<p>Hi, I am current a rising sophmore at Penn State, and am on the path to a BS in economics, along with probably a BA in Poly Sci or Philosophy or something. I am planning on going to law school, and hopefully a good one. If I get a gpa of 3.8ish, what kind of LSATs do I need to get into a T14 school. What are some ways I can improve my chances, besides bringing up my LSATs and gpa?</p>
<p>For T14: 3.5/170. Assuming you maintain your 3.8, look for at least a 167 to have an honest shot at the T14. My advice to you is to maintain your GPA and increase your familiarity with the LSAT (learn the types of questions by taking old tests, sign up for a class, study the LSAT, etc.). The LSAT is very learnable.</p>
<p>Aside from the GPA/LSAT combo, work experience is moderately important (at schools like Northwestern), ECs can be important (if you've done something genuinely impressive), and LORs could be some difference maker at a finally checkpoint (start rubbing elbows with profs).</p>
<p>I'd be surprised if you couldn't get into at least one T14 with a 167 or better. But that doesn't really matter now. It's not like you're going to deliberately get questions wrong just because you don't need a 180. Do as well as you can, tell us your score, then we'll be able to give you some ideas about your chances.</p>
<p>you've finished one year of college and you are projecting a 3.8 gpa?
at this point anything is really pretty speculative until you have a better idea of what your gpa actually will be and your lsat.<br>
just do your best to work hard, keep the gpa up, prepare for the lsat and do the best you can.</p>
<p>Remember that T14 is a fairly diverse category, despite being as small as it is. If you're coming straight out of undergrad, then a 3.8/175 won't necessarily get you into Northwestern, especially not without an exceptional interview...it's more than a numbers game. And depending on the so-called "soft" factors in your application, a 3.8/165 could get you into Berkeley, while a 3.8/175 might not. A 3.8/175 certainly won't keep you out of Harvard or Yale, but it alone won't necessarily get you in, either. </p>
<p>I think that sometimes, the fact that numbers do matter SO strongly in law school admissions (I'm certainly not denying that) allows people to forget that there is STILL more to the process than scores alone, and especially at the top-most schools. The same old generalities apply to you as to everyone else: keep your GPA up, score as well as you're able on the LSAT (hey, shoot for 180...like a previous poster said, it's not as if you're going to hit a "this is good enough" score and stop trying), apply as early as you can, get good recs, write strong essays, and try to do some worthwhile things in your free time (emphasis on the first three of these...and also the last one because it's just kind of a good rule of thumb, law school aside). </p>
<p>If all you want is to get into ONE of the T14 and you don't care which one, then I'd say estimates in this post are actually a bit high, provided that the rest of your application has no major weaknesses. But this is still a broad category. If you have any sort of school preferences at all (which I hope you will...for one thing, bear in mind that applying to the entire "T14" + a few outside of it could easily run you towards $1000 in application fees), then I suggest you just find the GPA/LSAT averages for the schools that interest you...the information isn't difficult to locate. Assume that you should hit the LSAT mid-50 range regardless of how above-average your GPA might be. You can also play around at lawschoolnumbers.com. </p>
<p>And finally, as others have suggested: don't worry about this yet. Your post kind of gives the message that you view college primarily as a means to get you to a good law school, which seems like a sad way to go through four years. Just do as well as you can and you'll be fine.</p>