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334 GRE/3.75 GPA T14 chances

Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2019 5:10 pm
by chicagoan245
Hi all,

I graduated from a USNWR top 10 university with a degree in economics (3.75 GPA) and scored a 334 on the GRE (169 reading, 165 math, 5/6 essay), and I was hoping you could let me know what my chances would look like at the T14s that accept the GRE. If it helps, the ETS's conversion tool equates my GRE score with a 174 on the LSAT, though I'm not sure how much stock can actually be placed in that conversion. Also, I have a year of work experience and reasonably strong softs and recommendations. Appreciate the feedback!

Re: 334 GRE/3.75 GPA T14 chances

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2019 6:24 am
by cavalier1138
Yeah, I'd take that ETS score with a grain of salt the size of Montana. I still think you're in pretty good shape with that GRE, but we still don't have enough feedback from GRE-only applicants to have a good picture of what admissions looks like with GRE scores.

But why law school? Did you just happen to do well on the GRE and think it might be worth throwing some applications at law school as well as other graduate programs? Or did you take the GRE with law school in mind?

Re: 334 GRE/3.75 GPA T14 chances

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2019 9:39 am
by LSATWiz.com
Does anyone have data on how GRE's are weighed compared to LSAT's? What's the equivalent of a 170 or 160 from an admissions, not percentile standpoint.

Re: 334 GRE/3.75 GPA T14 chances

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2019 9:53 am
by cavalier1138
LSATWiz.com wrote:Does anyone have data on how GRE's are weighed compared to LSAT's? What's the equivalent of a 170 or 160 from an admissions, not percentile standpoint.
I don't know if anyone's actually collected that data yet (or that we even know how many GRE-only admits there have been). The problem with the ETS calculator is that it gives OP a predicted >99th LSAT with a GRE quant score that usually falls below the 90th percentile. And that's not even accounting for the fact that the GRE is demonstrably easier than the LSAT.

Re: 334 GRE/3.75 GPA T14 chances

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2019 12:39 pm
by LSATWiz.com
cavalier1138 wrote:
LSATWiz.com wrote:Does anyone have data on how GRE's are weighed compared to LSAT's? What's the equivalent of a 170 or 160 from an admissions, not percentile standpoint.
I don't know if anyone's actually collected that data yet (or that we even know how many GRE-only admits there have been). The problem with the ETS calculator is that it gives OP a predicted >99th LSAT with a GRE quant score that usually falls below the 90th percentile. And that's not even accounting for the fact that the GRE is demonstrably easier than the LSAT.
Thanks! And IDK, I find the GRE difficult but that's because I could do a 1,000 LR/LG questions and never get one wrong but would probably still only get 27/27 on RC 20% of the time. I also can't math for shit.

Re: 334 GRE/3.75 GPA T14 chances

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 6:41 pm
by chicagoan245
I took practice tests for the LSAT and GRE and thought I'd perform better on the GRE, so I decided to take it instead. I was getting practice scores around 170 on the LSAT and GRE scores around what I actually ended up testing, which I believe is around the 98th or 99th percentile (the ETS converts the score to a 98th percentile GMAT and a 99+ percentile LSAT, so just inferring from that).

Also for what it's worth, it's hard for me to believe that almost any lawyer would need the numeracy skills required to test above a 160 on the GRE quant section, but I guess that's not really the point.

Re: 334 GRE/3.75 GPA T14 chances

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2019 9:34 pm
by LBJ's Hair
Short answer: We don't have any data, so no one knows.

Longer comment:

I thought the whole point of law schools taking the GRE was to give the school a backdoor method for accepting URMs and/or dual-degree applicants without having it hit their LSAT averages and by extension their USNWR ranking

If you're a white/Asian applicant with no meaningful softs, there are probably thousands of people applying in the fall with your GPA who have an actual LSAT score that is somewhat predictive of law school success/bar passage rate, based on like thirty years' of data. So I can't see how taking the GRE to dodge the LSAT, which most people take and which you admit is harder, is going to helpful. You're basically asking them to admit you based on the GPA and resume, which...why would they do that if they can take someone else who has that plus the LSAT.

Re: 334 GRE/3.75 GPA T14 chances

Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2019 1:53 am
by chicagoan245
My understanding is that GRE scores are factored into the USNWR ranking for those law schools that accept the test. The following is from the methodology explanation on their website: "For the third consecutive year, U.S. News used median GRE scores in combination with LSAT scores for this indicator if they were reported for a law school's 2018 entering class. This year for the first time, U.S. News included GRE analytical writing scores into the ranking methodology." https://www.usnews.com/education/best-g ... ethodology

Apparently 16 law schools reported GRE scores to USNWR for the 2020 rankings, so it seems inaccurate to suggest that a high GRE score would do less for a school's position in the rankings than the equivalent LSAT.