficiantly drops outside the T14. So I wouldn't take that option. If it were Vandy Full and Cornell with like 15k tution over 3 years I'd take Cornell in a heartbeat and never look back.

Also, another thing that I didne't consider when I was applying is how much people in the legal community don't really know who is who in the T14. People generally know whose in it, but know one really knows the order like TLS does. And no one really care. I get people all the time who think that Cornell is ranked over Penn. Or more impressive than Penn. Also, most people I encoutner think that Cornell is more impressive than Virginia/Duke. So I you can get some Ivy prestige for cheap, I'd highly recommend it. For other people the biglaw percentages within the T14 might be the most important factor. For you, you will have such a good chance at getting biglaw anyway that if I were doing it over again I'd go one of the Ivy's in the T14 and pick the one that I could get for the cheapest. This is completely based on my experiences, and could be somewhwat skewed because of my obvious bias towards Cornell.

[jnwa]

Same situation as you, black male with a slightly lower GPA and higher LSAT and wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy worse softs lol got into Duke via PT as well and im blanketing t14. Id say rewrite the LSAT if possible, the one guy i saw on lsn who got into Harvard with a similar GPA had a 173 3.3 and he was a WL first before getting in. Mylsn has no sub 3.4s getting in to Harvard with a 168 2wl and 2rejects.

Im rewriting my 173 in February in hopes of getting a full ride somewhere, it seems like no one justifies taking H over anywhere in the t14 with a full scholly. Id imagine Cornell with big money is in the cards for both of us however. I know another AA male with a 169 3.3 that got 135k there. Overally, i think your chances are similar to mine; in at t14 except stanford and yale. Probably closer to 50/50 at Harvard Chicago Columbia and maybe Berkeley because of their GPA love but im not sure.

[StringerSoprano_6062]

I'm beginning to regret not EDing to Columbia. There and H are my dream schools but H is looking less and less likely. Would Columbia have been significantly more likely if I had EDed? Stupid follow up: can I ED retrospectively at this point?

[jnwa]

I'm beginning to regret not EDing to Columbia. There and H are my dream schools but H is looking less and less likely. Would Columbia have been significantly more likely if I had EDed? Stupid follow up: can I ED retrospectively at this point?

You do not want to pay sticker for Columbia bro and youre basically committing to doing so if you ED. I would love Columbia or Harvard but were both gunna have significant money sitting on the table at lower t14. ED'ing Columbia locks you in at the most expensive law school in the most expensive city. If youre not paying for school then it might be worth it, theres a small ED boost, i dont think you can ED retroactively but its worth emailing them if you really want to.

[Lacepiece23]

Take the money. Just going to push this advice one more time. Unless you guys are rich. I wish nothing for the best for both of you in your legal careers. But trust me after you work all day every day in biglaw, the idea that you can leave at anytime because you have no loans makes it so much better. Also, saving for a downpayment on a house would be awesome. Really building wealth. T14 full ride/being AA male is a free ticket to the upper middle class for the rest of your life unless you suck as a lawyer. Than it doesn't matter where you go to law school.