<p>I'm 22 years old, have 72 undergraduate credits, and am transfering to the University of Florida in two weeks. I come from Miami Dade Community College, where I achieved excellent grades in pre-professional courses but performed below par on Gen. Eds., leaving me with a 3.0 GPA upon graduation. I also attended American University during the Spring of 2006, where I left with a 3.3 GPA. </p>
<p>I'm a realist, and know that lackluster record will come back to haunt me when applying to law school; however, now that I will be almost exclusively taking pre-professional courses, I am confident I can achieve a perfect record (straight As). I also intend to prolong my tenure at the University of Florida by adding a major as an undergraduate student and obtaining a Masters. I figure this will provide me with a great opportunity to reconstruct an impressive, cohesive academic record that'll improve my chances. </p>
<p>With little effort, I have brought up my average practice LSAT score from 152 to 162 and do not intend on taking the exam until I'm averaging in the 170s. </p>
<p>With a committed record of extracurricular involvement to boot, my question to you all is, do I have a realistic chance of being admitted into Harvard Law School if I proceed as described? </p>
In your hypothetical scenario, you're talking about a 3.6, 175? This is borderline Harvard material.</p>
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<p>Five things I think I think:
1.) The Master's will not matter, but prolonging your undergrad will.
2.) You're going into a new school and apparently a new major. It is ridiculous to suggest that you have any idea what your academic record will be.
3.) It is absurd to aim for one specific school.
4.) It is very rare to improve one's LSAT by 23 points. It depends on where you're missing your specific questions, but 23 points is a rather shocking increase. Ten points with minimal prep is quite normal; every point is much harder from here on out. Your SAT score may be somewhat useful here to provide a (very) loose projection. (I assume you're timing your practices.)
5.) What exactly do you mean by pre-professional?</p>
<p>A Master's degree isn't going to count toward your gpa when you apply to law school, though obviously they'll see it.</p>
<p>But really, even if you pulled a 4.0 from here on out you would only get yourself into the 3.5's, which is very low for Harvard even if your an URM.</p>
<p>But, with hard work you could make yourself eligible for the bottom part of the t14.</p>
<p>According to that estimate, I should be getting a 162. plus or minus 5. Worst case, I need more practice, and best case, I'm in range for top10. And I'm a freshman.</p>
<p>I've always figured that studying was what would move you around within your basic ten point range. If you study harder for the LSATs than the SATs, you'll be in the upper half. And vice versa for the lower range.</p>
<p>Wow, I did that calculation on my SAT scores and it came up with what I think my LSAT score was - these were SAT scores from the early '70s and an LSAT score from 1980.</p>
<p>My hunch is you won't get it, considering more than half of your undergrad has been in the low 3.0-3.3 range. You will need straight A's in all your upper level classes at a good university to even get a 3.5 or 3.6, the minimum threshold for Harvard. Not saying it's impossible, but really really difficult. If you're scoring in the 160's now you may have a shot at getting to 170, but keep in mind the leap from 152 to 162 is MUCH easier than 162 to 170. If everything really goes in your favor (say, 3.6 and 168) then you still have a shot at lower top 14 schools like Georgetown, Mich, Cornell, etc.</p>
<p>I found the advice on foregoing a Masters in favor of a prolonged undergraduate study particularly useful.</p>
<p>As far as my LSAT studies are concerned, I've read a considerable number of accounts in which scores climbed by as much as 25 points. It is possible. My 10 point jump involved little practice. If I intensify my efforts I'll reach the score I need.</p>
<p>In the end the GPA issue will probably screw me; however, I will not be detered from trying.</p>
<p>I forgot to mention something. Sounding like a tool does not impress law school adcoms or members of this board.</p>
<p>"prolong my tenure" at U of F, "Thank you all for your candor."...who says that? This isn't a job interview. It's phony and weird to talk like that in real life or on an online discussion forum. Especially after prefacing your post with "I'll spin it quick for you."</p>
<p>I think your expectations are too high. Don't guarantee yourself that you will get straight A's. Don't guarantee that you will get a 170 minimum LSAT score. Definitely give it a shot so you won't regret it later, but don't be too bummed out when things don't turn out the way you wanted them to. I worked my ass off last semester, having the same mentality as you do right now, and ended up disappointed (although I probably did do better than previous semesters). Just warning you. Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks. I totally understand where you're coming from. My mentality is if I proceed as if Harvard is my goal, I'm bound to get in some where great whether I miss or not.</p>