Top Law Schools

Academic Stats
4.01 GPA from a pretty decent public university system (PBK)
Current PhD student at top 6 global university

Softs
- 5 current/former law profs recommending me (worked with each extensively in either an independent study, a teaching assistantship, or a research assistantship).
- Byline in national publications (Washington Post, HuffPo, and others)
- Founded and run own nonprofit
- Immigrant rights activist
- Solo-authoring a chapter in one edited volume, and slated to co-author in another

Other things
- Immigrant
- First generation (1st in my family to pursue a PhD & would be first to pursue a JD)
- Applying to HYS (S with KH), Berkeley, Penn, Columbia, Chicago, Michigan, Duke, NYU

Retake?
I tested in the mid-160s, so I'm kind of bummed by my score. A retake is almost impossible this cycle, but I'm open to doing it next summer 1) if I have to and 2) if I have time w/ qualifying exams and such.

don't quote but would appreciate advice!

KENYADIGG1T wrote:Academic Stats
4.01 GPA from a pretty decent public university system (PBK)
Current PhD student at top 6 global university

Softs
- 5 current/former law profs recommending me (worked with each extensively in either an independent study, a teaching assistantship, or a research assistantship).
- Byline in national publications (Washington Post, HuffPo, and others)
- Founded and run own nonprofit
- Immigrant rights activist
- Solo-authoring a chapter in one edited volume, and slated to co-author in another

Other things
- Immigrant
- First generation (1st in my family to pursue a PhD & would be first to pursue a JD)
- Applying to HYS (S with KH), Berkeley, Penn, Columbia, Chicago, Michigan, Duke, NYU

Retake?
I tested in the mid-160s, so I'm kind of bummed by my score. A retake is almost impossible this cycle, but I'm open to doing it next summer 1) if I have to and 2) if I have time w/ qualifying exams and such.

don't quote but would appreciate advice!

AA males with 166 and a 4.0 go to HYS.

AaronCarter wrote:

KENYADIGG1T wrote:Academic Stats
4.01 GPA from a pretty decent public university system (PBK)
Current PhD student at top 6 global university

Softs
- 5 current/former law profs recommending me (worked with each extensively in either an independent study, a teaching assistantship, or a research assistantship).
- Byline in national publications (Washington Post, HuffPo, and others)
- Founded and run own nonprofit
- Immigrant rights activist
- Solo-authoring a chapter in one edited volume, and slated to co-author in another

Other things
- Immigrant
- First generation (1st in my family to pursue a PhD & would be first to pursue a JD)
- Applying to HYS (S with KH), Berkeley, Penn, Columbia, Chicago, Michigan, Duke, NYU

Retake?
I tested in the mid-160s, so I'm kind of bummed by my score. A retake is almost impossible this cycle, but I'm open to doing it next summer 1) if I have to and 2) if I have time w/ qualifying exams and such.

don't quote but would appreciate advice!

AA males with 166 and a 4.0 go to HYS.

Would my softs/recs make up for the 5 point difference?

Isn't HLS accepting GRE scores these days?

hdivschool wrote:Isn't HLS accepting GRE scores these days?

I sent my scores - I don't know how they'll be weighed (no one really does) so I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch in that regard.

Seriously consider retaking. You have a great GPA and with even a few points more you’re looking at a ridiculous cycle. It’s unlimited takes and there’s no rush for law school. Don’t settle.

And Harvard only looks at GRE if there’s no reportable LSAT score. Otherwise LSAT is presumably determinative.

Dcc617 wrote:Seriously consider retaking. You have a great GPA and with even a few points more you’re looking at a ridiculous cycle. It’s unlimited takes and there’s no rush for law school. Don’t settle.

And Harvard only looks at GRE if there’s no reportable LSAT score. Otherwise LSAT is presumably determinative.

What'll happen is that, if I don't have a good cycle, I'll retake since my chances of devoting time to LSAT study this academic year are practically nil (a nonzero chance that I take the February exam, but I'd rather take the september '18). Also, I would plan on deferring anyways so I've got multiple opportunities to apply to law schools. Thanks for your advice; I appreciate it!

KENYADIGG1T wrote:

AaronCarter wrote:
AA males with 166 and a 4.0 go to HYS.

Would my softs/recs make up for the 5 point difference?

Those numbers are misleading. a 165+ and a 3.5+ puts an AA applicant in top 1% of all AA applicants (LSAC amicus brief table on pg 11 http://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/up ... s-LSAC.pdf). Look at this tls thread: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... p?t=195443. The following numbers are a bit dated but in the linked thread they calculated that: "A 164 will put you 2.5 SDs above the mean, a level that only approximately 90 AA’s should reach annually, and (HYS) accepted 81 AA applicants the prior term." so yes an AA applicant with a 166 and 4.0 will most likely get into HYS (and have great scholarship opportunities), but so will AA applicants with worse numbers.

Further, "A 159 should, in theory, should put you approximately near the top 360 or so among AA test takers (about 2 full Standard Deviations above the mean), and a 160 should put you more comfortably and confidently within that range. The T-14 will accept approximately 331 AA’s in a given year."

So you are still in decent shape for the lower t-14. But retaking and getting just 3-4 more points would almost guarantee you get into HYS.

Retake the LSAT. Your softs don't matter.

dlutfy wrote:Retake the LSAT. Your softs don't matter.

While retaking would give OP better options, OP should apply this cycle with his current numbers and then decide at the end if he is happy with his outcomes. If not he can retake next summer like he mentioned in his OP. It's possible you get a decent scholarship at a lower t-14 with your current numbers. UVA gave $100,000 to 83% AA applicants who were accepted the last several years with the OP's numbers according to Mylsn.

You're at a point where it's pretty easy to increase your score substantially, so I would definitely advise to retake. It's not at all impossible for your to get into Harvard with a 161, but it wouldn't be hard to substantially improve your chances.

You'll also get a lot more scholarship at T6 if you retake, which is often times preferable to Harvard depending on your financial status.

Retake. Difficult to work on Ph.D while studying for LSAT, but at this point 2-3hrs/day should do it. (Improvement of 5 points by December) But, if you want to do that I would seriously look at the areas where the easiest points happen to be and concentrate on those in the next four weeks. Either way, you're in a good place since you can just delay one year if need be. Good luck and cheers