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Hi Guys,

Long time lurker on TLS and first time posting. I took the LSAT 3 times 165-169-166. Thought I would do better on the 3rd try and it just didn't work out that way. I did attend community college. So, my LSDAS gpa is 3.4x even though my degree gpa is 3.1x. I double majored in econ/bio, which I did not particularly enjoy. I am currently in a masters program (different major that I love and more writing/critical reading intensive) where my gpa is 3.9+.

I would really like to attend a top-14 law school or USC/UCLA. I'm signed up for the December lsat. I'm thinking of just applying to a few schools now and applying in January if I end up re-taking for a 4th time. Should I try for a 4th time?

Also, what do you think of my chances as a whole? I admit I have inconsistent numbers that are borderline at best. Luckily the gpa/lsat has been dipping the past few admission cycles.

Thanks in advance for any advice/tips!

Do you have any reason to believe that you will score any higher than your 169? Even though schools usually only use the higher score, if you score lower than a 169 again I feel like they might think that score was just a fluke.

I was practicing around 171-173. I'm just very inconsistent with the logical games section. I missed 4 last time around. I also ran out of gas on section 5 and blind guessed the last 3 questions. But overall, I think I'm plateauing anyways. I really wanted a 172 since my dream school was NYU but I feel 172 is ultimate best case scenario for me.

I was thinking of ED-ing to Penn with my numbers since it seems like a long shot anyways. So if I get in and have to pay sticker, it's probably better than the typical schools I would get into with my numbers.

Thoughts?

surfsup12345 wrote:I was practicing around 171-173. I'm just very inconsistent with the logical games section. I missed 4 last time around. I also ran out of gas on section 5 and blind guessed the last 3 questions. But overall, I think I'm plateauing anyways. I really wanted a 172 since my dream school was NYU but I feel 172 is ultimate best case scenario for me.

I was thinking of ED-ing to Penn with my numbers since it seems like a long shot anyways. So if I get in and have to pay sticker, it's probably better than the typical schools I would get into with my numbers.

Thoughts?

Don't pay sticker, man. No law school is worth that kind of debt.

Shoot WUSTL an app. I bet you could be near a full ride, which you can use to negotiate with other schools.

USC and UCLA are GPA whores but certainly not out of the questions. Lower T13 possible with well crafted app.

What about applying NYU ed? Do you think they would outright reject me with my stats? Because I could conceivably re-take in December and apply to NYU then with hopefully a better lsat score.

surfsup12345 wrote:What about applying NYU ed?

ED is almost always a bad idea

Do you think they would outright reject me with my stats?

Yep. You have some chance of merely getting waitlisted, and then you can try to renegotiate with a higher December LSAT if you get it, but why open yourself up to the risk of getting dinged and having to wait out the whole cycle?

Because I could conceivably re-take in December and apply to NYU then with hopefully a better lsat score.

That's what you should do if you want NYU.

Last year for NYU the LSAT was 166-169-171, GPA 3.7-3.8-3.9

So right now, I'm at median for lsat and way below 25th percentile for gpa. Hopefully this downward lsat trend continues for this cycle.

With my gpa and my spotty history, what lsat score would I need (in your opinion(s)) to be reasonably competitive for NYU RD?

With my gpa and my spotty history, what lsat score would I need (in your opinion(s)) to be reasonably competitive for NYU RD?

Looks like you begin to have a shot at 170 and your chances start to get pretty legit around 173.

Also, there's no need to think about RD chances separately from ED chances. You're going to sink or swim based on the strength of your application either way. Law school is different from undergrad in this regard.