I’ve been entertaining the idea of applying to law school, but my undergrad GPA is what’s holding me back. I want to work in NYC and would only be interested in schools that open the doors to do so (so obviously I would not be considering west coast schools but would be considering east coast schools with priority to schools in NY such as Columbia and NYU).
To give some background on myself, I went to a decent (top 30-40) undergrad university and graduated last year cum laude with a business/finance degree. My overall gpa is 3.38 but my major gpa is 3.6 (my school is notorious for having grade deflation). I messed up a lot freshman year and a bit sophomore year because of premed and personal reasons, but got my act together an pulled off 3.8 and higher in the second half of my undergrad education. I also have 1 year experience working in finance/consulting.
My dream school would be NYU and I know it’s a far reach for me. I know there are T14 schools that accept relatively lower GPA’s coupled with high LSAT scores (Georgetown, Northwestern, UVA), but besides these, what other good schools can I realistically reach for?
How much do law schools account for grade deflation/past academic record?
What LSAT score would give me a shot at NYU or other schools that have a lot of employment opportunities in NYC?
How much impact does work experience have on my application?
It would be great to get some input on these questions. Thanks guys!
Forget ‘dream’ school’; any of the T14 have plenty of job opportunities in NYC. Look up the schools of interest, and assume that you will need to clear that school’s median, and preferably 75th percentile. For example, Cornell Law has a 167 median and 168 75th.
Good luck.
None.
@bluebayou thanks for the input, and I am aiming for a T14 school (or at least top 20) but its true when you look at employment statistics that west coast schools have a majority of graduates remaining there (prime example: USC, UC Berkeley). Also, it sucks that schools don’t account for grade inflation / deflation (i actually find this quite surprising) but this just means i’m going to have to aim higher on LSATs.
You should aim for your best possible score on the LSAT regardless of how schools treat GPA.
Correlation does not equal causation. Self-selection accounts for a lot in LS matriculation. Someone who is admitted to both NYU and Boalt will likely choose Boalt if they really want to be on the Left Coast for a career. Ditto someone who is admitted to Cornell and USC/UCLA. (ignoring costs for a second.)
But the point is that someone at median from Boalt (or Northwestern) should have no problem getting a Big Law job in NYC…
Not reportable in the rankings, so they don’t care.
btw: Boalt is GPA-focused, so probably not a good fit for you.
“But the point is that someone at median from Boalt (or Northwestern) should have no problem getting a Big Law job in NYC…”
I see what you mean, and i’m guessing this goes for all T14 schools. But if so, where is the cut-off (law school ranking wise) where I can be at the median and secure a big law job in nyc? This would be helpful in deciding how far down to apply. Thanks.
if you want the big bucks you’ll want to aim for Big Law, generally, large firms (altho some top boutiques pay big law salaries, or better.)
btw: Big Law in NYC is the easiest to get (relative to Big Law in any other city).
Here is one example #20 Boston U Law BU places about a third of its class into large firms, which for your purposes is a good enough proxy for Big Law.
https://www.lstreports.com/schools/bu/
In contrast, Cornell is 66% while Columbia is ~75%.
Anything in the top 14 will open doors to Biglaw jobs in NYC.
Work experience definitely helps.
You can step out of the top 14 and go to Fordham and maybe maybe Brooklyn Law and still probably have Biglaw offers. Don’t bother with the other NY-area schools.