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Hi all,

I am curious to see where I stand with a 177 LSAT score and 3.75 GPA. I am not sure of how much value "chancing" is, but it is probably a better measure than Law School Numbers, which is presumably a self-selecting crowd that is (mostly) reporting their statistics only if they get admitted to a T14, and also doesn't include any "softs." In addition to the above stats, I'll try and include some, but not all, of those softs here to present a more holistic picture. I am not certain which, if any, of these are relevant to law school decision-makers, but here they are:

-Rising Senior at Vanderbilt University
-Political Science and Philosophy double major, with a minor in Psychology
-4 years of Mock Trial/1 year of Moot Court
-2 summers at Employment Investment Board non-profit in major metropolitan American city
-1 summer as teller/Customer Service Representative at community bank
-likely internship with constituent relations Mayor's Office for same city ("likely" because I am actually finding out for sure later this week, but was given rather positive indications during my interview.)
-Letters of rec: planning on getting 1 from a Philosophy prof who has given high praise to my writing, 1 from my boss at the Employment Investment Board, and possibly 1 other. No idea of what quality these recs will be.
-Personal Statement: No idea. I consider myself a capable writer?

I know that in the grand scheme of things, my GPA and LSAT are in a good place, so I want to clarify I'm not simply asking for validation here. My understanding is that on test/GPA alone I stand a great chance at at least one of CCN and an almost assured acceptance at some if not all of the lower T14s (please correct me on either of these predictions if I'm wrong). Rather, I'm specifically curious about the extent to which by LSAT score, in conjunction with my "softs," makes up for my GPA when looking at HYS. I'm almost exactly at the 25th percentile for Harvard, and well below it for Yale and Stanford. How much will everything else I've listed make up for this, if at all?

Thanks in advance!

are you an URM?

Either way, you have a chance wherever you apply. Your LSAT is above the 75th median for all law schools, GREAT JOB. Absolutely apply to HYS, you def stand a chance at all 3. Your softs are pretty good, but no different than the majority of applicants at t-14's, especially the ones coming from top undergraduate schools. Nonetheless, apply to HYS.
You note that you're a rising senior, so is the 3.75 your GPA exclusive of your last year grades? If so, were you looking to start LS the immediate Fall after graduation?

vattah wrote:are you an URM?

Either way, you have a chance wherever you apply. Your LSAT is above the 75th median for all law schools, GREAT JOB. Absolutely apply to HYS, you def stand a chance at all 3. Your softs are pretty good, but no different than the majority of applicants at t-14's, especially the ones coming from top undergraduate schools. Nonetheless, apply to HYS.
You note that you're a rising senior, so is the 3.75 your GPA exclusive of your last year grades? If so, were you looking to start LS the immediate Fall after graduation?

Thanks for the reply! Yes, my 3.75 is my cumulative GPA over the last three years, and has been pretty consistent for each of those three years, so I expect a similar GPA for my senior year (if anything, perhaps slightly better given that I only have psych minor requirements to satisfy at this point and have otherwise selected classes based solely on interest).

My plan is to start law school the fall after graduation, yes. It would be difficult to persuade me otherwise at this point, but I'm of course open to suggestions.

Nope, not a URM.

I'll go back into the OP and edit this in, but also, what do you think my prospects for aid would be amongst lower T14 and CCN?

chad2 wrote:

vattah wrote:are you an URM?

Either way, you have a chance wherever you apply. Your LSAT is above the 75th median for all law schools, GREAT JOB. Absolutely apply to HYS, you def stand a chance at all 3. Your softs are pretty good, but no different than the majority of applicants at t-14's, especially the ones coming from top undergraduate schools. Nonetheless, apply to HYS.
You note that you're a rising senior, so is the 3.75 your GPA exclusive of your last year grades? If so, were you looking to start LS the immediate Fall after graduation?

Thanks for the reply! Yes, my 3.75 is my cumulative GPA over the last three years, and has been pretty consistent for each of those three years, so I expect a similar GPA for my senior year (if anything, perhaps slightly better given that I only have psych minor requirements to satisfy at this point and have otherwise selected classes based solely on interest).

My plan is to start law school the fall after graduation, yes. It would be difficult to persuade me otherwise at this point, but I'm of course open to suggestions.

Nope, not a URM.

I'll go back into the OP and edit this in, but also, what do you think my prospects for aid would be amongst lower T14 and CCN?

No problem! & fair enough; You have a good chance of a scholarship at at a number of the lower T14s and maybe at CCN. Your LSAT is well above the 75th percentile and your GPA falls in the middle 50% of the lower T14s. Take Chicago, your GPA is between the 25th and 50th percentile of both Chicago and NYU with an above 75th LSAT, and for Columbia your GPA is actually above median with an above 75th LSAT. You have a great shot at CCN acceptance and a good chance of scholarship at Columbia.

My two cents: you'll get in just about anywhere. But, I would pick the school in the T-14 that gives me the best scholarship. Harvard is great, but it's definitely not great at sticker cost.

jacketyellow wrote:My two cents: you'll get in just about anywhere. But, I would pick the school in the T-14 that gives me the best scholarship. Harvard is great, but it's definitely not great at sticker cost.

Thanks jacketyellow! Yep, fingers crossed on those scholarships.

My guess is in everywhere except Y and S. Possibly out at H, but I bet you get in with that LSAT. I personally highly recommend working if just for a year (it was the best decision I made before going to law school) honestly just to get some real-world experience and to take a break from school to avoid burnout.