Chances of getting in with a 3.75 from Barnard and a 177 LSAT Forum

[Law_School_Questions]

I am a Sophomore at Barnard College of Columbia University. I currently have a 3.75 GPA and can probably boost it to a 3.8 by graduation. The problem is, I got an F on my transcript during my first year of college for infringing the Honor Code (I didn’t mean to plagiarize I just literally didn’t know how to cite sources and was not familiar at allll with the American system) Overall, my first year was not the best in terms of GPA but since then I got mostly A’s and A+’s. B+ was my worst grade. I’m going to study abroad at Cambridge for a semester also so hopefully that will boost my application. What do you think my chances are for Columbia Law or Harvard Law?

[The Lsat Airbender]

As long as you handle the plagiarism issue well in your application (take full responsibility and make clear that you won’t repeat the mistake), it shouldn’t be fatal. Your stats make you a strong candidate for Harvard and basically a stone-cold lock at Columbia.

[Yehar]

You should do well with that combination. If it's possible though, I would try to secure some type of statement (ideally a letter from that professor) explaining the infringement. Depending on how it is flagged (if it's just an F, or if there's some extra designation) it's something you want to be able to address both for law school and potentially for character and fitness down the road. I'd also say that I'd make sure your 177 LSAT will last. I don't recall how long scores last now but just keep that in mind for deciding when to apply.