<p>I was just wondering does anyone know where a low GPA and a high LSAT would get you in. The GPA is around a 3.4, and the LSAT score is above 170 with a possibility of going over 175. Is it at all possible to get admitted into a top school? What about after taking a year off and working?</p>
<p>P.S. The GPA is not from a hard major but still from an Ivy undergrad.</p>
<p>Quick hits:
--One year off is probably not going to put the GPA very far behind you.
--3.4 isn't that low.
--A "possible" LSAT score doesn't really mean much.
--Depends what you mean by top school.
--Ivy status does help if you can get the LSAT high.</p>
<p>It's possible to be admitted to a T-14 with a "low" GPA and 170+ LSAT, especially Georgetown. </p>
<p>One year off means relatively little in terms of distancing yourself from your GPA. (Taking 3+ or 5+ years distances yourself from UG GPA.)</p>
<p>Ivy status is a soft factor; however it is a relatively small one relative to your numbers.</p>
<p>I sure hope to God it is in fact possible to distance one's self from their GPA. 6-7 years ago I went to college straight out of h.s. and scewed things up pretty bad...finally bombing out w/ a number of F's on my transcript. I went back 2 years ago and now have close to a 3.8, but unfortunately even if I continue w/ close to a 4.0, my LSAC GPA will still be only a 3.2-3.3 max.</p>
<p>So hypothetically, let's say I get a 170 on the LSAT. (I know hypothetical LSAT scores are stupid, but just for argument's sake.) Would my LSAC GPA of 3.2 be looked on any more favorably considering that if not for my earlier transcript it would be more like a 3.8? I'm thinking my chances at the T14 are just about limited to Cornell and Georgetown. I'm a legacy at Virginia Law though, and would really like to go... Any thoughts?</p>
<p>^ You'd be amazed at what a high LSAT and some work experience can do for you. (3+ or 5+ years out, 1 or 2 mean relatively little). </p>
<p>I'd say if you get over a 170 on the LSAT and work experience you'd have a shot at Northwestern as well. You can even write your personal statement about your maturity and how you've fared since returning to undergrad. </p>
<p>While for admissions purposes the GPA is cumulative, I think that you can integrate your maturity into your personal statement while explaining the discrepancy between your pre-flunk out GPA and your recent GPA. </p>
<p>This way you can hit two birds with one stone: include an addendum for your earlier GPA while writing a good PS.</p>
<p>WOuld a low 3.5 GPA and HIgh LSAT get into Berkeley Environmental Law. I am a currently a 2nd year for Undergrad, and I was just wondering would one need to get into Berkeley Law?</p>
<p>To be honest a 3.5 is too low for Boalt. You need at least a 3.8+ to be competitive for Boalt. It is the exception out of the T-14. It seems to put greater weight on GPA (and relatively less weight on the LSAT) than the other top schools.</p>
<p>However a high LSAT would pretty much guarantee the lower T-14s.</p>
<p>Here's a link:
Top</a> 2008 Law School Rankings</p>
<p>Boalt's 25-75 percentile LSATs are much lower (well its 25 percentile is much lower) than the other T-14's 25-75 but its GPA is also higher.</p>
<p>Boalt is not a good choice for high LSAT/low GPA splitters, but good for vice versa. </p>
<p>It's odd though considering the LSAT is a better predictor of 1L success than UGPA is...</p>
<p>The conventional wisdom -- which may be flatly incorrect, but it's what is usually said -- is that Boalt does this in response to the ban on affirmative action, since a GPA-dominated process produces less underrepresentation of some minorities than an LSAT-dominated process.</p>
<p>Yes, I have heard that before! Besides emphasizing GPA, there are rumors of it getting around Proposition 209 through personal statements.</p>