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Hey y'all,

Looking to get a sense for what my chances of acceptance at UT Austin are. I am taking the LSAT on November 17th for the first time, but I have been averaging 165-167 (with a few outliers north and south of those figures). Let's assume I perform OK and get a 165, and my GPA after this semester remains a 4.0 (3.97 to be exact).

Other relevant factors:
-Major: Political Science/ Minors: Intl Studies, History
-Texas resident
-graduating a year early
-softs: two DC internships (one Congressional, one non-profit), student government, fraternity involvement, peer development programs, contributing writer to school newspaper, some mock trial experience in HS and college
-not URM

Based on what I've read online, my GPA would seem to compensate for what I anticipate to be a slightly subpar LSAT for UT. My concern is that I am attending a large (SEC) state school that IMO is not particularly rigorous. I figured that those GPA numbers are representative of students coming from more difficult undergraduate programs.

Any thoughts?
Thanks

Law schools won't care about the rigor of your undergrad school/major, except that you'll get a slight boost for attending HYP or an equivalent; a slight boost for a STEM major; and probably a yellow/red flag if you graduated from an unaccredited/for-profit school. None of these apply to you, so your 4.0 is simply going to be treated as a 4.0.

So here we go:


Looks like you have a very good chance at UT, assuming you get the 165. Your chances may be even higher than 65%, because I understand UT gives a boost to Texas residents.

The better question is why you're targeting UT in particular. With your 4.0, you can and should be targeting the T13. Even with a 165, you'd have a strong chance of getting into at least a few T13s, especially UVA, NW, and Cornell. But you need not - and should not - "waste" your 4.0 on a 165 LSAT. Look at how much your results change if you even bring your LSAT up to a 169, which seems entirely achievable for you:

QContinuum-

Thanks a lot for the thorough and timely reply! I really appreciate it and I have some peace of mind now re my undergrad program.

UT has always been a dream of mine --despite my high SAT, generally poor HS performance precluded me as an undergrad candidate-- in part because I love Austin, but also because I intend to live and practice in the state of Texas. I will likely apply to UVA and a few others in the T13 realm but scholarship/cost of attendance will be an important factor for me.

This was my first post here so it was great to get quality feedback.

Best,
-DC