Plain and simple - what are my chances?

Graduate School Law School
1

<p>Hey everybody!</p>

<p>I'm a junior in college and I want to go to law school at one of the top universities (Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc.) Basically, anyone who has personal experience with the top law programs in the nation or advice, please help me out! I've included all information that may be of use. I just want to know if I am a real viable candidate, and if so, if there is anything else I can do to tip the scale in my favor in the eyes of the admissions counselors! Any and all advice/personal experiences/helpful sites would be greatly appreciated! </p>

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<p>Plus I should add I'd like to work for a year before I attend law school, not that I think that it would significantly increase my chances of being accepted, but simply because I want a year that is a change of pace from what I've done all my life. </p>

<p>Oh, and one last question, I'm almost positive I'd like to use my experiences in France as the crux of my personal statement/essay. Any tips from others who have done the same thing (used study abroad in their essay)??</p>

<p>I think that's it. </p>

<p>Thanks again for any and all input and help! I really appreciate it!</p>

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<p>Really depends on your LSAT score. You’d need to get at least a 173 to have a chance at HYS, and even then the chance wouldn’t be too strong. The chances get significantly higher as you go above the 173 threshold, however.</p>

<p>170-172 gives you a great shot at Columbia, NYU and Chicago.</p>

<p>169 makes you iffy for NYU and Chicago, but good for the lower T14</p>

<p>168 makes you good for the lower T14.</p>

<p>167 makes you iffy for the T14</p>

<p>166 really iffy for the T14, but will probably get Cornell at the very least.</p>

<p>165 and below: Out at the T14.</p>

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<p>thanks flowerhead, just a few questions. </p>

<p>where are you finding this info?? anything i can tap into? and is it my GPA that is the main issue, because i still have senior year to raise my GPA, but for the sake of the post i just used my current GPA. i doubt my senior year grades will dramatically raise my overall GPA, maybe to a 3.85? will that have any significant impact? i know with harvard they are really score-oriented, but i guess you are right. i’ve got a decent GPA with good ECs etc, so then it all comes down to the LSAT (and, of course, finishing well senior year). do you recommend a LSAT prep course? or simply buying a book or two and treating it like a class, studying 1-3 hours a day for 6 months or so (these are just ideas/suggestions i’ve heard of, would you agree/disagree, or do you know anything better?)</p>

<p>any additional advice?</p>

<p>thanks!!!</p>

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<p>oh and two more questions:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>my posted gpa is my “university gpa.” apparently the LSAC uses a different system to calculate GPA. how do i figure that out, and will that help me or hurt me?</p></li>
<li><p>i took a number of AP courses in high school, and received college credit for them. are the AP scores for which i received college credit taken into account at all? and if so, how can i factor them into the LSAC calculated GPA?</p></li>
</ul>

<p>thanks again</p>

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<p>northsea77, I would suggest to google law school rankings to find such info, that’s where you’ll see average accepted GPAs and LSAT scores etc. It’ll give you a good idea on what your chances are.</p>

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<p>[Law</a> School Predictor](<a href=“http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com/]Law”>http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com/)</p>

<p>Use the GPA calculator and the predictor to assess your chances.</p>

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<p>1.) Any <em>grade</em> which appears anywhere on a <em>college</em> transcript matters. If your AP credit was assigned a grade (probably not the case), then it’ll count.</p>

<p>2.) LSAC weights things slightly differently than a lot of undergrads do. A (+) is worth 0.33. Most schools give it 0.3 or (in the case of an A+) no weight at all.</p>

<p>3.) In your hypothetical, HYS are probably out both because your GPA and your proposed LSAT scores are a little low. You should be thinking 3.85, 175, numbers-wise. For Stanford and Yale, your ECs are also somewhat on the short side.</p>

<p>4.) lawschoolnumbers.com can be relatively useful.</p>

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<p>By the way, I put my LSAT and GPA into the calculator and it said I was a “deny” at my law school. Have things gotten a lot more competitive everywhere over the last 10 or 15 years? If so, by how much? I’m mainly just curious.</p>

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<p>Maybe you were an outlier. It happens occasionally. And yeah, things are a lot more competitive now.</p>