Chances at Top Law Schools?

Graduate School Law School
1

<p>Hello! I am a rising senior at Georgetown University, and am planning on going to law school after graduating. I was hoping some of you could help me out by evaluating my chances.</p>

<p>Grades, scores, etc.</p>

<p>-Double major: English, Spanish
-GPA: 3.8
-LSAT: 170
-Extracurriculars: active in school fencing, the French club (I am also fluent in French), the college Democrats, the pre-law society, and the Culture and Arts Committee (part of the student government).
-Experience: I have had three internships: one at a website, one at a publishing company/magazine, and one at small branch of the European Commission in Brussels (my junior year I studied abroad in Scotland and Brussels)</p>

<p>School list </p>

<p>A bit tentative, but I'm hoping you will be able to help me with it. I know I kind of have a lot of reaches, but I figure I would regret not applying to them. Here they are:</p>

<p>-Harvard
-Yale
-Stanford
-Columbia
-UPenn
-UChicago
-Berkeley
-Virginia
-Georgetown
-UCLA
-Duke
-Cornell
-USC</p>

<p>What do you think my chances are at these schools? Thanks for your help! :)</p>

2

<p>I'm gonna assume you aren't an URM (minority, not asian) and submit your application early in the process. </p>

<p>-Harvard: Almost no chance
-Yale: Deff no chance
-Stanford: 50/50
-Columbia: 50/50
-UPenn: Close, I'd say you're in
-UChicago: 50/50
-Berkeley: I think you're in, close though
-Virginia: Should get in
-Georgetown: In
-UCLA: In
-Duke: In
-Cornell: In
-USC: In</p>

3

<p>Why would you say he has NO CHANCE at Yale and Harvard?...a 180 LSAT and 4.0 GPA isn't a mandatory thing to get into those schools. Georgetown is a good school, 3.8 GPA and 170 LSAT is not bad...he has a chance I'd say if he really sells himself with his personal statement and has good letters of recommendation.</p>

4

<p>Breaking News: Personal statement and LOR don't mean that much. The only school where they would mean something is yale, and check out lawschoolnumbers.com and tell me he has a chance at either school. His GPA is lower then the average student at both h/y and, more importantly, his lsat is much lower then the average student at h/y.</p>

5

<p>Just making sure, is that gpa your lsac gpa?</p>

6

<p>It is not my official LSAC GPA, but I was told that they would be fairly similar (...is this true? I have tried converting it, but messed up/got frustrated and haven't attempted it since).</p>

<p>Also- I have been studying for the LSAT again to see if I could raise my score, and I have been consistently scoring 173-174. Is it worth it to take it a second time? Ive heard schools don't like this, so I've been reluctant to make a decision. </p>

<p>Thanks for your help, everyone.</p>

7

<p>you don't see many chances threads for law schools because people either go to <a href="http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.lawschoolnumbers.com&lt;/a> or <a href="http://www.chiashu.com/lsat.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.chiashu.com/lsat.html&lt;/a>. That said, your chances based on previous data:</p>

<p>-Harvard 31%
-Yale 12%
-Stanford 15%
-Columbia 45%
-UPenn 57%
-UChicago 41%
-Berkeley 37%
-Virginia 72%
-Georgetown 76%
-UCLA 77%
-Duke 71%
-Cornell 57%
-USC 93%</p>

<p>In other words, you're probably gonna be in at Duke, UCLA, USC, Cornell, Georgetown, Virginia, Penn, maybe waitlist/accept at Chicago, Columbia, Berkeley and probably reject at Harvard, Stanford, Yale. Your stats are actually quite good, it's just they're also quite average for the top 6.</p>

8

<p>Yikes, I have a lot to learn...can someone explain to me what an LSAC GPA is? How can it be different from your actual GPA?</p>

9

<p>LSAC website has it all.......inform yourself.</p>

<p><a href="http://lsas.org/LSAC.asp?url=/additional-info/transcript-summarization.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://lsas.org/LSAC.asp?url=/additional-info/transcript-summarization.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Learn to love the A+</p>

10

<p>here is an lsac gpa calculator:
<a href="http://www.lawpad.com/gpa_calculator/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.lawpad.com/gpa_calculator/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

11

<p>
[quote]
you don't see many chances threads for law schools because people either go to <a href="http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.lawschoolnumbers.com&lt;/a> or <a href="http://www.chiashu.com/lsat.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.chiashu.com/lsat.html&lt;/a>.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That's true... but admissions aren't just a numbers game. People do, after all, read the applications themselves, so there is a human element in the process.</p>

<p>I have a question... what if your school doesn't give A+s? Do law schools take that into account at all?</p>

12

<p>They look at the lower LSAC GPA you earned due to lack of the A+. Sorry but true.</p>

13

<p>
[quote]
but admissions aren't just a numbers game

[/quote]
</p>

<p>True, but I think law school admission is about as close to a numbers game as it gets. I think the rough percentages given on those calc websites are extremely helpful for having an idea of where you stand.</p>

14

<p>I really don't understand how the LSAC GPA calculator is an efficient thing. Why can't your undergrad GPA suffice? Why do they have to make some formula for changing your GPA based on how many of a certain letter grade you got?</p>

15

<p>... because many undergraduate programs calculate grades differently, obviously.</p>

16

<p>Okay, so I just figured out that even though my Northwestern GPA is a 3.7, my LSAC GPA is a 3.6. How much does this suck? Are you really telling me that you're punished just because your school doesn't give out A+s?</p>

17

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=335436%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=335436&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

18

<p>Hi guys... I figured out my LSAC GPA using that calculator, and my GPA actually goes up to a 3.83- so really about the same.</p>

<p>With that GPA, do you think I should retake my LSATs if I want to go to one of the top schools? Will an increase of about 3-4 points make up for taking it twice?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

19

<p>does it look good if you have an upward trend? since they calculate each year individually as well as your cum. gpa ... my gpa freshman year was about 3.4, soph year it went up to 3.8, and junior year it will hopefully stay there or perhaps go up a decimal.</p>

20

<p>don't use chiasu...it uses old information. I think lawschoolnumbers.com is the most reliable for predicting admissions. That said, I'd wager good $ you are in everywhere but Harvard/Yale. </p>

<p>Upward trend looks good....but in all honesty it's not going to make a big difference at all, it will be minimal at best.</p>

<p>And yes, you are punished bcuz your school doesn't give A+....life isn't fair I guess.</p>