Getting into HLS

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Hi, </p>

<p>So I'm an undergrad at University of Florida (go gators!), and I'm majoring in Finance under the business college (ranked top 15 in the country) and it is getting very difficult. I'm minoring in Arabic language and history and Mass Communications. I have a 3.74 GPA right now. I'm only a sophomore so haven't taken LSAT yet. </p>

<p>Freshman year was a huge adjustment, my parents fought me coming to UF until the week before I left. I'm a Muslim female (so you see why). The adjustment and family issues affected by grades so I came out of Freshman year w/ about a 3.66 but I've gotten it up since then. </p>

<p>My ECs:
Swing Club: I DJ and Teach lessons
VHPS: Law society, on the board of PR
FAB: An alternative breaks program, I am a Site Leader of a trip of 14, leading a service project about financial education over Spring Break.
WOTW: writing on the wall, a program that is about 3-5 hours a week of work. Major event in January where we put up a wall of bricks for a week and have events surrounding it about eliminating discrimination and racism, each brick has something of the sort on it
Blue Key: I've worked in leading positions on a few of the major events, hoping to be inducted my senior year as a member.
Cicerones: only 65 of a 1000 people selected each year, educate incoming students about campus, lead tours, etc.
Improv Group: Do improv skits in dorms etc, more experienced members have gone to national competitions and won this year in NYC.
*Thinking about Speech and Debate club???
*Will be participating in an Business Case Competition class that only 35 a year are allowed into (this is next year) </p>

<p>Questions:
1-Will the fact that I'm at a business college known to be difficult, and so highly ranked, affect the way my GPA is viewed? Or will not even be of consequence? </p>

<p>2-I want to study abroad but I don't know if I should do it senior or junior year, will it matter or could I tell the Law school I'm planning to study abroad? </p>

<p>3-Will 2 C+s on my record be a problem? One was in Accounting (omg...) and the other was in a course that was for my critical tracking? </p>

<p>4-Does being at the bottom of the GPAs accepted to HLS make a difference? Do they consider the top 75th percentile so much better than the 25th percentile? Or will a high LSAT balance out my GPA if I maintain till graduation? </p>

<p>Thanks! Any feedback is much appreciated!</p>

2

<p>There’s a law school admissions board for these questions. Your GPA is extremely important, no matter what your LSAT score may be.</p>

3

<p>You are competing against the very top schools in the world. Don’t expect UF to impress Harvard.</p>

4

<p>Law schools don’t pay attention to one’s alma mater.</p>

<p>For HLS, one can compensate for a low GPA by having a proportionately high LSAT score.</p>

5

<p>

</p>

<p>That gets repeated a lot, and there’s some truth to it, but only some. A glance at the distribution of undergraduate degrees at Harvard, Yale, Stanford and other top law schools should suffice to convince anyone that, yes, undergraduate provenance does matter to some extent.</p>

<p>It’s also only somewhat true that LSAT scores can compensate for a low GPA. Down to a point, sure, but that point is probably still pretty high. (The OP’s GPA is probably high enough if she had great LSATs – and she has another couple years to work on it, too.) GPA can also compensate for LSATs, but only to a point there, too.</p>

<p>That’s where I think people going to a well-regarded undergraduate school have an advantage. Someone with great grades from Yale and a 168 LSAT will probably be able to get into a top law school, or someone with good grades from Yale and a 176 LSAT. Coming out of Florida, one would need great or near-great grades AND a great LSAT.</p>

6

<p>Thanks everyone for replying. Maybe I have set my standards too high when considering a Law school. But my heart honestly is set on NYU. I just keep thinking that if I rank even amongst the lowest rankings admitted in the past to HLS than I have a better chance at getting into schools below it.</p>

7

<p>I don’t think ECs really even matter when applying to grad school, do they? Someone correct me if I’m wrong</p>

8

<p>You’re right. Most grad schools, including med and law schools, don’t care about what you do in your free time. They want to know your numbers and your rec letters, mainly.</p>