<p>I'm a sophomore at the University of Maryland. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do at the beginning of my college journey so I started out pursuing an engineering degree (my dad is an engineer and pressured me into that career path), however, it wasn't long before I knew that engineering wasn't for me. Sadly, my GPA dropped from a 3.7 to a 2.9 by the end of my freshman year. I quickly changed my major to a government and politics & criminology and criminal justice double major. The good news is that I've found something I really enjoy doing and I can't wait to apply to law school. The bad news is that my GPA is slowly recovering and I don't know if I'll be able to get it up high enough to apply to Harvard. </p>
<p>*My GPA is currently a 3.1 (3.3 after this semester), and if I continue to get straight A's I can get it up to a 3.55 by the time I start applying to law schools (nothing is guaranteed though)
*I've already taking the lsat (I know I took them much earlier than most people and my advisor strongly encouraged me not to but I was really determined to turn my academics around and spent my entire summer studying and taking practice exams) and I got a 179, so I'm happy I did</p>
<p>In summary, there is basically no job market for lawyers and Harvard is my dream so if I dont get in there or at least somewhere in the top 5 I don't even know if its worth it to go to law school</p>
<p>Do I have a shot? Any suggestions? Maybe wait a year and apply after my final grades come in from senior year, or do some volunteering abroad etc.?</p>
<p>If you’re making a 179 on the LSAT and can continue to improve your GPA, I think you definitely have a shot! Your GPA will be a lot more meaningful based on a marked improvement–and you can do it.</p>
<p>I was in your position, too. After my freshman year, I had a 2.9. Sophomore year, I made mostly A’s and brought it up to a 3.3. Junior year, I made all A’s and got it up to almost a 3.6. I finished just shy of that 3.6. You really can make DRAMATIC improvements to your GPA if you focus on getting A’s from here on out in all (or almost all) of your classes.</p>
<p>But you make a good point, as well–it’s not all quantitative factors, even while those are the most decisive factors. Internships, study abroad, community and public service – these can all strengthen your r</p>
<p>take a gap year, so you can count senior grades into that GPA. A 3.6+ high LSAT would give you a low shot.</p>
<p>have you consulted other law school websites? there’s a ton out there. lawschoolnumbers.com, top law schools, and even the subreddit has some valuable info (r/lawschool). you have a fantastic lsat score (actually, AMAZING score)–why not apply to other T-8 schools? don’t get so caught up with one school in particular. look around and see where you can get some scholly from. good luck.</p>
<p>Just look at past cycles. For Harvard pretty much everyone with a 3.6 and below and non-URM has been rejected. HYS all have high GPA floors, so even with a 3.55 I doubt you’d get into any of them. Your best hope here would be NYU and Columbia with the top 5.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your insight and suggestions. It’s all very helpful!</p>
<p>What if I retook some classes over the summer? Is it worth it? I failed chemistry for engineers and got a C in a psych class second semester freshman year. I was in a bad place and was going through some family issues at the time (I know that sounds like what everyone says to explain bad grades, but it is true). Anyways, I was just overall very unhappy and hated my major (engineering). At my school you can retake your classes for a full grade replacement (the bad grades still stay on your transcript but are not factored into your GPA), but that’s only if you do so before you hit 60 credits. At the time I was trying to get back on track and focus on my new double major so I decided that I wasn’t going to retake the classes, but this was before I decided I wanted to go to law school. Now I’m past the 60 credit mark, but I can still retake the two classes and my old grades and the new ones I receive will be averaged together in my GPA. I would have to take them over the summer seeing as though I would want to dedicate a lot of focus to them and also because they wouldn’t fit into my class schedule before graduation. Its pretty expensive so i’d be shelling out an extra 6 grand and assuming I get As in both classes and straight As through junior year, that could get me to a 3.7…is it worth it? Thoughts?</p>