<p>Hi,
I'm a Dartmouth sophomore thinking of going to a law school after graduation. I'm worried since my freshmen grade is horrible - 3.3. I have no excuse - coming from a too-easy high school, I overestimated my own genius and didn't put much efforts on work. My grade has been slowly improving (last term I got about 3.5) and I hope to fill the rest of my terms with A's and A-'s. If the plan goes well, here's what my 4 year GPA would look like:
- 1st Year: 3.3. ouch!
- 2nd Year: 3.6
- 3rd Year: 3.8~3.9<br>
=> overall: 3.6~3.7
I heard I have to have near perfect GPA and LSAT to get into one of the top ten law schools, but my GPA is already faltering. Will I still have a chance at YHS though? </p>
<p>By the way I'm a double major in poli sci and econ. My EC list is moderate: I'm a staff member for two campus publications. Though it may not help, I speak three languages fluently/near fluently and at a beginning/moderate level in my 4th. </p>
<p>As for LSAT: I've not taken the actual test, but at a practice test I got about 170 (I gave my writing the average score of the other sections). I'm going to study more and will probably take the actual one this Fall. </p>
<p>Any kind of advice or comment would be appreciated.</p>
<p>dartmouth doesn't have a politcal science major...but honestly with a 3.6+ coming from dartmouth and taking challenging courses u should be set. stop stressing!</p>
<p>I thought schools like Columbia and Dartmouth had really easy grading (the average is about a 3.5 or higher?). The last stats that I know of are on the gradeinflation site, but I would think of a 3.6 as being only slightly above average at a school like Dartmouth with grade inflation.</p>
<p>3.6 is definitely not easy at Dartmouth (I am a current '08)... For the most part, if you major in the social sciences you can get B+'s by working hard but not necessarily reading all the material or pulling all-nighters studying... In order to attain the A-'s and A's you have to really put effort into the course... the same for B's and below... you have to want to get them. For the Sciences this is less true with median grades sometimes being B-(2.66) and more often B's. </p>
<p>On another note, the average GPA is a hair under a B+ Average (~3.3) and Honors are as follows.
"A student with final average exactly matching or exceeding the final cumulative average of the lowest standing of the past three academic years top 5% of graduates will be awarded the degree summa cum laude.</p>
<p>A student with lower standing but with final average exactly matching or exceeding the final cumulative average of the lowest standing of the past three academic years top 15% of graduates will be awarded the degree magna cum laude.</p>
<p>A student with lower standing but with final average exactly matching or exceeding the final cumulative average of the lowest standing of the past three academic years top 35% of graduates will be awarded the degree cum laude.</p>
<p>The lowest averages for these three groups of graduates in the three academic years 2002-2003 through 2004-2005 were, in descending order, 3.85, 3.72, and 3.55. Accordingly, these values govern the awarding of the corresponding honors in 2005-2006. "</p>
<p>Thus 3.6 is well within the top 35% of graduates... </p>
<p>On another note, my personal goal is to graduate Magna Cum Laude (3.72) so I would like to repose the original question... With good EC's and a decent LSAT of around 170, what are a Dartmouth Grad's Chances at top 5... I assume top 15 are well within my reach, but what about the top echelon?</p>
<p>As always, it's completely useless to speculate about any of this without an LSAT score. All anybody can tell you is that your GPA will only really hurt you at HYS and Boalt, but that a sufficiently high LSAT score would still give you a shot at any of them.</p>
<p>top echelons are out of reach pretty much with a sub 3.8 or so.</p>
<p>also, generally being from a "top school" has little effect, as does "oh, grades are inflated". it's a numbers game, very unfortunately. you can see for yourself from the career services files. dartmouth grads don't do much better than the national average numbers would indicate. maybe a .1ish boost. and cmon, admit it. 3.28 average GPA is pretty darn high. that's a "hair under" 3.33, a B+. given that half the school thinks they're gonna be pre meds and take orgo before they realize that a C doesn't seem too rosy, and given that all students end up taking one or two big science classes with a median of B-.... (not to mention the engineering kids)... 3.6 is not an easy GPA, but it's hardly "difficult", when over 1/3 the kids are getting a 3..55</p>
<p>btw, writing has no score, is simply sent to LS as samples</p>
<p>tips would be:
- study for the LSATs. and i mean, prep that **** like you're prepping for IFCs by going to TriKap to figure out how to spin serve (although their glory days are over, i hear)
- take advantage of darmtouth's student-faculty relations. go to office hours, suck up, be nice, bake cookies. yeah, recs don't mean TOO much, but when you're looking to be top, you need all the help you can get
- manage your GPA - memorize the median GPA on the registrar site.</p>
<p>Well, it depends on what a "top Law school" is. A 170 plus is 98-99th percentile on the LSAT. This is not a "strong" score but an exceptional score. A 3.65 from a top university with grade inflation (e.g. average class GPA of 3.4 or higher) may be only top third. In order to be in the top 2 percent at a school you would likely need a 3.9 GPA. Will a top school take a student with a really high LSAT and "good" GPA? Maybe.</p>
<p>Index scores are easy to compute. The top law schools count an LSAT point as .1 on your gpa.</p>
<p>A 3.6 and 178 is equal to a 3.9 and a 175. </p>
<p>Look at the median score of those top schools to see if you're competitive and then go from there (keeping in mind soft factors can sometimes add a few points to your index).</p>