<p>So I am a rising sophomore at an HYP school who is starting to think about law school, and I am starting to FREAK OUT. I got a GPA of 3.33 first semester, which I think was decent considering that I was involved a difficult and selective "Great Books" type of program, but second semester I got involved in too many activities and didn't do too well in a foreign language class, landing me with 2.96 GPA for second semester and a 3.17 cumulative. I hope to bring my GPA up to at least a 3.5 by the end of junior year by picking less difficult courses that are within my prospective major(s), but I'm still nervous. I am pretty good with mindless standardizd texts so I am not terribly worried about the LSAT (I have been taking practice tests all summer ot of boredom :)), but I a woried about what a selective law school may think of my GPA. Will they concede a relatively low freshman GPA as long as I show an upward trend? And what LSAT score should I be aiming for to get into a selective school like the ones listed below?</p>
<p>Stats:
High School GPA: 4.14 at a top-ranked public high school
SAT: 2210
ACT: 34
College GPA (projected): 3.5
Ethnicity: Black
Activities: Business Manager of singing group, College Council Representative, Church Leader</p>
<p>Law Schools:
Columbia (Top Choice)
NYU (Top Choice)
UCLA
University of Southern Californa
Georgetown
Cornell</p>
<p>If you’re a black male with a 3.5, you essentially could get anything in the mid to upper 160s and have a good shot at any school other than YHS. If you’re a black female, upper 160s and lower 170s would give you a shot at everywhere except YHS.</p>
<p>Obviously it’s a good soft. Being a URM is the only thing giving him/her a shot at YHS with a 3.5 170. OP will need more softs than the color of his/her skin for Y and S, though.</p>
<p>Thanks to all who replied! I took a Practice LSAT and got a 170, albeit not under normal test conditions (due to scheduling obligations, I had to take it in 35 minute chunks over the course of the day). I think that with a litte practice, especially on the analytical reasoning section, I can get a solid footing in the lower to mid 170’s.</p>
<p>Another question–doest it matter at all where my projected 3.5 GPA is coming from? I feel like a 3.5 from Harvard, Yale, or Princeton should carry a bit more weight than said GPA from a lower ranked school. And contrary to what some people may believe, there is little to no grade inflation at my HYP school–at least, none that I have experienced.</p>
<p>“I feel like a 3.5 from Harvard, Yale, or Princeton should carry a bit more weight than said GPA from a lower ranked school.”</p>
<p>Why? Some schools might, but it’s definitely a “soft.” </p>
<p>“I am not terribly worried about the LSAT (I have been taking practice tests all summer ot of boredom”</p>
<p>“I took a Practice LSAT and got a 170, albeit not under normal test conditions (due to scheduling obligations, I had to take it in 35 minute chunks over the course of the day).”</p>
<p>The first quote sounds like you’ve been taking a bunch of practice tests. The second like you just took one and magically got a 170. Have you been taking a lot of them and 170 was your best one? </p>
<p>Anyway, if you really are scoring 170 without extensive prep, then you are in good shape.</p>
<p>As a person who just went through law school applications in the last cycle, you’re definitely in great shape for law school admissions… just to clear things up tho:</p>
<p>1) 3.5 from HYP will provide a boost in law school applications, but of unequal value. If you attend H, you’ll get a noticeable boost for your chances at HLS, while Y and P will basically count as strong softs.</p>
<p>2) However, as a Black male you are among the most sought after URMs for law school admissions. Coming from HYP with a 3.5, if you score a 170+ you are 95% guaranteed one of the top 3 law schools (HYS).</p>
<p>3) Even with a 3.3, 170+ you have very good chances… just make sure you get that high LSAT as that will be the main factor guaranteeing your admission to the top law schools. Either way, a 3.3 or 3.5 will still be below the 25th percentile GPA for the top law schools, which is what makes the LSAT so important… prepare well and get a high score (retake if you have to) and you’ll do fine.</p>
<p>For example, in this cycle two black males were admitted to HLS with:
~3.3 GPA, ~173 LSAT
~3.2 GPA, ~171 LSAT</p>
<p>Well, let’s put it this way: if you are a URM with a low GPA, it is more excusable for you to have that GPA as an HYP student rather than as a student at a less reputable institution.</p>
<p>(It’s, frankly, not excusable to have a low GPA in most contexts, but this is only my opinion.)</p>
<p>“Stats:
High School GPA: 4.14 at a top-ranked public high school
SAT: 2210
ACT: 34”</p>
<hr>
<p>All useless. The only thing that matters in law school admissions are your undergrad GPA and LSAT score. Nobody cares about your SAT score and HS GPA.</p>
<p>If you score at least a 150 you will get into a decent law school. You are a lock for most law schools. You have something few applicants have - melanin. </p>
<p>I am joking about the melanin but being an urm and having graduated from an ivy league school with a decent gpa (3.0+). By the way, you don’t need to go to HYS to have success as a lawyer. Unless you score in the 170 range you probably won’t get in there (but it is worth a shot) but you may get into Penn, Cornell, Vanderbilt, Duke, etc.</p>
<p>but Orly is actually wrong. With an appropriate LSAT score 3.3 can get you into a t14. And if you have work experience and a 172+ lsat Northwestern is almost a lock even with that gpa.</p>
<p>Exhibit A on why there should be no affirmative action:</p>
<p>“Not only are college numbers spun. Some are patently spurious, says Richard Sander, a law professor at UCLA. Law schools lure in minority students to improve diversity rankings without disclosing that less than half of African-Americans who enter these programs ever pass the bar.”</p>