Top Law Schools

Hello all. Fellow splitter here looking into the odds of getting into a top five with this here set of scores. I really don't know how I got the 180, but I did and I'm not complaining. Regarding my GPA, long story short I'm bi-polar as all hell and had a series of trash doctors that prescribed me the wrong meds which made me even nuttier and turned my body into absolute sick garbage my junior year.

I know a lot of schools say they dont have GPA floors but they do, what are my odds for the ivy's?

before I get roasted and before you ask the same question but with varying degrees of garden-variety TLS brutality, yes I really did make a 180, I took the test three times, this is my most recent score, I went to a "meh" university in Texas, I have absolutely no money and I already have a pretty penny in debt.

Thanks everyone I look forward to your insults

IB4 Retake

But seriously dude, just blanket the T14 and see what you get. There's not enough data on the 180 splitter subset to give you good predictions.

MarkinKansasCity wrote:IB4 Retake

But seriously dude, just blanket the T14 and see what you get. There's not enough data on the 180 splitter subset to give you good predictions.

I got a similar consensus from friends. I'm trying to save money on the applications and try to get a more precise set of schools to apply to, but I'm thinking about just biting the bullet and applying to all the t14s

retake then ED Northwestern am i TLSing yet? jk actually the last part might not be a terrible idea. Youre probably in at Gtown NW and Cornell(IVY) maybe Mich too. Id blanket the t14 and hope for the best even if you do get NYU or Columbia itll probably be close to sticker. There isnt a ton of data on 180s but it honestly doesnt make a difference for anyone medians or 75ths so i doubt its some sort or advantage over a 177 178 179 except for the coolness factor. Congrats though!! If you wanna save money id skip Yale, Stanford, Chicago, Berk, Penn, Duke in that order.

Very long shot at NYU but no shot at top 5 schools unless you're a URM. Maybe Penn Mich or whatever, best bet is NU with money. You'll probably have waivers everywhere though so why not apply to everything and see.

I'll never understand the top 5 distinction (Sure, it's a nice round number, but I mean are you really hard yes on Columbia, hard no on NYU?), none the less I would expand my search to top 15 (as to keep with your preference for numbers divisible by 5) and apply away.

I would definitely consider borrowing money to hire a counselor like Spivey to help you put your best foot forward in your applications, and remember to apply as early as you possibly can (once your application is buttoned up).

Don't pay a consultant. Just seek application waivers for as many schools as you can and blanket the t14

I would really like to go to Cornell but my body doesn't vibe well with the Tundra that is ithaca. If it helps with advice I'm pretty set on biglaw and want to do that. i really need a suit.

I used the top five just as a round number yea. I mean, in all honesty as long as I can get into a t14 and one day buy my mom a decent riding lawnmower im good.

Also: Should I include the shitty brain thing in my personal statements? I'm gathering rec letters now. I don't want these schools to think they're bringing on some psychopath but it did definitely "affect my life" in a sort of cheesy personal statement way

verytired wrote:Also: Should I include the shitty brain thing in my personal statements? I'm gathering rec letters now. I don't want these schools to think their bringing on some psychopath but it did definitely "affect my life" in a sort of cheesy personal statement way

I think it depends on how you can present it, given your stats you are a very unique case and hence why I think the admission consultation is worth it here.

Apply everywhere.

ND2018 wrote:Apply everywhere.

Thank you

Don't make your personal statement "Please excuse my undergrad performance". It should be an effective prose about characteristics or traits that would make you a good employable law student. Just include a medical/GPA addendum saying you had a documented medical condition, that condition was treated improperly and it damaged your undergraduate performance but it is under control because you are now receiving the proper care. Just keep it straight forward and factual.

Apply everywhere, don't write your personal statement about how you fucked up. Maybe MAYBE write an addendum about that, but not your whole personal statement. You'll be fine. I would guess that you score at least half of the t14 with a 180.

pmcd88 wrote:Don't make your personal statement "Please excuse my undergrad performance". It should be an effective prose about characteristics or traits that would make you a good employable law student. Just include a medical/GPA addendum saying you had a documented medical condition, that condition was treated improperly and it damaged your undergraduate performance but it is under control because you are now receiving the proper care. Just keep it straight forward and factual.

Thanks!

The only schools that don't give fee waivers are HYS and Berkeley and you can probably skip those anyway. Maybe suck it up and apply to Berk but skip the others.

Tiago Splitter wrote:The only schools that don't give fee waivers are HYS and Berkeley and you can probably skip those anyway. Maybe suck it up and apply to Berk but skip the others.

Yea I was thinking the same thing. Even IF I managed to somehow get accepted into HYS I doubt i could keep up

Tiago Splitter wrote:The only schools that don't give fee waivers are HYS and Berkeley and you can probably skip those anyway. Maybe suck it up and apply to Berk but skip the others.

S and Y give need-based fee waivers. The one for S is available on their website.

mornincounselor wrote:I'll never understand the top 5 distinction (Sure, it's a nice round number, but I mean are you really hard yes on Columbia, hard no on NYU?), none the less I would expand my search to top 15 (as to keep with your preference for numbers divisible by 5) and apply away.

I would definitely consider borrowing money to hire a counselor like Spivey to help you put your best foot forward in your applications, and remember to apply as early as you possibly can (once your application is buttoned up).

T5 = distinction perpetuated by CLS kids butt hurt about not going to HYS

verytired wrote:I mean, in all honesty as long as I can get into a t14 and one day buy my mom a decent riding lawnmower im good.

This is my favorite quote on this website.

Anyway, to address a prior poster: http://hls.harvard.edu/fee-waivers/

I don't know if in practice HLS never provides a fee waiver, but they have a process for requesting one on their website.

OP, I had a similar story, also a splitter with similarly good and shitty stats, but yours are both better than mine. I had several years of good work experience (and accompanying letters of rec) though, so that no doubt helped convince the admissions people that I actually have my shit together now. I'm headed to UVA in the fall.

My advice is to write a good, short addendum. Mine rambled too much in retrospect. Also apply everywhere you're willing to go. And consider taking a couple years off to get some work experience to prove you have your shit together now. Your lsat score is good for 5 years, and a bit of time away from school might do you some good anyway.

There are a couple schools with what appear to be hard GPA floors around 3.5 for non-urms, basically yale, hls, and chicago. I remember seeing a post on here somewhere a while back that listed each school's possible gpa floor, but I'm too lazy to dredge it up now. Anyway, as long as you have a fee waiver, I still think it's worth applying. Good luck!

Apply to the University of Idaho. You will likely receive a full ride scholarship and once you are there, you will be able to "keep up." (Since you are worried about doing that at a T5.)

Rather than attempting to explain your grades, perhaps write a diversity statement about how you overcame your disability. Bring up the grades in passing and highlight how you overcame your issues. I think that might be worthwhile for adcoms. Good luck!

verytired wrote:I would really like to go to Cornell but my body doesn't vibe well with the Tundra that is ithaca. If it helps with advice I'm pretty set on biglaw and want to do that. i really need a suit.

I used the top five just as a round number yea. I mean, in all honesty as long as I can get into a t14 and one day buy my mom a decent riding lawnmower im good.

T5 is not a thing, it's T6. CCN are peer schools.

Congratulations on a perfect LSAT score. It's hard to say how your application cycle might go, because there aren't very many people with similar numbers to yours. But I think you have a realistic chance at the top law schools. As far as cost, I believe the Ivies and Stanford have solid need-based financial aid, for what that's worth. Do you have any compelling softs?

Also, this is very good advice:

pmcd88 wrote:Don't make your personal statement "Please excuse my undergrad performance". It should be an effective prose about characteristics or traits that would make you a good employable law student. Just include a medical/GPA addendum saying you had a documented medical condition, that condition was treated improperly and it damaged your undergraduate performance but it is under control because you are now receiving the proper care. Just keep it straight forward and factual.

Tiago Splitter wrote:The only schools that don't give fee waivers are HYS and Berkeley and you can probably skip those anyway. Maybe suck it up and apply to Berk but skip the others.

Harvard may give you a need based fee waiver (I got one this cycle)