3.4 GPA / 142 - 145 LSAT/ I.T Professional Forum

[techsource2005]

Hey Guys,

I recently obtained my B.A in Political Science from University of Washington - Seattle, I have a 3.4 cumulative G.P.A.

For the past five years I have worked as an I.T Analyst/Systems Engineer (contractor) for Northrop Grumman/Boeing, IBM, Coca-Cola Enterprises, AT&T etc.

I also have volunteered for local organizations, church/library/YMCA etc.

I'm also a minority (South Asian, India) english is not my first language

I'm 25 years old.

I'm currently studying for the LSAT but have this horrible feeling that I will end up with a score of 142-145.........

Given my background and with a presumed LSAT of 142-145, is there any way I can make it to a tier 3 law school? if not, and if I do end up at TTTT, what job prospects am I looking at ? thanks!

[vasiok]

Hey Guys,

I recently obtained my B.A in Political Science from University of Washington - Seattle, I have a 3.4 cumulative G.P.A.

For the past five years I have worked as an I.T Analyst/Systems Engineer (contractor) for Northrop Grumman/Boeing, IBM, Coca-Cola Enterprises, AT&T etc.

I also have volunteered for local organizations, church/library/YMCA etc.

I'm also a minority (South Asian, India) english is not my first language

I'm 25 years old.

I'm currently studying for the LSAT but have this horrible feeling that I will end up with a score of 142-145.........

Given my background and with a presumed LSAT of 142-145, is there any way I can make it to a tier 3 law school? if not, and if I do end up at TTTT, what job prospects am I looking at ? thanks!

You're not a minority.
English not being your first language stands for absolutely nothing...
3.4 from P.Sc. degree doesn't really show you in bright light either.

Job prospects at both TTTT or TTT are almost non-existent if you want to make any kind of decent living.

You'd be making more working as SE.

[Bankhead]

Yeah, if you can't get your LSAT up around 160 I think you would be best staying in your current career. I don't mean to sound elitist or anything, but it sounds like you already have a good career going and like the previous poster said, job prospects out of T3 schools suck.

And you'd probably need at least a 150 to get into a T3, as it stands right now, you'd probably only get into Cooley or Appalachian State.

By the way, I always admire people who are trying to take the LSAT where English isn't their first language. I couldn't imagine...

[techsource2005]

really........I thought political science was a preferred degree for law schools, so in order to get into an average law school, what LSAT do I need ? thanks

[20160810]

Basically you're looking at a crappy law school with moderate job prospects (working for the government, pretty much, or hanging up a shingle and trying your luck as a local divorce/dog bite attorney). If the law is your one and only true passion, go for it, Cooley awaits. But I'd say that unless you can pull at least a 150, you need to look for another career.

[techsource2005]

ok, so lets say if I pull in a 150 on LSAT, what law schools may I get into? gonzaga or south texas college of law?

and how come I can't be classified as a minority ? after all, im south asian and not caucasian...............

[20160810]

ok, so lets say if I pull in a 150 on LSAT, what law schools may I get into? gonzaga or south texas college of law?

and how come I can't be classified as a minority ? after all, im south asian and not caucasian...............

Don't ask me why they consider some minorities to be minorities and others not, but unfortunately you get the short end of that stick. Blame all your highly successful South Asian counterparts for that, I guess. That said, if you get a 150, things change for you dramatically and you would definitely be in at some T3 law school or another.

[techsource2005]

Let's say I have a JD from a TTT, do you think I can work internationally for some U.S law firm ? how much do you think I'll be making in 5 yrs ?

Also, do you guys know anything about University of Detroit-Mercy law school ?

[20160810]

How much you can make in 5 years is going to depend on where you start and how good you are at your job. Hopefully the answer to the latter question is "very," but even assuming that you will not be hired by a major firm coming out of a T3 school. The only hope for a decent starting job (something within sniffing distance of $100,000/year) is to place very, very well in your class. Hopefully, you will do that.

[techsource2005]

cool........law schools for the most part don't care what you studied? right ? a busniss admin degree won't be preferred over political science, right ?

[20160810]

cool........law schools for the most part don't care what you studied? right ? a busniss admin degree won't be preferred over political science, right ?

Not a bit, unless you used that BizAd degree to start a successful business, which you then took a few years to run.

[Little_Bit]

and how come I can't be classified as a minority ? after all, im south asian and not caucasian...............

Don't ask me why they consider some minorities to be minorities and others not, but unfortunately you get the short end of that stick.

It's not that the OP (and Asians in general) are not considered "minorities," They are ethnic minorities in the United States. It is that they are not underrepresented minorities. Asians (including Indians) are actually overrepresented (in relation to the actual population) in law school and in higher education in general in the United States.

[20160810]

and how come I can't be classified as a minority ? after all, im south asian and not caucasian...............

Don't ask me why they consider some minorities to be minorities and others not, but unfortunately you get the short end of that stick.

It's not that the OP (and Asians in general) are not considered "minorities," They are ethnic minorities in the United States. It is that they are not underrepresented minorities. Asians (including Indians) are actually overrepresented (in relation to the actual population) in law school and in higher education in general in the United States.

Paging JustDude for a quick and cogent explanation of the situation.

[kurla88]

Indians are minorities, but not Under-Represented Minorities, which is what law schools are looking for.

I'm from Michigan and the big law schools around here (other than Michigan, obviously, the Michigan grads tend to go out of state) are probably Cooley (Lansing & Grand Rapids) and Wayne State (Detroit). Michigan State and UDM are probably a little after those two. If you want to live and work in Michigan you could graduate near the top of your class from any of those schools and make a semi-decent living (I've heard of 80,000?) working for a small local firm. No biglaw, as people may have mentioned. I don't know about working internationally either.

Political Science is a popular major for prelaw but it really does not matter what you studied.

How long have you been studying for the LSAT? When are you planning on taking it? 150 is about average, if you can go above it/get into the 160s your prospects will be MUCH better. Plus, Cooley gives great scholarships for LSAT score so since you seem to be considering Michigan, you should look into that.

And the biggest question of all... how did you get into I.T./Engineering after graduating with a Poli Sci degree?

[techsource2005]

I'm a systems engineer, I have about 3 major I.T certifications under my belt (A+, Net+, Sun Microsystems) thats how I got into Information technology plus 5 years of experience as well

for my first job, I lied and said I had 3 years of experience working for some small company, I gave my friend as a reference who pretended to be a super busy CEO and that's how I started!

It may have been dishonest, but, you gotta do what you gotta do in order to get your foot in the door my friend

[techsource2005]

142-145 LSAT score would be the worst case scenrio.........so im basically keeping my options open, hopefully, I will score in the 160's

[Ludo]

Well, you'll have to let us know how you do on your LSAT so we can start steering you a little more concretely! You said you had a 'horrible feeling' that you would score that on the LSAT which means you probably aren't practicing there, you're just afraid of it. Don't let the fear own you!

As an aside, I too graduated from UW with a 3.4 in Political Science. I am a good example of an LSAT score saving my heinder. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. (Or just want to talk about how awesome Seattle is. I miss it already!)

[MS.LEGALBRIEFS]

you can get into law school with your numbers.. You may have to just pull off an impecable personal statement and have some great letters of recommendation.. Scores undoubtedly play a huge part in the admissions process but being an URM, or howing that you are mature enough and analytical enough to take on teh rigors of law school may be a plus.

[JordynAsh]

I'm a systems engineer, I have about 3 major I.T certifications under my belt (A+, Net+, Sun Microsystems) thats how I got into Information technology plus 5 years of experience as well

for my first job, I lied and said I had 3 years of experience working for some small company, I gave my friend as a reference who pretended to be a super busy CEO and that's how I started!

It may have been dishonest, but, you gotta do what you gotta do in order to get your foot in the door my friend

Wow. I really hope you're kidding or flaming, dood.

[kittenmittons]

I'm a systems engineer, I have about 3 major I.T certifications under my belt (A+, Net+, Sun Microsystems) thats how I got into Information technology plus 5 years of experience as well

for my first job, I lied and said I had 3 years of experience working for some small company, I gave my friend as a reference who pretended to be a super busy CEO and that's how I started!

It may have been dishonest, but, you gotta do what you gotta do in order to get your foot in the door my friend

glhf passing C&F bro. Stick to IT

[dms]

Your prospects are much better in IT. TTT graduates generally do not have good chances of getting biglaw jobs. Stay in IT and you'll hit 6 figures and won't have law school debt.

[kittenmittons]

Your prospects are much better in IT. TTT graduates generally do not have good chances of getting biglaw jobs. Stay in IT and you'll hit 6 figures and won't have law school debt.

Look at date of OP