Undergrad Junior, 3.4 GPA Forum

[athene54]

Hello! I'm new to the site, and I'm curious to see what y'all think my chances are for getting into UT Austin Law or GULC.
I'm a junior at DePaul University, my GPA is 3.4 and I am in the Honors Program. I'm majoring in English Literary Studies and minoring in Classical Studies (I studied Classical Greek for a year). I've been an officer for the classics club and the debate team for two years. I was just admitted into the five year BA/MA program year, so I will start taking masters classes senior year (next year) and then I will only have one extra year after that of graduate work. Last summer I was a research assistant in the English department, and I am currently in the running for a research grant for a project that I will lead this summer. I have worked with several professors in the English department that would vouch for me. I know that my GPA isn't the strongest, but I have a health issue (cluster headaches) that I plan on including as an addendum with my applications. I only have two unfortunate grades from freshman year, but I have all As in my major courses and I get all As now. Do I stand a chance at GULC or UT if I get a high LSAT score? Is there anything I can do in the next two years to help my chances? Thank y'all so much for reading and please let me know what y'all think.

[GFox345]

Hello! I'm new to the site, and I'm curious to see what y'all think my chances are for getting into UT Austin Law or GULC.
I'm a junior at DePaul University, my GPA is 3.4 and I am in the Honors Program. I'm majoring in English Literary Studies and minoring in Classical Studies (I studied Classical Greek for a year). I've been an officer for the classics club and the debate team for two years. I was just admitted into the five year BA/MA program year, so I will start taking masters classes senior year (next year) and then I will only have one extra year after that of graduate work. Last summer I was a research assistant in the English department, and I am currently in the running for a research grant for a project that I will lead this summer. I have worked with several professors in the English department that would vouch for me. I know that my GPA isn't the strongest, but I have a health issue (cluster headaches) that I plan on including as an addendum with my applications. I only have two unfortunate grades from freshman year, but I have all As in my major courses and I get all As now. Do I stand a chance at GULC or UT if I get a high LSAT score? Is there anything I can do in the next two years to help my chances? Thank y'all so much for reading and please let me know what y'all think.

My Law School advisor at the University of Chicago showed me a pie chart of what matters in law school admissions when I came into her office asking these same questions as a junior. This is what it said:

54% LSAT

45% GPA

1% Everything that makes you beautiful and unique.

This is an exaggeration, of course, but not as much as you might think...

With this in mind, the most effective things that you can do in the next two years are the following: (1) Get the absolute best grades that you can and (2) Study as much as you can for the LSAT. You GPA/LSAT combo will determine within 90-95% certainty where you will and will not get in. I'm sorry to say this, but the fact that you are in the honors program, your addendum, and any other extracurriculars that you may engage in will very likely not make a significant difference in your admissions outcomes.

Take a moment to think about what your PS will be about. A good PS might not help you at all, but a bad one has a non-negligible chance of hurting you.

Consider getting some work experience between college and high school. This can help distance you from a weak GPA. It could also make a difference in your outcome (although it will likely be insignificant compared to your GPA/LSAT combo).


That being said, your GPA is not strong, but it is also not that weak. It is below the 25th of every single school in the T-14, but if you manage a 170, you should have some decent prospects. Don't rush your decision and go where the money is right.

[TheGoat18]

1) Raise your GPA as high as possible
2) Ditch the MA, how in the world is that going to help you
3) Score 170+ on the LSAT
4) Go to T14 or UT with $$$

1) is the most important one. Don't be an asshole like me and end up as a splitter who missed out on hundreds of thousands of dollars because I was lazy in undergrad. Also, you should really take a long look at whether you want to be a lawyer. But that is a personal decision and assuming you do, the best thing you can do right now is get your GPA up. All the extracurricular stuff won't matter.

[athene54]

Gotcha, I'll keep getting high grades and look into an LSAT course. Thank you!
Do you think the Masters will help at all?

[stig2014]

Gotcha, I'll keep getting high grades and look into an LSAT course. Thank you!
Do you think the Masters will help at all?

It probably won't help, but it won't hurt. If it's something you enjoy studying, and it's not costing you a lot of money, there's no need to ditch it.

[athene54]

Thanks to everyone for the advice, I really appreciate the input and I will put it to good use!