Yale 3.91 LSAT 179 White Male Forum

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smithingtons

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Yale 3.91 LSAT 179 White Male

Post by smithingtons » Sat May 29, 2021 1:30 pm

What are my chances for HYS? Top 6? My guess is that at this point it will depend on what I do in the 3 years after undergrad (which I just left) and before law school. My professor recs will be very good. I want to be an appellate litigator in private practice or a federal prosecutor/DOJ litigator. My idols are Merrick Garland and Guido Calabresi; I want to devote my career to public service in government like they did.

I'm writing this in the context of having just graduated with a lower GPA than expected after a really difficult final semester due to pandemic-related health issues. Because of this I just missed the cutoff for magna cum laude and am cum laude instead (which is top 30% of the class, while magna is top 15%). Does my GPA hold me back from HYS as a white male? I know it's still high, but I'm not at the tippy top of my class like I thought I would be.

I am getting a master's in History at a top Canadian school starting in Fall 2022, hopefully on a Fulbright scholarship. I will be studying comparative law as it relates to colonialism and Indigenous peoples.

The Lsat Airbender

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Re: Yale 3.91 LSAT 179 White Male

Post by The Lsat Airbender » Sun May 30, 2021 12:34 pm

You're in as good as spot as anyone with those stats. HYS admit plenty of white/asian males with similar GPAs and worse LSATs—I would strongly advise you not to sweat so much about that factor.

Are you a Canadian citizen planning to immigrate? You should be aware that most Article III clerkships will be barred to you and a lot of federal-government jobs won't be available until you've naturalized. Otherwise I think you're in great shape. Just stay the course.

smithingtons

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Re: Yale 3.91 LSAT 179 White Male

Post by smithingtons » Sun May 30, 2021 4:46 pm

Thanks - I am not a Canadian citizen. Judt wanted some international legal perspective on an issue that transcends borders (Indigenous rights). That's good to hear, because I was really beating myself up after my worst semester academically.

crazywafflez

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Re: Yale 3.91 LSAT 179 White Male

Post by crazywafflez » Sun May 30, 2021 5:03 pm

Keep up the good work. You are basically stat wise competitive for any law school. HYS are never a lock for anyone. I feel good though about your chances for H and CCN. You'll get into a T14 with a scholarship- which I would urge you to take over a namebrand like C or H. Best of luck.

smithingtons

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Re: Yale 3.91 LSAT 179 White Male

Post by smithingtons » Sun May 30, 2021 9:20 pm

I know this is all highly theoretical (seeing as I haven't yet applied anywhere, and am at least 2 years out from doing so), but do you really think taking a generous scholarship at, say, UVA would be preferable to attending Harvard at full cost, given that I want a choice clerkship one day? I'm also interested in legal academia.

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The Lsat Airbender

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Re: Yale 3.91 LSAT 179 White Male

Post by The Lsat Airbender » Mon May 31, 2021 11:26 pm

smithingtons wrote:
Sun May 30, 2021 9:20 pm
I know this is all highly theoretical (seeing as I haven't yet applied anywhere, and am at least 2 years out from doing so), but do you really think taking a generous scholarship at, say, UVA would be preferable to attending Harvard at full cost, given that I want a choice clerkship one day? I'm also interested in legal academia.
That particular example is an easy "yes", but this is dependent on what your actual options are. A UVA full-ride is much preferable to HLS for $350k including living expenses (that's what it'll cost by the time you attend). Unless you're independently wealthy, the massive hit to your net worth will restrict your horizons more than the slightly-more-prestigious JD. But if the cost delta were smaller, or if the prestige delta were bigger (say, YLS versus Northwestern) then that would be different.

The point is that you should blanket the T14 to maximize your options. You'll probably get to choose among some great ones.

TTTTorbust

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Re: Yale 3.91 LSAT 179 White Male

Post by TTTTorbust » Sat Jun 12, 2021 11:43 pm

smithingtons wrote:
Sun May 30, 2021 9:20 pm
I know this is all highly theoretical (seeing as I haven't yet applied anywhere, and am at least 2 years out from doing so), but do you really think taking a generous scholarship at, say, UVA would be preferable to attending Harvard at full cost, given that I want a choice clerkship one day? I'm also interested in legal academia.
No question. UVA places quite well in clerkships, as do CCN. Obviously this depends on the amount of money you’re talking (As well as, perhaps, your political bent, we’ll call it “judicial philosophy” to be charitable) but you seem to want high end COA/SCOTUS, and if that’s the case the simple reality is that if you are in the top 10 of your class (not something you should bank on) you aren’t really that much better off at Harvard than the other schools mentioned, and the slight boost you may get isn’t worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. I guess the reality is that if you are as stellar as you think you are (You must think you’re stellar if a perceived feeder clerkship chance is your primary deciding factor) the difference between landing a feeder clerkship and not isn’t going to be going to Harvard over podunk UVA or UChicago. Obviously Yale is a bit of a different beast, especially if you want to clerk for a big name Democratic appointee in particular, but outside of that, if it’s a full ride at CCN versus $300k at Harvard, you’re probably not smart enough to do what you think you want to do if you end up attending Harvard.

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