3.95GPA, 167 LSAT -- TLSers, please help! Forum

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TLSkewlz

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3.95GPA, 167 LSAT -- TLSers, please help!

Post by TLSkewlz » Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:47 am

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I'll get straight to the point -- 3.95 GPA and 167 LSAT (first attempt) from a large state school/public university. I'm a white-male, average upbringing. No impressive adversity stories, no family/personal connections that would in any way help with acceptance.

Softs: Average to above average leadership/internship experience throughout school -- potentially considered plainly average among T14 applicants (seriously impressive people applying to and attending these top schools!). By the time I apply to law school, I will have 3-4 years of legal department experience - a few different resume packers but one role in particular with a very prestigious/elite company.

I would like to know my chances at the following schools:
Stanford, Harvard, Chicago, Columbia, NYU, Penn, Duke, Berkeley, UCLA, Northwestern

I would like to live in either California, New York, or Chicago after graduation. Particularly interested in technology law, also interested in public policy/government, but it seems like most law school grads go into private practice as a matter of practicality + there simply aren't a large number of lucrative public sector jobs.

Is it even worth applying if I don't improve my LSAT score? If I want to work at a Top 50 firm out of school, do the T7 schools (Penn, NYU, Chicago, etc.) provide a significant advantage? . Any help or advice is greatly appreciated. Cheers!

QContinuum

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Re: 3.95GPA, 167 LSAT -- TLSers, please help!

Post by QContinuum » Wed Oct 31, 2018 10:59 am

MyLSN is your friend.
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Looks like you have a great shot at Chicago/NYU and down. (Penn and Michigan's lower numbers are probably due to those schools' emphasis on a good Why X essay.) As things stand right now, H looks to be unlikely, and given your numbers and softs, Y/S look unlikely either.

But for BigLaw, any T13 school would do just fine. There is no cliff in placement power or prestige between NYU and Penn, or between Penn and whatever school is currently ranked #8 by USNWR.

If you retake and get your LSAT up to 170, not only do your odds improve across the board, so do your chances of getting (more) money.
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albanach

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Re: 3.95GPA, 167 LSAT -- TLSers, please help!

Post by albanach » Wed Oct 31, 2018 3:23 pm

QContinuum wrote: If you retake and get your LSAT up to 170, not only do your odds improve across the board, so do your chances of getting (more) money.
This really cannot be overemphasized unless you are independently wealthy. Your LSAT is leaving $50-$100k on the table. With interest that could be $75-$150+ by the time it's repaid. And after tax dollars, so $150-$300k of earned dollars.

BrooklynRye221

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Re: 3.95GPA, 167 LSAT -- TLSers, please help!

Post by BrooklynRye221 » Tue Dec 11, 2018 4:30 pm

Not quite understanding these rainbow chart numbers.

The years are 2015-2019. Are these application years, as in for submitted in 2014-2015, 2015-2016, through 2018-2019? If so, how can the data be complete for the 2018-2019 cycle? How can 2019 be reflected fully on this chart at all?

Also, while I get this is a pretty tight range of numbers (166-168 LSAT + 3.9-4.0), Yale only received 20 applications, in a several years period(!), from students in this range? Even at the lower-ranked ends, where these stats are very strong and one would expect more applications, Cornell received only 70 and NWU only 59?

My GPA and Scores are almost identical to the OP. My sense is that my chances at t5, other than possibly Chicago, are pretty slim. The data supports this, which is encouraging. I am gratified that my chances are statistically better at NYU/Penn than I thought.

Any further information you can give in this area will be much appreciated.

Thanks!

QContinuum

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Re: 3.95GPA, 167 LSAT -- TLSers, please help!

Post by QContinuum » Wed Dec 12, 2018 12:57 am

BrooklynRye221 wrote:Not quite understanding these rainbow chart numbers.
The color is only a visual aid. Schools where applicants with the specified GPA, LSAT, and URM status have historically had a low chance of acceptance are coded red. Schools with a moderate chance of acceptance based on historical data are coded yellow. Schools where an applicant with those numbers has a very strong chance of acceptance (again based on historical data) are coded green.
BrooklynRye221 wrote:The years are 2015-2019. Are these application years, as in for submitted in 2014-2015, 2015-2016, through 2018-2019? If so, how can the data be complete for the 2018-2019 cycle? How can 2019 be reflected fully on this chart at all?
The data reflect outcomes that were submitted to the MyLSN database by law school applicants between 2015 and the current cycle. More 2018-19 data will be added to MyLSN's database as the cycle rolls on.
BrooklynRye221 wrote:Also, while I get this is a pretty tight range of numbers (166-168 LSAT + 3.9-4.0), Yale only received 20 applications, in a several years period(!), from students in this range? Even at the lower-ranked ends, where these stats are very strong and one would expect more applications, Cornell received only 70 and NWU only 59?
No, the database relies on applicants voluntarily submitting their info. The law schools do not directly submit data regarding their applicants (or their admissions decisions) to MyLSN.

It's important in interpreting MyLSN results to check the number of data points included. For example, if you see a school with a "50%" acceptance rate for a given set of stats, but then you notice that that "50%" figure is based on two applicants, one of whom was accepted and the other rejected... the "50%" probably isn't a reliable figure. OTOH, while 20 applicants isn't a ton, that Yale admitted 0 out of 20 non-URM applicants with a 167/3.95 over the past few cycles indicates that someone with those numbers doesn't have a strong shot. Of course, there's always a chance. But it's a small chance.

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BrooklynRye221

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Re: 3.95GPA, 167 LSAT -- TLSers, please help!

Post by BrooklynRye221 » Thu Dec 13, 2018 11:02 am

Thank you for such a clear and thorough explanation. Your time and patience is very much appreciated.

QContinuum

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Re: 3.95GPA, 167 LSAT -- TLSers, please help!

Post by QContinuum » Thu Dec 13, 2018 12:44 pm

BrooklynRye221 wrote:Thank you for such a clear and thorough explanation. Your time and patience is very much appreciated.
Happy to help!

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