<p>Okay, is this plan okay at all? I am really interested in law, but I am so scared with the price of law school and the current economy that I would only really want to go into law if I went to a top law school, and I mean top. I have a gpa hovering around 3.75-3.8, but I think I'll be able to raise it more (it has increased significantly since my first semester). I'm only a rising sophomore, but I figure it's smart to start thinking about the path I'm looking for. I took one practice LSAT without knowing what was on it and got a 164, so I assume I'll be able to improve that pretty well too. I also have some Mexican blood in me. Is this a rational plan at all? Or am I just crazy?</p>
<p>do your best to get as high of a gpa and lsat as possible and then decide</p>
<p>Haha it’s funny how you just finished freshman year and already predicting your undergraduate GPA. I have thought along the same line with yours (but mine was a bit above 3.8). However, take some major classes without any (relatively easy A) general introductory classes and see how that goes. It’s VERY unlikely unless you are like gifted in your major only, that your gpa will go up.<br>
If you study hard for LSAT for at least a couple of months, you can probably pull it to upper 160s, but then seriously, finish at least sophomore year before predicting what your LSDAS gpa would be like.</p>
<p>I disagree that your gpa won’t likely go up with time.</p>
<p>Many upper level and 400 level classes where you only have 6-8 people in them have professors that give out A+'s like candy. You just have to find them.</p>
<p>Half of your gpa is the work you do in class, the other half is choosing the “right” classes.</p>
<p>His gpa may go up and it may go down. Personally, all my upper level classes are harder on grading than my lower level ones were.</p>
<p>The “right” classes and professors.Ask around about the so called “easy graders” If you are certain on law school it is better to get an A(+) and learn nothing from some slow professor than face the most rigorous one and get a B+</p>
<p>peter_parker// Yea well I guess our colleges are different then. For our 400 level classes, we take them concurrent with MBA 1st year students (undergrad business top 10, grad business top 30) and considering active participation is 20% of the class, it gets harder as time goes by.
but all in all, it’s just premature to guess your gpa based on 1/4 of the data. that’s a representative fallacy right there. your introductory classes whether they be harder or easier do not represent the upper level classes you are going to take.</p>
<p>You do not have the numbers for it. You’re not going to go from a 164 to a 175, or a 3.7 to a 3.95.</p>
<p>The top 14 Law schools are all excellent. If you can maintain your 3.8 GPA and get a 170 on your LSAT, top (and I too mean TOP) law schools such as Chicago, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Michigan, Northwestern, Penn, UVa all become realistic options. To have a realistic shot at Harvard and Yale, you will probably require a 3.9 GPA and a 173+ on the LSAT.</p>
<p>Andrewsky, you obviously have zero experience with the LSAT and admissions process. So don’t post. Cornell person, just keep doing as best you can in classes, a 3.8 gpa is above median for every law school outside of HYS. Also, a ten point LSAT increase from the cold diagnostic to your actual is very common if you study hard. Now it’s harder the higher the score, but there is absolutely no reason you shouldn’t hit 170. And you can definitely hit 172 with hard studying. A 172 - 3.78 will likely get you into all of CCN. So you can do it, just keep working hard.</p>
<p>Well, I mean I literally took the test not even knowing what type of questions would be asked (I seriously thought it would be like dissecting law cases and guilty/innocent stuff haha), but I’ll take another test so I have a better idea now. My SATs jumped by over 300 points since the first time I took them (I wasn’t allowed to use prep either). But I wasn’t asking the question really to see if I would get into those schools, but if my logic makes any sense at all. Thanks for the responses so far!</p>
<p>I certainly wouldn’t say “or bust”… you should target the market you want to work in and go to a tier 1 there. You should really focus on your undergrad though, your mind might change… I am older, but even if I could get into some of the higher end colleges I wouldn’t as they don’t place me in the markets I want and would require moves across the country to areas I wouldn’t want to live in (two body problem).</p>
<p>Ask yourself if you want to be a lawyer, not just this idea of being a lawyer or prestige people often have. Do you love the law and want to practice law?</p>
<p>Sorry to bump such an old thread, but I am interested on more feedback on the topic.</p>
<p>Also, what does CCN stand for?</p>
<p>And since it was mentioned in the thread, how much can you realistically improve your LSAT score?</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, my first LSAT was around a 163. After 9 months of prep, I now score in the high 170s on Preptests.</p>
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<p>Chicago, Columbia, NYU</p>
<p>10+ point jump from diagnostic is very common. My diagnostic was in the low 160’s. I got 175+ on my first real LSAT observation after 9 months of studying while attending college and working (only 1 month of hardcore studying between the summer internship and the start of the fall term).</p>