I am currently a freshman about to finish at Case Western Reserve University. It seems as if I will be getting a 2.78 GPA. I believe my reasoning for this is that I took many gen ends, causing limited motivation for the classes I hated going to and overall little to no success. In terms of classes within my major (Finance) I received nothing lower than a B. My question is if law school is still a possibility out of undergrad? If so, what would be a desired GPA. Also, will the fact that I go to a good, reputable school with vigorous academia help with admission? I don’t expect to go to a top-ten law school but what are my odds of being admitted to a second or third tier law school if I were to raise my GPA to say a 3.0 and did average to above-average on the LSAT?
The good news and bad news is that there is unfortunately law schools for almost every level of academic achievement, or lack thereof. The schools that occupy the bottom quarter of ABA approved law schools all have some form of problem in both job placement as well as bar passage.
There is some applied research to make correlations between low lsat scores and the ability to eventually pass the bar. By way of example and paraphrasing, LSAT scores of entering students correlate fairly strongly with the probability that those students will eventually pass a state bar examination, which is of course a prerequisite for actually becoming a lawyer. Please note, that according to statistics from the Law School Admission Council—the organization that administers the LSAT—scores higher than those in the 60th percentile correlate with a low risk of failing to eventually pass a bar exam. Scores ranking from the 60th to the 40th percentile, by contrast, correlate with a moderate but rapidly increasing risk of failure. Scores below the 40th percentile correlate with a high risk of failure, and scores below the 25th percentile correlate with an extreme risk of failure, to the point where it is quite unlikely that someone with an LSAT score below 145 will ever pass a bar exam.
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/08/the-law-school-scam/375069/
Long story short, yes, there is probably a law school out there for you, will it be top notch or even in the top 50–probably not. And that is where you need to make an appropriate evaluation of the cost-benefit, specifically related to the reputation of the school, its specific academic mission and community, and your ability to obtain worthwhile employment opportunities post-graduation. Good luck…
Yes, but not a good one.
Law school is NOT like med school. It matters where you study… a lot.
The real question is can you get into a school that’s worth attending?
@boolahl I appreciate your insight on the LSAT part, it opened a new perspective to me. I guess my only question I really want an answer to is if going to a reputable undergrad holds much weight in admission to law school. I understand my GPA needs improvement. But is the fact that I got to a top 40 ranked undergraduate university help explain my GPA compared to an individual going to a subpar state school with a higher GPA, but equal LSAT score.
I’ve been on two different admission committees for law school in my life, and it will give you a bit of a push, but nothing too over the top–especially applied to say law schools in the top 30 or so. My suggestion, is to enjoy your time in school, do the best you can, and reevaluate in a couple of years. You still have a good 6-7 semesters to get some solid grades…
hey! i am also wondering the same thing in regards to getting into a good law school. i just graduated from high school and am going to an ivy next year. i’m a little nervous about making my fall schedule and i have a lot of class options that allow either pass/fail or graded. my uncle graduated from harvard law and he also said that law school admissions is really a numbers game. if so, should i just take more pass/fail classes if i’m not confident in whether or not i’d pull off that A? or will law schools care about transcripts, and whether or not i took easy classes?