Self-study
2.89 GPA have yet to take the LSAT taking in august, hope to apply in september. Diagnostic was 157. I have 3 years work experience as a teacher. Undergrad grades were rough as I was a NCAA athlete who had to deal with seizures, I plan on doing the adendum. Am I SOL? My dream school is McGeorge I want to work in public policy,
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6 comments
Hey! I am finding myself in a very similar situation. My GPA is 2.92 with my major being Aerospace Engineering, and my diagnostic was 155. I currently work full-time and have been for the past 4 years. When starting this journey, I felt the exact same way, "Is this even possible?", I would ask myself consistently. So I did some research, and I found the same thing these commentators have added to the discussion.
I cannot say that I am any kind of savant now or that I fully understand the LSAT, but with a few months of studyin,g I have been able to gain 15 points at my max and consistently score within the mid 160s. All this to say, I felt the way you feel, and it gets better. I will be taking my test in April, and now I am genuinely looking forward to it.
You got this!
This was already said, but I'll just say it too.
From what I have been told by authoritative sources, it's almost entirely about the medians. Your application is judged on 3 things: LSAT median, GPA median, and your life story. You fall into one of three categories: 'high/high' (above both medians), 'high/low' (above one, below the other), and 'low/low' (below both). 'Close' doesn't count for much: if the median is a 168 and you come in with a 167... then you're categorically a 'low', unfortunately. And it's pretty much the categories that count. If the school is admitting a class of 100 students, then the top 50 in each median category are there to establish (and protect) the sacred median, since that defines the school's rankings. The bottom fifty would be there because they're protecting the other median, or they have something special to add to the class (work experience in a field that would make you a unicorn in law, life experience that would look good when highlighted in the alumni magazine, Dad's a senator, they just like the cut of your jib, whatever). Basically, the admissions officers try to balance who they let in to produce what they consider a great class cohort while first and foremost protecting the medians; candidates from all three groups are admitted, but if you're a 'low/low' you need to be really interesting in other ways. High/high status is likely a green light unless your story disqualifies you in some way, high/low status and a strong story has a very good shot.
With that said, I don't think you need to worry so much right now. With your GPA, you can't be a high/high (neither can I, and not for any cool reasons like being an NCAA athlete!), but you can still be a high/low by just beating any school's median by a single point. 157 is not nothing! It's a solid diagnostic score that would already beat median at a lot of schools, and you still have plenty of time to improve it. I don't see any reason to suppose you won't. And remember (except for scholarship consideration), all you have to be is a point above that school's median to fit into that high/low status and become a real candidate for them. I think it's way too early to panic.
From what I know, Law Schools largely care about the Median in terms of your LSAT and GPA, so if you're below median for your GPA, to have a decent shot at a school, no matter your extracurriculars, you're going to want to shoot for above the median for that school's LSAT. If you're below the median for both, it'll be much harder to get into any school. But if you're over the median for at least one of those stats, then they have at least some incentive to admit you, because you won't be ruining both their GPA and LSAT medians, in fact you'll be boosting one of their stats. So it seems for McGeorge you'd wanna shoot for a 156+. Remember they care about which side of the median you fall on, it's median not mean.