<p>I've read over and over that law school admission begins and ends with the LSAT...but my situation may bring that into question and I'm curious about what you guys think.</p>
<p>I'm a rising senior studying mechanical engineering at cornell with a 2.9gpa, I'm taking the lsat tomorrow and my practice tests have been in the low 170s. I am a varsity athlete and have a leadership role in a campus job. </p>
<p>Do I have a shot at a top school?</p>
<p>T14, probably not.</p>
<p>I don't know what the rest of your circumstances are, but if you ace the LSAT, you, like anyone else, have a shot at a top law school. That said, a 2.9 GPA is probably going to be a huge hurdle for you to overcome in the admissions process, regardless of what you get on the LSAT.</p>
<p>Does it matter that the courses in Cornell's College of Engineering are all curved to either C+ or B-? My gpa is actually above average for my major.</p>
<p>I think that admissions officers are aware that engineering majors at Cornell take difficult courses and face grade deflation, but there are also plenty of people in engineering with slightly higher grades than yours. I think that you certainly have a shot at it, depending on your LSAT scores, in particular, as well as your personal statement, recommendations and other factors, like ECs and awards, but you may have a bit of an uphill climb.</p>
<p>If you can pull a 173, LSAC gives you ~25% odds at some T14's and ~50% odds at T25's, and the calculator doesn't know you went to Cornell (which I suspect is at least as important as your major). I'd suggest applying to a LOT of schools, possibly the whole T25, and I wouldn't be surprised if you got into Northwestern or Georgetown with that kind of LSAT.</p>
<p>Yes, from what I have seen, Georgetown is very generous to students with low GPAs and very high LSAT scores.</p>