3.2 GPA/180 LSAT (Extraordinary Circumstances) Forum

[RCSOB657]

Yeah because it will make more sense to write, "I'm sorry I was convicted of a crime because my tumor, Bob, told me to do something was okay and it was totally Bob's fault. But now, I've cut Bob out of my life and it totally changed the way I see things overnight, not because I actually 'grew up' a little bit during this sad situation."

Both of you are conflating two separate issues. You know......1) neurosciences of the youth brain vs adult brain making it a literal impossibility it's the sole cause of his choices. 2) Even if he thinks it's the sole cause, he's liable to run into someone that will just read that sentence and go..."dude, yeah you have brain cancer, but take some self-responsibility for your illegal actions."

[rpupkin]

Both of you are conflating two separate issues. You know......1) neurosciences of the youth brain vs adult brain making it a literal impossibility it's the sole cause of his choices. 2) Even if he thinks it's the sole cause, he's liable to run into someone that will just read that sentence and go..."dude, yeah you have brain cancer, but take some self-responsibility for your illegal actions."

I think you're overestimating the likelihood that an adcom will share your bizarre take on OP's circumstances.

[RCSOB657]

I have no problem acknowledging some people won't have one fuck to give. Dude pulled a 180, in both LSAT and scholastic outcome. That's an outstanding thing to happen and I wish him the best.

[cavalier1138]

I have no problem acknowledging some people literally everyone who knows what a brain tumor is won't have one fuck to give. Dude pulled a 180, in both LSAT and scholastic outcome. That's an outstanding thing to happen and I wish him the best.

Fixed.

[albanach]

Assuming you're personable and can hold a conversation for 2-5 minutes, I'd also recommend attending any law school recruiting events to try and meed admissions face-to-face. It's a story they're going to remember. Make sure you take a note of who you spoke to at each event. Let them know when your application is complete at their school.

What evidence if any do you plan to include in your applications? I would advise against including a whole bunch of stuff - try and keep it to a single short letter.

[Hikikomorist]

Do you guys think this story is real???

OP's story is plausible, and I think it's prudent to give people the benefit of the doubt absent any red flags (rudeness, railroading the discussion, internal inconsistency).

Even if it's a troll (maybe someone salty about how LSAC evaluates transcripts?), it'd be kind of a lame one, and the discussion that resulted might be useful to other people with analogous backgrounds who don't want to post about it for fear of IDing themselves.

I find it hard to believe someone took the LSAT at the beginning of their junior year of undergrad (or earlier?) and got a 180. That's ambitious to say the least, especially considering everything else that's going on in this person's life. When did they find the time to study?

But yeah, agree w/r/t giving the benefit of the doubt.

This is pretty out there, I know, but some people are pretty smart. Some other people are not quite as smart but really dedicated. Hope this helps.

[chargers21]

Gotta love when someone who doesn't know about neuroscience talks about neuroscience...

Best of luck OP, happy to hear that the medical issues seem to be dealt with and your life is on the up and up.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Do you guys think this story is real???

OP's story is plausible, and I think it's prudent to give people the benefit of the doubt absent any red flags (rudeness, railroading the discussion, internal inconsistency).

Even if it's a troll (maybe someone salty about how LSAC evaluates transcripts?), it'd be kind of a lame one, and the discussion that resulted might be useful to other people with analogous backgrounds who don't want to post about it for fear of IDing themselves.

I find it hard to believe someone took the LSAT at the beginning of their junior year of undergrad (or earlier?) and got a 180. That's ambitious to say the least, especially considering everything else that's going on in this person's life. When did they find the time to study?

But yeah, agree w/r/t giving the benefit of the doubt.

There are the occasional LSAT savants who can sit for the test pretty much cold and ace it. Some people have just the right combo of cognitive strengths and education.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Also I agree that RCSOB's take is weird. This OP actually literally has an outside cause for their behavior.

[teichmuller]

Sorry for not quoting everybody I am about to respond to. First and foremost, I will be taking responsibility for my actions. I only stated 'that the tumor was the sole cause of the transgressions' in the OP to illustrate the oddness and severity of the cancer. I committed the crime, and I had the bad grades. It was my fault. What I am going to do is explain that although I am liable for the transgressions at hand, I believe I have a compelling reason for you (the adcoms), to look past these transgressions. I will then proceed to hand them my medical records and transcript which will show the past 110-120+ credits of 4.0 GPA with multiple classes at the graduate level. This coupled with my LSAT score should allow me to hopefully gain some admissions to a T14 school.

As for all the posters who claim to know about neuroscience, you are entitled to your opinions. Obviously you do not fully understand the intricacies of brain cancer and neuroscience otherwise you would not be posting erroneous claims without scientific studies to back up your claims. There are well documented cases of brain tumors of the frontal lobe causing pseudo-alzheimers and significant personality changes. The tumor didn't cause me to commit a crime, but it did dull my impulse control and prevented my from thinking clearly. I couldn't even do basic arithmetic by the time they discovered my brain cancer. This is obviously significant, especially since my specialty is math. Specifically I have taken graduate classes in Algebraic Topology and complex analysis of several variables (specifically functions on an empty subset U of the n dimensional complex space C^n with values that are holomorphic).

Finally in regard to the LSAT, I hope you all realize that although I am a junior in college, I am 26 years of age. I have been studying an extra 3 years for this one exam.

Edit: I did not take off school to specifically study for the LSAT. I had to take off school for the prolonged period of time to recover from my cancer treatment and accumulate money to help pay off my undergraduate and graduate education. In the mean time I was inconsistently studying for my LSAT; therefore, allowing me more time to prepare than the average junior

[181plz]

I mean if you went from a 0.2 to a 4.0 I think it’s fair to state that the tumor was sole cause of the problem. I suppose it’s hard to prove this, as we don’t actually know what OPs first semester would look like if he didn’t get cancer. Maybe there’s an adcomm out there who would be offended at the notion that you aren’t open minded enough to consider other options, but that guys definitely a jerk.

[RCSOB657]

Well bro, I'd buy you a beer if we ever met. Good luck to you!