Should I Even Bother? (3.7 GPA, 171 LSAT BUT...) Forum

[TLY]

I'm a prospective law school student in the States. I took the LSAT twice, scored 151 cold-turkey (no studying) and took it again to land on 171. I am an international student so my final mark doesn't neatly correspond to a traditional GPA metric. I have requested a transcript conversion for law schools to be able to evaluate my academic performance but since the conversion is imperfect to say the least, schools will rely more heavily on the LSAT to determine admission (so I was told by my prelaw advisor). I have graduated with honors, which roughly equates to an A- (3.7 GPA). I am also a female minority.

The only question is I have two misdemeanor arrests for domestic violence which were eventually expunged from my record. I underwent counseling and therapy after the arrests and have not had any problems since. I am now concerned about application to mid/low tier T-14 law schools due to my criminal record. Should I even bother applying with the stats I have? I feel as though these misdemeanors would significantly hinder my chances at these schools.

[ALCA1920]

I'm a prospective law school student in the States. I took the LSAT twice, scored 151 cold-turkey (no studying) and took it again to land on 171. I am an international student so my final mark doesn't neatly correspond to a traditional GPA metric. I have requested a transcript conversion for law schools to be able to evaluate my academic performance but since the conversion is imperfect to say the least, schools will rely more heavily on the LSAT to determine admission (so I was told by my prelaw advisor). I have graduated with honors, which roughly equates to an A- (3.7 GPA). I am also a female minority.

The only question is I have two misdemeanor arrests for domestic violence which were eventually expunged from my record. I underwent counseling and therapy after the arrests and have not had any problems since. I am now concerned about application to mid/low tier T-14 law schools due to my criminal record. Should I even bother applying with the stats I have? I feel as though these misdemeanors would significantly hinder my chances at these schools.

You'll be fine, as long as you address it in the C&F section of your application. Write an addendum on what happened and what you've done to improve since then, and let everything else fall in place. Thankfully those weren't felony charges, and I don't think they'll disqualify you from practicing. In any case, it wouldn't hurt to send apps– law school adcomms are experts in determining whether you'll pass the state bar requirements with your record, so if you get accepted, you can rest assured that you will most definitely be a lawyer some day. If they reject you, consider it a miracle in disguise– imagine spending 3 years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to study the law, only to find out that you're not qualified to sit the bar.

It's a win-win, whatever you do.