3.93, 170. Registered for December. Should I apply ASAP to some T15? Forum

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LSATuration

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3.93, 170. Registered for December. Should I apply ASAP to some T15?

Post by LSATuration » Sun Oct 15, 2017 6:39 am

My LSAC GPA is 3.93, and I got a 170 in September. 170 was a bit disappointing for me, as I had been PTing 173+ consistently until I contracted a bad case of acute bronchitis 2 weeks before. I registered for the December test immediately after coming home from the September sitting. There were definitely nerves involved--I even left off the last question on Sec. 5 despite having a(n) (correct) answer.

My ideal is HYSCC, but I'm not do-or-die for that tier. (I want to be a lawyer!) I feel like it is wise to wait for December LSAT results before applying to this tier.

My dilemma is the rest of the T15 I would like to attend. Two groups stand out.

A. I'm exactly 75th or above in both the 2020 LSAT and GPA quartiles for: Michigan, Berkeley (unsolicited waiver), Northwestern, and Georgetown (2019 quartiles).
- Should I just go ahead and completely apply for these, using Dec LSAT--if improved--for $? or
- Should I apply and ask for a hold?
(Notes: Also in this group: NYU and Duke. NYU's website says there is no competitive disadvantage for waiting and explicitly welcomes December scores. I got PT/waiver for Duke, but their website says they hold regardless, so I will use my PT ASAP when the office reopens post Dec Grey Day.)

B. Penn and UVA. For both I am the 75th LSAT, but 0.01 below both 75th GPA (3.94)? My concern is that UVA seems to stress their rolling admissions process on their website.

Only "hook" is first-gen college. Will have 2 years WE at lobbying/political firm. UG experience: merit full-ride scholarship, Public Ivy.

Application status: Have prof letter done and should have second prof and employer done by Halloween. Essays can be easily done before then.

tl;dr--Is the risk of a higher LSAT (I'd assign the probability 65+%) worth the delay from Halloween/Nov 1 to Jan for mid-T15? Or should I just use the (potentially higher) Dec LSAT for post-application purposes (when the office does not require a hold)?

MyLSN (ranged 168-172, 3.9-3.95): http://mylsn.info/8zhrqr/

Random uninformed UVA take: Based on UVA's LSN graph (http://i.imgur.com/NtAEoZm.png), seems like much of the lower accept % for my GPA-LSAT point is waitlisting. Yield protection? Is this solved by a personal connection to UVA Law and a strong Why UVA? Their website strongly recommends early applications.

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cavalier1138

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Re: 3.93, 170. Registered for December. Should I apply ASAP to some T15?

Post by cavalier1138 » Sun Oct 15, 2017 7:52 am

It sounds like your September performance was an outlier, so I don't see a drawback to retaking, especially with your GPA. If you're registered for the December LSAT, most of the T13 will hold your application until that score comes out anyway, so it's up to you when you submit the applications.

That said, I know that it's sometimes hard to tell trolling from real posts about schools on these boards, but
LSATuration wrote:HYSCC
is not a thing.

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LSATuration

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Re: 3.93, 170. Registered for December. Should I apply ASAP to some T15?

Post by LSATuration » Sun Oct 15, 2017 7:57 am

cavalier1138 wrote:It sounds like your September performance was an outlier, so I don't see a drawback to retaking, especially with your GPA. If you're registered for the December LSAT, most of the T13 will hold your application until that score comes out anyway, so it's up to you when you submit the applications.

That said, I know that it's sometimes hard to tell trolling from real posts about schools on these boards, but
LSATuration wrote:HYSCC
is not a thing.
Not trolling, I promise. Wrote this at like 4am on flight back from trip to China, so I merged the two tiers as a single group of places where I'm not meeting the 75th quartile #s.

With regards to the first portion--I'm wondering if I'm above/at the 75ths *for places that would waive (Mich, Berk, UVA)*, is it worth it to submit the 170 (hopefully lower outlier) to take advantage of rolling admissions?

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cavalier1138

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Re: 3.93, 170. Registered for December. Should I apply ASAP to some T15?

Post by cavalier1138 » Sun Oct 15, 2017 9:46 am

LSATuration wrote:
cavalier1138 wrote:It sounds like your September performance was an outlier, so I don't see a drawback to retaking, especially with your GPA. If you're registered for the December LSAT, most of the T13 will hold your application until that score comes out anyway, so it's up to you when you submit the applications.

That said, I know that it's sometimes hard to tell trolling from real posts about schools on these boards, but
LSATuration wrote:HYSCC
is not a thing.
Not trolling, I promise. Wrote this at like 4am on flight back from trip to China, so I merged the two tiers as a single group of places where I'm not meeting the 75th quartile #s.

With regards to the first portion--I'm wondering if I'm above/at the 75ths *for places that would waive (Mich, Berk, UVA)*, is it worth it to submit the 170 (hopefully lower outlier) to take advantage of rolling admissions?
Sorry, I didn't mean that you were trolling. I meant that you may have taken too many trolls to heart by making it "HYSCC" instead of HYSCCN. But yes, there's no disadvantage to applying now, but you may see a delay in processing depending on which schools want to wait and see your December score.

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Re: 3.93, 170. Registered for December. Should I apply ASAP to some T15?

Post by Rigo » Sun Oct 15, 2017 10:17 am

If you have apps ready to go, send them. You're prime for NYU on down.
If getting apps together is going to take too much time and throw you off from LSAT study, I'd wait. The retake should be where your focus is. But maybe you can walk and chew gum at the same time.

Do supplemental essays about first gen for Berkeley. They had a full ride scholarship for some first gen students last year.

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