Is a 3.5 GPA and 174 lsat good score to apply to T14 law schools. If applied in the senior year how would the last semester marks be considered
Most law schools have a “class profile” on their website, such as this
https://hls.harvard.edu/dept/jdadmissions/apply-to-harvard-law-school/hls-profile-and-facts/
Take a look at the class profile for each school to which you want to apply, and you’ll get an idea of your chances of gaining admission. For HLS, in addition to GPA/LSAT, take note of the other areas they highlight, in terms of these being additional factors in the admissions process(e.g. both gender and years out of college are noted).
That 3.5 GPA is going to be an issue for T14. Northwestern and UVA have reputations for being splitter friendly. Maybe try G-Town as well. Admission results go out before final semester grades are in, so they won’t be considered. Also, many T 14 school are now looking favorably upon a year or two of work before law school. That may be preferable to the K through JD route and could help with the GPA assuming final semester grades are good.
A 3.5 will exclude you from HYS, and most likely Chicago and Boalt, but the others will consider that 174. Columbia and NYU love high test scores, but prepared to pay sticker. You should get some nibbles from other in the T14. Apply broadly and early in the cycle.
As spring grades will be too late for consideration, consider taking a gap year to get some work experience – any will do – and that way your spring grades will help boost the GPA.
US News rankings show the 25/50/75% median for gpas and test scores so you can browse that information there. Other helpful online resources include Above the Law, Tipping the Scales, and the subreddit on Law school applications. A 3.5 and 174 is called a “splitter” – gpa is at or below bottom 25% and LSAT is at or above 75%. Admissions for “splitters” is unpredictable among T14 schools, though Yale, Stanford and Chicago are considered most unfriendly to splitters whereas UVA, Michigan and Northwestern are considered more “splitter friendly” in the T14. Common advice for a splitter is to apply broadly and early (by November).
My Daughter just finished applying to most of the T14. As a self-admitted helicopter parent I researched the most common websites and followed along as she went through the ups and downs of a law school admissions cycle. The best website to determine what your chances are would be Law School Numbers as you can click on applicants with your exact numbers and see how they fared. As you already know a 174 is a truly exceptional LSAT score above Harvard’s median I think. Your 3.5 GPA is however a pretty big liability regardless of where you went to undergrad or what your major was. Harvard, Yale, and Stanford are probably not likely to admit you unless you are an URM with some very strong soft factors. My daughter had a 3.88 GPA from Notre Dame and a 172 LSAT score. She was accepted by six T14 schools, wait listed by two and rejected by two.
http://schools.lawschoolnumbers.com/ may help you.
With an LSAT score of 174 Ans an undergraduate GPA of 3.5, you should be accepted to several T-14 law schools outside of the top 3 (Yale, Harvard & Stanford).
Although lawschoolnumbers.com can be helpful, it is just self reported information from a small group of applicants. There is no check on the accuracy or legitimacy of the self reported numbers.
P.S. If your son’s undergraduate degree is in biomedical engineering from CWRU, then the 3.5 GPA may not be a significant hindrance to T-14 law schools.