Top Law Schools

I am a rising senior at a top public university, with a perfect GPA (4.0/4.0); I have gotten an A in every single class, majoring in Political Science. I have a pretty good resume, with internships including a two-year judicial clerkship (the judge will write a letter of rec. for me), as well as at another big firm; I am also apart of my school's legal society, and other political/ law-related clubs. I have also studied abroad at University of Oxford, conducting political and legal research with Oxford professors ("dons"), who will write letters of recommendation for me. I am also conducting jurisprudence research, and already have a research proposal finished. I have been getting low 170's on my practice lsat (i.e. 171-174). My dream schools are: Columbia, Harvard, NYU, UPENN. How are my chances?

All depends on LSAT. If you break 170, you'll get into most t14 with $$ at lower t14. If you get into the mid-170s, you'll have a good shot at HYS with $$$ at CCN. But doesn't matter until you have the score

trebekismyhero wrote:All depends on LSAT.

+1.

Law school is 95% a numbers game (i.e. GPA + LSAT), and you literally have about as perfect as you can get of a GPA (outside of schools that award A+ letter grades). A 163 LSAT is going to sink you almost everywhere in the T13 or get you in with no $. A 173 LSAT could very well send you to Yale.

With your GPA, if you get an LSAT at a T13 school's median or above, you will likely be admitted (80%), waitlisted for yield protection purposes (15%), or rejected for yield protection purposes (5%). If you do not get an LSAT you like, retake it/sit out a cycle if you need to. Don't worry about what you do or getting better "soft" factors. Beyond getting a Rhodes or qualifying for the Olympics, you're pretty much capped in that category. Just retake. When you finally get an LSAT you like, blanket the T13 for scholarship negotiating purposes (i.e. don't just apply to the dream schools you listed) and write a "Why X" for any school that you are significantly above their median GPA + LSAT, so you have a lower chance of them waitlisting/rejecting you to yield protect.

Your LSAT is 100% the most important part. I did research, and studied abroad, with Oxbridge and the LSE and have a grad degree from the LSE, with a UG degree from a pretty good Uni. My LSAT score correlated perfectly with where I got in and how much money I got from each school. I didn't have a GPA when I entered in- just an evaluation of 'superior', however, it made no difference. Best of luck.

crazywafflez wrote:Your LSAT is 100% the most important part. I did research, and studied abroad, with Oxbridge and the LSE and have a grad degree from the LSE, with a UG degree from a pretty good Uni. My LSAT score correlated perfectly with where I got in and how much money I got from each school. I didn't have a GPA when I entered in- just an evaluation of 'superior', however, it made no difference. Best of luck.

Agree. Admissions outcomes will track almost perfectly with LSAT and LSAC GPA at every school from Harvard on down.

Admissions outcomes at Y/S will track almost perfectly with LSAT, LSAC GPA and impressive softs (specifically, most applicants require a stellar LSAT and LSAC GPA to get over the initial "hump", then the impressive softs - if they have them - gets them an offer). An LSE Master's could help with the softs at Y/S; studying abroad at Oxbridge, and participating in the undergraduate law club, won't really count.