T14 Chances Forum

[RTaft]

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[Fiddlesticks]

You will get money to several. You should retake in December if you can, a few more points open HYS. Also if those are your softs, know that they aren't strong at all.

[RTaft]

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[personofinterest]

Cool, thanks for the reply!

Definitely not gonna retake, but just getting accepted into a T6 school would be sufficient for me.

It's interesting you say those aren't strong softs, but I guess everyone is different haha.

Don't take "not strong softs" as an insult. Founding an organization sounds worthwhile, but in the context of law school admissions, you do not have strong softs. To have softs strong enough to actually affect admissions, they'd have to be a lot more, like being an Olympian or something else rare.

You should expect the same results you see on mylsn.info (which makes searching LSN easier). Whether to retake is your choice; however, know that an improvement of a point or two could net you tens of thousands in scholarship money depending on the school and get you into schools you would otherwise be rejected from.

[RTaft]

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[Platopus]

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[RTaft]

Fair enough. Seems a little silly to use an adjective like "strong" if, for LS admissions purposes, anything less is objectively "weak".

I also took the LSAT in 2014 and I'm ill prepared to retake anyways. That time has come and passed.

Finally, I AM shocked that being a CPA isn't at least marginally helpful. Not sure if you are aware of the requirements to become a CPA, but in Texas they are quite steep -- requiring a Masters in Accounting to even sit for the exam.

You need to keep it all in perspective. You are competing against people with PhDs, masters degrees in hard sciences, senator's kids, child actors, the daughter of the president, etc. Its not that it isn't impressive or hard, but you are competing against some of the brightest/most accomplished people in the nation.

Yeah I can see that. It seems to me that a STEM degree isn't necessarily more/less valuable than an accounting background if the school has a strong business presence as well. So I guess that's pretty much a wash. As for the relatives of famous/important people, I obviously don't have that going for me haha.

This was pretty helpful and I'm under no illusion that I'm necessarily "unique", I just saw that myLSN doesn't factor in things like extra curricular activities, work experience, certifications, or grad degrees -- which prompted my topic post

[Platopus]

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[devilblue]

Ok so you and I have almost the exact same profile. I had a 169. I had a 3.96 GPA. I am a non-URM. I had two years of work experience in public accounting. The only difference is I passed the Chartered Financial Analyst exams rather than the CPA ones. (so those CFA exams being harder/rarer/more prestigious/whatever evens out against your slightly higher GPA to give us the exact same profile, unless you went to Harvard or some shit).

Here's what you should expect. You will get waitlisted at Harvard, you'll make it to the very end of the waitlist, but sorry you will get denied, but it won't be a big deal because you'll have already enrolled elsewhere by that time. You'll get huge scholarships from Northwestern ($180k) and Cornell ($150k). You'll get large scholarships from UVA ($135,000) Penn ($111,000) and Duke ($135,000).

[RTaft]

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[RTaft]

Yeah I can see that. It seems to me that a STEM degree isn't necessarily more/less valuable than an accounting background if the school has a strong business presence as well. So I guess that's pretty much a wash. As for the relatives of famous/important people, I obviously don't have that going for me haha.

This was pretty helpful and I'm under no illusion that I'm necessarily "unique", I just saw that myLSN doesn't factor in things like extra curricular activities, work experience, certifications, or grad degrees -- which prompted my topic post

Yeah, things like CPA certification, STEM degrees, serious WE help at hiring time, but don't really do much to push the admissions needle. Anyway, you should have a real good shot at most of the T-14, probably with some $$ at the lower half. HYS are probably not the best odds unless you retake. But in any case, you should have a good cycle.

Awesome. I appreciate your candor here for sure! Thanks for responding.

[devilblue]

Ok so you and I have almost the exact same profile. I had a 169. I had a 3.96 GPA. I am a non-URM. I had two years of work experience in public accounting. The only difference is I passed the Chartered Financial Analyst exams rather than the CPA ones. (so those CFA exams being harder/rarer/more prestigious/whatever evens out against your slightly higher GPA to give us the exact same profile, unless you went to Harvard or some shit).

Here's what you should expect. You will get waitlisted at Harvard, you'll make it to the very end of the waitlist, but sorry you will get denied, but it won't be a big deal because you'll have already enrolled elsewhere by that time. You'll get huge scholarships from Northwestern ($180k) and Cornell ($150k). You'll get large scholarships from UVA ($135,000) Penn ($111,000) and Duke ($135,000).

Haha nah I didn't go to Harvard. Yeah, I figured this would pretty much be the case based on my stats, and I'm also highly interested in other T14 schools like Chicago, NYU, etc. I'm trying to be as realistic as possible, and, assuming our personal statements don't set us wildly apart, I feel like I can do pretty well at T14 schools overall.

Can I ask what year you applied in and when you applied during that year?

I appreciate you chiming in here because this is exactly what I was looking for. Although, I can see myself paying sticker for U Chicago if I got in there, since they have a strong business focus.

Or, you know, maybe I'll just hit a homerun and get into Harvard haha.

I am a 2L now and applied in November. My advice is to not pay sticker anywhere, especially when we are talking about going for free at a school 20 miles north of UChicago. Your future debt at sticker will be unreal. You may be more risk seeking than I, but take a hard look at career outcomes from Uchicago compared to like Penn and Duke (hint: they're the same). And CERTAINLY don't go to a school for its "business focus"

[devilblue]

Also, post back with your results when you get them. I'd be very curious to see how they compare three years later.

[rideagain]

I had the same LSAT and similar "softs", mid 3.8's GPA- had a great cycle last year, $$ at most of lower T-14, admissions all the way up through NYU (except Berk those weirdos). You'll do great.

[RTaft]

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[RTaft]

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[rideagain]

I had the same LSAT and similar "softs", mid 3.8's GPA- had a great cycle last year, $$ at most of lower T-14, admissions all the way up through NYU (except Berk those weirdos). You'll do great.

Ok thanks! Mind telling me where you ended up accepting and what your reasons were? Who knew this website had such a wealth of knowledge! I would have joined much earlier haha.

Actually wasn't able to attend anywhere last year, personal stuff, will be reapplying this year!

[devilblue]

Also, post back with your results when you get them. I'd be very curious to see how they compare three years later.

Definitely! Also, if you don't mind me asking, where did you end up attending and what we're your main reasons? You are obviously more knowledgeable than I so I appreciate you educating me haha.

I ended up going to Duke for a combination of (1) geographic preferences and (2) they offered me enough money, as you can see it certainly wasn't the biggest offer, but it was enough.