I am a recent graduate from a top undergraduate institution with a nontraditional quantitative major (I didn't expect to be applying to law school until last year). My school and major were among the most prestigious in the country, making it difficult to consistently get good grades, and I managed to finish up with a 3.8 after getting some B's my freshman year. I also got a 174 on the LSAT and by the time I apply to law schools, I will have experience at a prestigious policy internship as well as full-time work experience in corporate strategy. I am not a URM, but my academic background and experiences are pretty unique from the traditional law school applicant.
I am wondering how my chances are at HYS or UChicago. Although my GPA is lower than their 25th percentiles, my grades did improve during undergrad (in my senior year I got all A's and also took most of my humanities/writing-heavy courses that year). My extracurricular involvement was solid but not exceptional (leadership positions in a debate club, performing arts group, involvement in social impact projects, held an on-campus job).
Do I have a chance at HYS or University of Chicago? It seems like my GPA falling short may be enough for my application to get tossed into the rejection pile, but is there a chance that my school's reputation, the difficulty of my major, and the upward trend in my grades could compensate for that? Ideally I want to attend a law school with a solid reputation to have a better chance at big law positions/internships, but I don't want to spend time and money on an application that's doomed from the start
I do plan on submitting apps to the other T14s and a couple of other schools, but I am curious as to whether it is worth applying to some of the schools with higher admission stats, especially regarding GPA. Thanks!
