Top Law Schools

My concerns with each of the available calculators I know of:

Mylsn uses a pool which may be self-selecting for higher admission odds, that is, if you buy the assumption that people would be more likely to report that they got into a school than that they didn't.

LSAC has a comprehensive view of the data but the calculator doesn't filter for URM status, which may increase odds for non-URMs (not sure how much this skews the data)--also sometimes the odds they present have a range of over 25%. Also does not include certain schools, notably Yale and Stanford.

Hourumd doesn't seem to have been updated over the past few admission cycles.


Anybody with deeper understanding of this than I have out there and willing to offer insight?

MyLSN is imperfect, but it's the best predictor available. Yale and Stanford aren't going to be predictable, regardless of which predictor you use, because LSAT/GPA are just basic thresholds to admission there. Once you have the kind of numbers that make you competitive at those schools, other factors come into play.

LSAC's "calculator" is worse than useless.

cavalier1138 wrote: LSAC's "calculator" is worse than useless.

What are the flaws of the LSAC calculator?

beforethelaw wrote:

cavalier1138 wrote: LSAC's "calculator" is worse than useless.

What are the flaws of the LSAC calculator?

It only takes into account LSAT and GPA

floatie wrote:

beforethelaw wrote:

cavalier1138 wrote: LSAC's "calculator" is worse than useless.

What are the flaws of the LSAC calculator?

It only takes into account LSAT and GPA

Even more than that: it analyzes those numbers in a weird way. MyLSN tells you the actual results of applicants with similar LSAT/GPA numbers, while LSAC literally looks at your GPA, looks at your LSAT, and makes a determination based on how they fall in the school's 25/50/75, with no consideration of which number is weighted more, if a school is splitter-friendly, etc.

cavalier1138 wrote:

floatie wrote:

beforethelaw wrote:

cavalier1138 wrote: LSAC's "calculator" is worse than useless.

What are the flaws of the LSAC calculator?

It only takes into account LSAT and GPA

Even more than that: it analyzes those numbers in a weird way. MyLSN tells you the actual results of applicants with similar LSAT/GPA numbers, while LSAC literally looks at your GPA, looks at your LSAT, and makes a determination based on how they fall in the school's 25/50/75, with no consideration of which number is weighted more, if a school is splitter-friendly, etc.

Wow, I actually didn't know any of this - I've been using the LSAC calculator a ton. I feel like, at times, the amount of data on mylsn can be scant, which makes me question how accurate it is - especially for splitters.

svanderwoodsen wrote: Wow, I actually didn't know any of this - I've been using the LSAC calculator a ton. I feel like, at times, the amount of data on mylsn can be scant, which makes me question how accurate it is - especially for splitters.

FWIW as a splitter myself I majorly outperformed the LSAC calculator, but even with limited data I was right in line with myLSN.

Applying and finding out.

Just to remind myself of how bad the LSAC calculator is, I plugged my numbers in (splitter for the T14), and I was told that I had a lower chance at getting into Cornell than NYU. I had a lower chance getting into Michigan State than Vanderbilt.

Seriously, sort your LSAC-calculated list from low-high, and you will intuitively figure out that it's nonsense.