LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3 Forum

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HamiltonBurr

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LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by HamiltonBurr » Sun Jan 21, 2018 7:21 pm

Just wanting to know my realistic chances of getting into Kentucky, NKU, Louisville, Texas A & M, and South Texas. My grades are atrocious but I have great LOR's and Work Experience including Capitol Hill and a Corporate Law Firm. Unfortunately to go along with the bad grades I have 4 misdemeanor run in's with the law during college for drinking/Marijuana. Thanks in advance for any help.

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cavalier1138

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by cavalier1138 » Sun Jan 21, 2018 7:24 pm

Those numbers with that record are going to be a huge hurdle. Unless you're a URM, I wouldn't give you great chances, even at somewhere like A&M.

Why do you want a JD?

mcmand

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by mcmand » Sun Jan 21, 2018 7:33 pm

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HamiltonBurr

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by HamiltonBurr » Sun Jan 21, 2018 7:35 pm

I want to work in government affairs in some capacity, and a J.D. would provide a skill set that would allow me to succeed in the D.C. Job market. I have maintained my network on capitol hill and fairly certain I would be able to land an externship or fellowship with a congressional office during law school if admitted. I had some pretty traumatic events occur during high school that carried over into college and I didn't apply myself to school at all.

HamiltonBurr

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by HamiltonBurr » Sun Jan 21, 2018 7:38 pm

I'm taking the LSAT again and have been studying my ass off. Also I won't be going into debt.

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mcmand

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by mcmand » Sun Jan 21, 2018 7:44 pm

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mcmand

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by mcmand » Sun Jan 21, 2018 7:48 pm

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HamiltonBurr

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by HamiltonBurr » Sun Jan 21, 2018 8:38 pm

mcmand wrote:Ok. Your parents are paying, or someone else?

Your goal at a minimum should be 160+ for the LSAT. That might net you some scholarship money from those schools and maybe get you into a better school than the ones you listed. It would also show you are capable of success in law school, with some hard work.

What about a JD is going to help you in government affairs work? My friends in DC working in policy usually have MPPs, MAs, etc. Has someone told you a JD will help?

Sorry for the third degree but I want to vet your thinking a bit here. Three years is opportunity cost for your career too.
I mean government affairs in a broader sense rather than specifically a policy expert/advisor like your friends. I met plenty of practicing and non-practicing J.D.'s on the hill and at lobbying firms. I've also considered getting involved with the justice system, and a family friend was just appointed to be a U.S. Attorney and there is a possibility I could clerk there.

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by mcmand » Sun Jan 21, 2018 8:46 pm

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HamiltonBurr

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by HamiltonBurr » Sun Jan 21, 2018 9:01 pm

mcmand wrote:You should ask the non practicing JDs whether it was worth getting a JD.

Externing at a USAO is good experience but it's also very competitive. You're going to need great grades from a respectable school, even with a family connection, who I think is actually not allowed to help you. And no one gets an entry level job at a USAO right out of law school except a tiny handful at like two or three offices through DOJ honors (which is unfathomably competitive).

What other goals do you have for practicing law? Is it just being a federal prosecutor? Or do you have other possibilities that interest you?
I've spent some time working for a corporate litigator who had a few family law and mal-practice cases here and there. I was highly impressed with what my boss was able to do for her clients. I have always been interested in real estate, so I will definitely look into that area as well.

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zhenders

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by zhenders » Sun Jan 21, 2018 9:10 pm

Why did you screw up undergrad so badly? What makes you think you can cut it in law school, which requires 10x the work ethic and is objectively more difficult?

This is serious. I’m not being rude. 2.3 is just about failing out. Law school is hard for good students, and you look like an objectively bad one based on your numbers.

HamiltonBurr

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by HamiltonBurr » Sun Jan 21, 2018 9:15 pm

zhenders wrote:Why did you screw up undergrad so badly? What makes you think you can cut it in law school, which requires 10x the work ethic and is objectively more difficult?

This is serious. I’m not being rude. 2.3 is just about failing out. Law school is hard for good students, and you look like an objectively bad one based on your numbers.

It's not like I spent hours in the library studying and came out with a 2.3. I hardly went to class, really enjoyed extracurriculars, feel me? I'm three years out and I'm trying to put my life together.

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by mcmand » Sun Jan 21, 2018 9:16 pm

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HamiltonBurr

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by HamiltonBurr » Sun Jan 21, 2018 9:20 pm

Also why does my bad grades make my LSAT score bad when I personally know plenty of people who have gotten in with lower scores?

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cavalier1138

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by cavalier1138 » Sun Jan 21, 2018 9:25 pm

HamiltonBurr wrote:Also why does my bad grades make my LSAT score bad when I personally know plenty of people who have gotten in with lower scores?
Because you need at least one of those numbers to be at or above a school's median to give yourself a decent shot.

Again, it sounds like you'd be way better off with a policy degree.

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by icechicken » Sun Jan 21, 2018 9:29 pm

HamiltonBurr wrote:Also why does my bad grades make my LSAT score bad when I personally know plenty of people who have gotten in with lower scores?
GPA is an important criterion for admission in and of itself. You can compensate for doing badly on one by doing well on the other, to a certain extent. But your LSAT is mediocre and your GPA is, frankly, bad.

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by HamiltonBurr » Sun Jan 21, 2018 9:33 pm

icechicken wrote:
HamiltonBurr wrote:Also why does my bad grades make my LSAT score bad when I personally know plenty of people who have gotten in with lower scores?
GPA is an important criterion for admission in and of itself. You can compensate for doing badly on one by doing well on the other, to a certain extent. But your LSAT is mediocre and your GPA is, frankly, bad.
But at what point does it not become indicative of my success in law school. Like how long do I have to atone for the sin of being a irresponsible teen and early twenties kid who didn't have his priorities in order?

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mcmand

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by mcmand » Sun Jan 21, 2018 9:37 pm

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by icechicken » Sun Jan 21, 2018 9:38 pm

HamiltonBurr wrote:But at what point does it not become indicative of my success in law school. Like how long do I have to atone for the sin of being a irresponsible teen and early twenties kid who didn't have his priorities in order?
Believe me, I can relate to your frustration. GPA is an even weaker correlate with law-school perfomance than the LSAT is. But those two measures are the best we have, and a composite of the two is better than either. Substantially improving your LSAT score and continuing to succeed in a demanding career would go a long way towards helping schools overlook your college performance, but it'll always be there.

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by icechicken » Sun Jan 21, 2018 9:43 pm

mcmand wrote:I'm looking at a conversion chart online from alphascore.com, and a 153 means you got less than 60/100 questions right. It might be off slightly because these raw score conversions fluctuate a little each exam, but not enough to change the following point:

That's an F if you go by traditional undergrad grading. It's crappy. It demonstrates lack of preparation. Your friends who had worse scores had basically sub-F's on the LSAT. That's not good, and it's not a good sign for how law school will go, or of the law schools that were willing to admit that caliber of student.

That's why people are being skeptical of you right now. You didn't do your work in college, we get it, but you followed that up with what is basically an F for an LSAT. If you turn it around, that will indicate you actually are willing and able to do this.
I don't think this is fair. The LSAT is not a history 102 midterm. A score of 153 is about average among test-takers and certainly not "crappy", even if it's low by TLS standards and probably not sufficient to get a good outcome for OP.

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by mcmand » Sun Jan 21, 2018 9:47 pm

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by icechicken » Sun Jan 21, 2018 10:58 pm

mcmand wrote:
icechicken wrote:I don't think this is fair. The LSAT is not a history 102 midterm. A score of 153 is about average among test-takers and certainly not "crappy", even if it's low by TLS standards and probably not sufficient to get a good outcome for OP.
How can something not be crappy while not getting a good outcome for the test taker?
I think you and I just have different thresholds for crappy-ness. I agree that a 153 is mediocre, inadequate, supbar - especially in OP's situation.

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pancakes3

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by pancakes3 » Sun Jan 21, 2018 11:18 pm

153 may be an average score for a test-taker but it's absolutely a bad score if you want to be a law-school-attender.

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by Johann » Mon Jan 22, 2018 12:51 am

i graduated with a similar undergrad gpa for im assuming similar reasons as you. have had a successful legal career on paper, but it has been a goddamn grind with lots of ups and downs. at the schools youre looking at, your career is really going to be the result of networking/hustle/schmoozing. theres not gonna be a well defined path of what to do etc. if youre open to any and everything employment wise and are cool with hustling networking 3-7 hours a week starting in law school (in addition to studying and billing the regular amount), you can make it work.

what do you do now though? whether law school makes sense for you personally has a lot to do with yo ur current employment situation and trajectory there.

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Re: LSAT: 153 / GPA: 2.3

Post by politibro44 » Mon Jan 22, 2018 1:07 am

HamiltonBurr wrote:I want to work in government affairs in some capacity, and a J.D. would provide a skill set that would allow me to succeed in the D.C. Job market. I have maintained my network on capitol hill and fairly certain I would be able to land an externship or fellowship with a congressional office during law school if admitted. I had some pretty traumatic events occur during high school that carried over into college and I didn't apply myself to school at all.
The "skill set" you gain from law school does not prepare you to succeed in a government affairs or lobbying type gig. It merely prepares you to "think like a lawyer" and possibly improve one's writing abilities. And if you don't even want to practice law, why get a law degree?

It seems you already have connections on Capitol Hill and might be a good networker. Why don't you just move to DC and hustle your way up the ladder? Or alternatively, consider an MPP if you are dead set on getting some advanced degree. It could provide more utility for the career you are seeking and be less expensive.

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

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