Comments on: The Law School Admissions Process

By: Harrison

Harrison — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:08:58 +0000

Just make through to the admission process and then see what wonderful world the legal world is!

By: lawschool_1

lawschool_1 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:59:29 +0000

Above poster is 100% correct. Some schools look only at last 2 years or last 20 credits. Other schools look at all 4 years. Some schools look at all 4 years but drop your lowest 5 classes.

Presumably, you could also correlate that the top tiered schools are more selective and look at more criteria and have stricter GPA requirements.

By: Ryan K

Ryan K — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:31:43 +0000

By: Caltexian

Caltexian — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 20:04:41 +0000

http://www.prelawhandbook.com/lsat__importance_of_score

http://www.powerscore.com/lsat/help/salary.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_School_Admission_Test

http://www.legalwritingprep.com/Articles/LSATScoresImportance.htm

By: Personal Improvements

Personal Improvements — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:45:53 +0000

Thanks for doing this. Very informative.

By: ahardinjr

ahardinjr — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:41:57 +0000

Your undergrad GPA is one of the cornerstones in the selection process, which is decent, not great. The work experience is a plus, shows maturity and goal orientation. A 160 LSAT score will get you into a decent law school as long as you write a good essay. Top ranked schools require higher scores, but you should already know this if you are using US News.
Some friendly advice, write your essay about how you wish to specialize in "intellectual property rights and environmental law".

By: mu

mu — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:28:02 +0000

My personal experience attests to the fact that the other responses are correct – grades do matter less when you have been out a while. I got into a very competitive law school with a significantly lower GPA than my peers, and I had been out six years.

They will still absolutely look at your LSAT – it will be a better indicator of your intellectual abilities. Your grad GPA is also an indicator of your work ethic, but will probably be considered as a 'soft factor' along with your work experience, essays and recommendations. Strict calculations are made from undergrad GPA and LSAT, (an index) with the latter receiving higher weight. What this means for you is if you are on the border numerically, you have a better chance of admission than others with the same index.

I have heard very little that would indicate that the time gap will hurt you. There are only a few of us here pushing 30, but that is less an indication of who they accept and more an indication of who applies. Northwestern in particular aims to recruit applicants with work experience. Part time programs tend to have more students our age, but if you can get into a higher-ranked full time program they will enhance your career options.

It was also easier for me to do job interviews and pick a job, since work experience can tell you what to look for and what to say.

By: Brittany H

Brittany H — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 02:39:57 +0000

Law school is very much a numbers game. Most schools will calculate an index based on your GPA and LSAT (with LSAT getting more weight). Those with high indexes will be admitted unless something glaring is wrong; those with numbers too low will usually be rejected unless there is something spectacularly right. Things such as extracurriculars and course selection will typically only come into play for those who have borderline numbers, and even then will be looked at along with letters of recommendation, essays. In short, it is unlikely to play a significant role in admissions decisions.

To be blunt, I would be far more concerned about your prospective LSAT score. If your guesses are correct, you will have a lot of difficulty getting into any good law schools. You may end up at a low-ranked school which drops many students each year and has poor employment prospects. If you are going that route, adjust your expectations about how well getting a law degree will serve your needs.

As to academic rigoresness, that very much depends where you go. At the best law schools, you will have a very hard time getting As, but if you spend a lot of time studying you should be able to get Bs, B+s, and perhaps even A-s. On the other hand, you have to turn in an unrelated Haiku to get a C, and Fs are unheard of. This is not to say that the workload isn't great, but how much work you need to actually put in will depend on just how much you want to excel; many do minimum work and skate by with low Bs.

It is a very different picture at lower-ranked schools where perhaps 1/3 of the class will fail out each year. You will have to constantly do every drop of work just to stay alive, and might have to adjust to getting Cs quite often. If you get a 150, this is your likely future.

By: someone_stole_my_alias

someone_stole_my_alias — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:59:26 +0000

By: Jim R

Jim R — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:24:05 +0000

Smoke the LSAT! I'm at a top 14 law school. I had a 3.3 and a high LSAT. my first year in college I had a 2.0 gpa. I know people at top schools who had a 2.9, but they had great LSATs. Tier 2 shouldn't be a problem if you do well enough. apply to as many schools as you can and mix it up between T1 and T2, etc. above 170 and you're looking at top 14.

You can do exceptionally well by studying for the LSAT. I went from a 150 in five hours on my first practice test to 99th percentile on the exam. I also took about 50 practice tests and timed most of them. Order old exams from LSAC.org. all of them if possible. And don't ever let anyone tell you you can't study for the LSAT. It's ridiculous how well you can do if you take it seriously. Without a doubt, most test takers could get a perfect score with serious preperation. Believe it or not, but do it and you'll get into a top school.

And, even if you don't do well on the LSAT, you can still have a great career, or transfering is possible also. I have friends who went from T3 schools to top 10 programs by being near the top of their class 1st year. I also know attorneys who are extremely successful who graduated near the bottom of their class from Tier 3 schools.

Bottom line-work as hard as you can. But more importantly, be passionate about what you want, and don't stress out over any of it. And be confident! Self-doubt is destructive-guard against it relentlessly and discard it immediately. Good luck!