CS Major at Ivy League Forum

[throwaway12435]

I'm almost embarrassed to resort to something as vain and unscientific as a "chance me" board.

But here we are.

I'm a computer science major at an Ivy League—not Harvard/Yale/Princeton, but won't say more since I'm not in the habit of doxxing myself. Next year I'll be working for a major tech company (again, withholding details to avoid self-doxing).

I'll end with about a 3.85, with As in all humanities classes, and like 4 Bs in STEM-related classes. I got a 178 on the LSAT.

My major question is whether the weakish GPA puts Harvard/Yale out of reach. It seems like they pretty much just want 4.0s, major notwithstanding. And while a 3.85 seems high, you've got to take grade inflation into account.

As it happens, I was advised that if I was sure about law school I should just coast in English or polysci, but I'm stubborn and tend to do what I want. I just hope it won't haunt me when I apply next year. It should be pretty obvious to law schools that I'd have a 3.95/4.0 were it not for classes that very few law school students ever take.

[miskellyjohnson]

You have very good odds at making it into H. This cycle (steep drop off in 175+ scorers) you would have almost certainly made it; it's possible that the year you apply may see a spike (like last cycle), so some of it is cycle dependent. But a 3.85 is not at all prohibitive for H with a 178 LSAT. Your numbers will get you to faculty review for Y, at which point it all depends on how you present yourself and your softs.

[throwaway12435]

Is there any truth to the claim that they have a soft spot for STEM people?

[The Lsat Airbender]

Is there any truth to the claim that they have a soft spot for STEM people?

"Soft spot" is overstating it but a sterling GPA is usually more impressive on a STEM major than, say, literature, where grading works differently. You're not going to notice a difference because your stats pretty much auto-qualify you for HLS anyway. Yale will probably have more to do with the gestalt "wow" of your application, since your numbers are good but not great by YLS standards, and CS may or may not play into that.

[Npret]

Law school admissions are fairly scientific as it’s predominantly numbers based. Predicting admissions is fairly straightforward. You should get in to Harvard with your numbers.

My question is why are you going to law school? With your degree I’m assuming there are a variety of good jobs open to you. I’m curious as to what you expect from law and what kind of practice interests you.

[throwaway12435]

I mean, I might choose to stay in tech. It's definitely hard to turn down an industry where making 100k+ out of college is the norm.

That being said, I don't love it all that much and don't see myself happy with it long-term since I've always been more of a humanities person. Honestly, I'm already getting tired of the classes and would like a break.

My realistic interests in law would either be privacy or technology law (like working in the legal department of a tech company). The dream is legal journalism: essentially, being a public intellectual of sorts about the Supreme Court and federal judiciary.

Soft factors could be better, admittedly. Computer science takes a lot of time! But I've been a TA in several classes and been involved with political publications on campus. I'm also a pretty good writer: I've been published professionally, and once got an interview at a famous financial company based solely on them enjoying my writing sample.

[miskellyjohnson]

Is there any truth to the claim that they have a soft spot for STEM people?

Tech law is very hot right now-- everything from cybersecurity law (especially in the international sphere), to big-data privacy concerns (think facebook), to blockchain legality, to legal ramifications of artificial intelligence. To the extent that you can present your background as lending yourself some technical authority in these areas, it will probably be very appealing to an adcom or faculty reviewer. Might help to check out the various tech law (e.g., Information Society Project at yale) programs at each university.

[throwaway12435]

That's the plan. Do soft factors really not play much of a role in Harvard's admissions? I'd honestly prefer Harvard to Yale, I think.

[Necho2]

Not really- they've got a gigantic class to fill, so with the right numbers and no major issues, it's fairly predictable.

[yalegal2023]

You have very good odds at making it into H. This cycle (steep drop off in 175+ scorers) you would have almost certainly made it; it's possible that the year you apply may see a spike (like last cycle), so some of it is cycle dependent. But a 3.85 is not at all prohibitive for H with a 178 LSAT. Your numbers will get you to faculty review for Y, at which point it all depends on how you present yourself and your softs.

Two questions: 1. what numbers do you usually need at YLS to make it to faculty review, and 2. why do you think the number of 175+ scorers will go back up next year?