<p>I plan on studying Human Rights/International Law, and Columbia's Human Rights Institute makes me outright giddy. </p>
<p>My problem is a low GPA (currently a 3.2). </p>
<p>I am currently an Emory student, and I work full-time as a Realtor to put myself through college. Most of my time, however, is spent representing a family estate Pro Se in litigation, and helping to manage a family-owned piece of commercial property. I am also extremely involved on campus and a dedicated Civil Rights Activist. However, these endeavors don't leave me a lot of time to worry about my grades, and, while I love learning and my classes, I am finding it difficult to pick up my GPA without losing my sanity or my means of paying tuition. </p>
<p>Will Columbia understand that my familial and financial obligations put me at an unusual disadvantage? Or will a low GPA put me out of the running entirely?</p>
<p>I agree. Try to bring your GPA up a few points to 3.4/3.5 and if you got around 170, with your background and some sympathetic recommendations, plus an essay that emphasized your interest in human rights, I think you would have a better than average shot at Columbia. Good luck!</p>
<p>EC's do not matter (well they do but nowhere near the extent they did for college apps).</p>
<p>Pull up the GPA and have an academic index (adjusted GPA and LSAT combined into one statistic) within the interquartile range of Columbia. The worst your academic index is, the more amazing the other aspects of your application will have to be, but I haven't known anyone that was able to maybe get an extra .2 or .3 gpa's points worth of boost to their applications with good ec's unless they were a URM.</p>
<p>Family circumstances are very different than ECs, however, in explaining your circumstances, which I assume you will do in your personal statement, I would suggest staying away from making excuses and instead focusing on your dedication, hard work and things that you have learned (character building) from your experiences. Plenty of students work and go to school, though, so explaining away your grades as a result of your job as a realtor may not buy you much. You will also have to explain why you were compelled to work for the family estate (I would refrain from saying you did it "pro se" or that you "represented" the estate since you were not a lawyer while you were doing so) and to manage the parcel of property (Undeveloped? How much time could that reasonably take?). There will definitely be a lot of unanswered questions such as these that you will need to be proactive about and address. Remember, too, that fully 25% of the student body does indeed fall below the 25-75 numbers. And yes, a fantastic LSAT score won't hurt either.</p>
<p>Firstly, I wasn't referring to "EC's", I was referring to a very intense, complicated, and unique situation that absorbs 30-50 hours of my week, and requires that I take two weeks of every semester off to go to court... </p>
<p>And this is MUCH different than working. Many students work, but very few have to deal with the intensity that I deal with on a daily basis. And yes, I do "represent" the estate "pro se" as co-executrix of the estate. Pro se means that you don't have a law degree, but you do represent your own interests... I have a lot of practical and relevant experience with writing memorandums, accounting, real estate law, and estate law. It's a 100,000 sq ft commercial property on 10 acres just outside Louisville (two boxes: 60/40). An intense situation for anyone, let alone somebody trying to finish up their college degree. I am the hardest working person I know, and I am upset that my UGPA does not reflect that. This is not my "excuse", it's my reality.</p>
<p>I was wondering whether Columbia, and other T14 Law Schools, would appreciate the fact that, although my GPA is not as high as it might be, I have unique real world experience and skills that few people- let alone people my age- posess.</p>
<p>CLLACRO,
I hope that the bitterness you seemingly expressed in your post was not directed at me because I'm simply trying to help you.</p>
<p>If you have your heart set on Columbia Law School, you need to explain in a very positive way how hard you've worked, juggled your time commitments and how your experience has changed you/directed you/opened your eyes, etc. Your practical experience is not necessarily what is going to persuade them to admit you -- instead, if you will get in, it may well be because you describe what you have personally gained from your experiences. All I was trying to say was that you need to accentuate the positives traits and skills that you have rather than being defensive and explaining away your GPA. Don't underestimate either how hard some students work to put themselves through school. It sounds like your experience does take up a significant amount of time, but you are far from alone in that respect. That is the reality for many people -- not just you. </p>
<p>You are certainly welcome to take my advice or leave it, but I think that you should at least take a look at what you wrote and see that it makes you look defensive. If you can turn it around, I think that your experiences could provide you with the substance of an outstanding personal statement. That may be what gives you a chance at admission.
sallyawp</p>
<p>Odds of that excuse working are very very low as you are competing against students with extraordinary LSAT stats and very high GPAs with the bulk of successful applicants arriving from the top 20 undergrad colleges in the USA, some even with actual hardship situations, who lack potential inheritable interests in commercial property</p>
<p>Law Schools have a lot of applications to look through and are not charities.</p>
<p>Their purpose is to train good lawyers and the most reliable indicators of a student's success are their GPA and LSAT scores. </p>
<p>There are plenty of students with much, much worst cases than yours. There are people from broken families, people with disabilities and learning handicaps, and hardships you can't begin to imagine. And for the most part, these conditions will go under non-academic factors on your resume. Maybe EC's is not the right term, but these factors on your application are not as heavily weighed as the academic portions of your application.</p>
<p>I still stand by my statement, having unique circumstances or experiences can certainly give a boost, but I don't think they give more than .2 or .3 gpa points worth of boost IMO but I am not intimately involved in the admissions process and don't know enough Columbia admits to be absolutely certain. Its just a trend I've noticed from watching the stats of recent admits and the acceptances of my friends at T14 schools.</p>
<p>Its important to show Columbia Law that you are capable of doing well at their school in some way. That may be getting a great LSAT score or trying in some way to prioritize your school work for at least one semester and show that you are capable of making good grades without all your other commitments. There are a lot of ways to do this, but honestly, making excuses or saying you could've made good grades if you didn't have a job is not something Law Schools will believe unless you give them proof.</p>
<p>There are plenty of great law schools other than Columbia Law. I would readjust my expectations of what law school to attend based on realistic expectations about your future, final gpa and LSAT score.</p>
<p>The civil rights part doesn't concern me. Lots of college kids can legitimately claim they are civil rights activists. 1) HIV/AIDS 2)Human rights in Darfur 3)treatment of Prisoners in Gitmo 4) discrimination of Muslim and Middle Eastern individuals in the United States 5) Gay rights including but not limited to marriage, adoption, military service 6) VRA renewal......these are all issues in which college students have been very active and can legitimately claim such a title.</p>
<p>This is kind of unrelated but is Columbia's human rights program better than Harvard's? I know they both have amazing human rights programs for students who want to go into international human rights law but which school is better for that?? Anyone know?</p>
<p>Successful law students are those who can dedicate themselves to the study of law for nearly every waking hour for a few years straight. Your application should be structured so as to demonstrate that you have such capabilities. Note that law firms and some of the top clerkship positions will require this type of dedication.</p>
<p>Before you enter law school, you should finish up your work with your family. If I were you, I would split this into two pieces: 1) the passion for law/what you've learned/how this has made you responsible; and 2) the negative effect on your grades, in an addendum. The addendum should include the work you've done and why this is not an issue during law school. (This should be easier for you than for me. I was very sick during undergrad, but did not know what to say as a positive for law school... "I swear, I'll be healthy?" "Tumor-free and loving it?")</p>
<p>Consider applying to Northwestern. They are, IMO, one of the few schools that really accounts for such things in assessing candidates.</p>
<p>Consider getting a master's degree. If you do very well, you can at least erase doubt in someone's mind that you are not capable of doing super-rigourous work.</p>
<p>
[quote]
This is kind of unrelated but is Columbia's human rights program better than Harvard's? I know they both have amazing human rights programs for students who want to go into international human rights law but which school is better for that?? Anyone know?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You should concentrate on graduating from high school first.</p>
<p>Uhhhh.....I saw the thread and decided to ask the question for a friend who's in college and will soon be applying to law schools to study international human rights law. I have no desire to go to law school and I'm completely focusing on getting into college so ya...don't make assumptions</p>
<p>Umm...he shouldn't have acted like I was stupid for asking and he shouldn't have belittled my question. Even if I was asking for myself, he should've either answered the question if he knew the answer or he shouldn't have replied at all. What he said was utterly useless, especially because I wasn't even asking for myself. I don't see how his commentary was helpful.</p>
<p>Techy - the thing is, a lot of students on the law boards are in high school and ask ridiculous questions, for themselves. It's silly because most of them won't be going to law school in four years; it's four years away; and really, college is more than the stopping point between high school and law school.</p>
<p>My take. If you're in high school, please say if you're asking for someone older. Otherwise, such reactions are to be expected and let the rest of us know to not waste our time.</p>