<p>Currently, I am a junior at William & Mary, studying both economics and Hispanic studies. I was a transfer student to WM in spring of 2006 and I attended Amherst College from fall 2004 until fall 2005.</p>
<p>I am absolutely NOT the strongest candidate for admission to law school and so, I wanted to post here to see if others have had similar experiences to mine and if they got into their dream law schools or not. MY PROBLEM IS, my undergraduate GPA. I transferred from Amherst to WM with a 3.8, so that covered my freshman year and first semester of sophomore year. When I got to WM, my GPA went down to a 1.9 first semester because of my father´s death and having to leave and travel home (home is in NH) and basically, I could not concentrate very well because of all of the changes in my life. When I returned after a long summer to WM, my second semester GPA wasn´t that much better, at a 2.6. Currently, I am on study abroad for 5 months in Argentina to a) refresh myself and forget a little and b) to improve my Spanish. Currently, I am doing very well on my study abroad program and grades have improved significantly.</p>
<p>Anyway, so now my overall GPA, I am not sure how it would be calculated, but I am guessing it´s somewhere at a 3.0 ... maybe even less? I have not taken the LSAT yet, as I am worried if I will get in at all. I have plenty of great extra cirriculars from Amherst and a few from WM and also work experience. I also have 1 full year and a half left plus this semester´s grades to add on my undergraduate GPA (I am graduating a semester late because of my transferring).</p>
<pre><code>What do you think? Am I absolutely dead in the water, or do you think I have special circumstances? I am really, really lost ...
Thanks so much! Please be honest. Any tips would be very useful!
Btw, Law Schools I am looking at include,
- U Miami
- McGill University (Canada)
- University of Toronto (Canada)
- Boston University
- Wash U in St. Louis
- American University
- Columbia (Obviously, HUGE reach)
and I hope to study Immigration Law or Enviornmental Law
</code></pre>
<p>Of course I would anticipate getting a fantastic LSAT score, but that would depend on how much I study and how much effort I put forth, obviously... so who knows. </p>
<p>My SAT was the old SAT and it was a 1460, HS GPA 3.9 UW</p>
<p>I am not an expert on law school by no means, I am one of your peers here, but it would seem to be best take a year off and apply after you graduate college. That way, all your senior year grades will be factored in and hopefully boost you up. Study abroad grades tend to be really high also, so you might be able to finish with an okay gpa.</p>
<p>PS: If you weight all of your semesters equally you end up with a 3.18 GPA. (3.8*3 + 1.9 + 2.6) /5 </p>
<p>It might be different if you have varying amounts of credits per semester.</p>
<p>According to a VERY LOOSE predictor -- I've seen it vary quite substantially -- your LSAT score is predicted to be roughly in the range of 165-175. This is a very large range, obviously, but unlike the 170-180 range or the 140-150 range, those ten points could swing your odds very substantially.</p>
<p>I think William and Mary doesn't include study abroad grades on the transcript... are you sure that those grades will be counted? I mean I don't really know but I'm an incoming freshman at The College and I was looking around their study abroad site and for all the programs I looked at it said "these grades will not be shown on your transcript or factored into your GPA."</p>
<p>Assuming that he's using the LSDAS, it's not important whether William and Mary includes his study abroad grades. They say "it is your responsibility to have an official copy of your transcripts sent to LSAC directly from the registrar for every institution you have attended." So the original poster should send his transcript to the LSDAS, this GPA will be combined with his from William and Mary and Amherst to find his cumulative undergraduate GPA.</p>
<p>It can't possibly be that little. Statistics indicate that, certeris paribus, it's worth about nine to ten MCAT points (out of forty, so 25%) and about 360 SAT points (out of 1800, so 20%). It must be worth more than 5-10 LSAT points (out of sixty, that would be 8-16%).</p>
<p>I transferred out of Amherst because I really just wanted a change of scenery. I didn´t really ever fall in love with the Amherst area because it was too much like my hometown, and not far from it either. Amherst was a great college to attend I think if you aren´t from the area, because it can be really charming... but I just wanted something new, somewhere else, at some other institution. I don´t know, that and Amherst was really small for me. I went to a small HS and to go to a small college, really wasn´t the best college experience for me.</p>
<p>I am not an underrepresented minority. </p>
<p>Thanks for all your help by the way. I know it´s going to be really tough getting in, but I have had this goal since freshman year and I think my desire is strong enough to do all that I have to do to get my foot in the door.</p>
<p>And yes, by the way, I know that WM doesn´t factor in grades, however, commodore08 is correct, my grades from here will eventually count for SOMETHING. I am not sure about how much weight they will eventually have, but they will have to be presented.</p>
<p>"It can't possibly be that little. Statistics indicate that, certeris paribus, it's worth about nine to ten MCAT points (out of forty, so 25%) and about 360 SAT points (out of 1800, so 20%). It must be worth more than 5-10 LSAT points (out of sixty, that would be 8-16%)."</p>
<p>I don't understand your math. The SAT is either measured out of 1600 (just Math and Critical Reading sections) or out of 2400 (Math, Reading, and Writing sections), so I don't see how you got 1800. Also, the LSAT is out of 160, so I don't see how you got 60... are these just typos or are you doing something I don't see?</p>
<p>Turning in a blank MCAT, SAT, or LSAT does not yield 0 points. You would get three, 600, and 120 respectively. Since the national high scores on these exams are 43, 2400, and 180, that leaves you with 40, 1800, and 60 points.</p>