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I've been working on a trading floor for the past 2 years in derivatives
I have a 3.7 GPA, and 169 LSAT score

Looking into getting in Columbia. Is that plausible?

Yes, if you're a URM, you're golden for CCN. Probably have decent chances at HYS, too.

You have a shot everywhere, even YHS. Apply to the entire T13, because you're going to get some huge scholarship offers from many of them.

jc12345 wrote:I've been working on a trading floor for the past 2 years in derivatives
I have a 3.7 GPA, and 169 LSAT score

Looking into getting in Columbia. Is that plausible?

Plausible? Yes.

Are you likely to get more money from somewhere marginally lower ranked and with equivalent career prospects? Also yes.

cavalier1138 wrote:Yes, if you're a URM, you're golden for CCN. Probably have decent chances at HYS, too.

I see at least one URM on lawschoolnumbers with marginally lower numbers (3.6/168) who was waitlisted. According to their stats on LSN, they were accepted to NYU with no money, while Cornell offered $90k. I'm inclined to think the GPA increase would make the difference, but I think there could still be some surprising wait-lists out there for OP.

A 3.68/167 URM was waitlisted at Georgetown which surprised me.

Does it change anything if I worked 2 years on a trading desk? My gpa was okay, but I mainly focused on math and economics courses in college. Does that hold weight?

It gives you work experience, which is better than not having work experience. But the fact that it was at a trading desk doesn’t make it particularly special work experience.

UVA2B wrote:It gives you work experience, which is better than not having work experience. But the fact that it was at a trading desk doesn’t make it particularly special work experience.

What exactly is special work experience?

jc12345 wrote:

UVA2B wrote:It gives you work experience, which is better than not having work experience. But the fact that it was at a trading desk doesn’t make it particularly special work experience.

What exactly is special work experience?

Very few things give a bump for admissions when it comes to work experience. Yours is good, it’s just not “special.” There will be plenty of people you meet in law school that did things on par with working on a trading desk (finance work, big banks, etc.). I know you want it to count for more (which it might when it comes time to find an actual job if that helps any), but admissions isn’t going to see those two years of trading experience and just say to themselves, “wow, this one has IT!”

There aren’t any lists of defined work experience that give a bump in admissions (anecdotally military service may get a slight bump, but that’s as much a diversity of life experience thing and a general public admiration for military service. If there is one, it’s not a very big bump.)

But you’re going to have good options in the T13. Apply to all of them, then rack and stack your options once they’re in front of you.

Thanks for the response. That makes sense, but what could I do to differentiate myself from others? What are some tips that give you the boost from getting accepted to better school?

Get the rest of your application flawless. Do your best to write a compelling PS and DS, make sure your resume is perfect, and apply early.

What type of URM also has a pretty big impact here. If AA, you have nothing to worry about. If MA, NA, or PR, it'll get a little tighter, but you're still looking at some strong options.