Nontraditional grad looking for thoughts at chance for T14 Forum

[7PercentItalian]

GPA: 3.15
LSAT: 178

I'm 28 years old and I'm a pharmacist. I have always had an interest in law but took a career path to pharmacy that I find very undesirable now. I'm working for a large corporation and don't see myself doing this for the rest of my life. Last few years I've made connections with attorneys who suggested I consider law school and possibly look into doing a health care related practice with my PharmD degree. I only have 2 years of undergrad plus 4 years of the professional program so my GPA isn't very good. I took the LSAT last year and did quite well.

I welcome any comments or criticism.

[BrainsyK]

I'm working for a large corporation and don't see myself doing this for the rest of my life.

I think that it's a fine plan, but if you go to a T14, it's overwhelmingly likely that you'll just return to doing this.

I only have 2 years of undergrad plus 4 years of the professional program so my GPA isn't very good. I took the LSAT last year and did quite well.

Do you have a Bachelor's degree? If you don't, I don't think that you can get a JD. If it's a degree that's somehow only granted with 2 years of coursework, the LSAC may assess it to not equivalent to a Bachelor's and you may not be able to go to law school. It's just something to consider.

[The Lsat Airbender]

Yeah, you probably need to finish a bachelor's. This could actually be very helpful for your GPA, which isn't "set" until you receive your first B.A. If you could pull yourself up to 3.5 or better with a bunch of community-college credits, you'll have some great options with the 178.

[7PercentItalian]

I should clarify: I don't see myself working for a corporation in the specific field I'm in for the rest of my life.

No I don't have a Bachelor's degree. The degree I have is the Doctor of Pharmacy that took 6 years to obtain.

[decimalsanddollars]

Finish your bachelor's degree sooner rather than later. Your LSAT score won't be good forever, but it will get you into some excellent schools (especially if, as LSA indicated, you can pull the GPA up).

[7PercentItalian]

Finish your bachelor's degree sooner rather than later. Your LSAT score won't be good forever, but it will get you into some excellent schools (especially if, as LSA indicated, you can pull the GPA up).

I'm not sure I want to go back to school to get a lower degree than what I already have. With 6 years of schooling on my transcript my GPA is pretty much set. 210 credits at a 3.15 would mean I'd need ~28 credit hours of perfect coursework to bring it up to 3.25.

[decimalsanddollars]

Finish your bachelor's degree sooner rather than later. Your LSAT score won't be good forever, but it will get you into some excellent schools (especially if, as LSA indicated, you can pull the GPA up).

I'm not sure I want to go back to school to get a lower degree than what I already have. With 6 years of schooling on my transcript my GPA is pretty much set. 210 credits at a 3.15 would mean I'd need ~28 credit hours of perfect coursework to bring it up to 3.25.

I mean, in that case, call admissions offices at schools you're considering and see if you meet the admissions requirements. I'm not 100% sure a bachelor's degree is required for all schools where you have the equivalent (a 6-year accelerated professional degree).

[7PercentItalian]

Yeah, you probably need to finish a bachelor's. This could actually be very helpful for your GPA, which isn't "set" until you receive your first B.A. If you could pull yourself up to 3.5 or better with a bunch of community-college credits, you'll have some great options with the 178.

I appreciate the input but that's mathematically impossible for me. Like I told decimalsanddollars, a 3.5 GPA would require 147 hours of perfect coursework with my 6 years already completed.

[The Lsat Airbender]

Yeah, you probably need to finish a bachelor's. This could actually be very helpful for your GPA, which isn't "set" until you receive your first B.A. If you could pull yourself up to 3.5 or better with a bunch of community-college credits, you'll have some great options with the 178.

I appreciate the input but that's mathematically impossible for me. Like I told decimalsanddollars, a 3.5 GPA would require 147 hours of perfect coursework with my 6 years already completed.

Fair enough. You'd be surprised what can be done with CC/online credits, though, and even a smaller improvement would make a big difference (e.g. by bringing Columbia and NYU, and probably other schools, into play)

[logan3000]

I don’t know at all how it actually works, but it could be the case that only your first 2 years + the 2 new years count for the Bachelor’s, if the other 4 years count as “professional” / grad school.

at least would be worth looking into with LSAC before discounting the idea - could make a huge difference.

(personally I don’t think it’d be worth delaying another 1.5-2 years, but could be worth it for you if you really care about cracking the T6)