Today I got to speak to an admissions officer from one of the most competitive schools in the country. BYU LAW (Currently ranked 24th). I will say I was rather surprised by a few things that they said to me.
"We don't care that much about your LSAT / GPA we just want to know you are ready for the rigors of the program and will add value." I don't want to be misleading, it's not that they don't care at all LSAT and GPA. Those are the primary ways that you show you are ready for the rigors of the program, same with any school, but if you have an LSAC GPA of 2.5 and Masters with a 3.5 with a solid LSAT you have a real chance of getting in. BTW Their median GPA is 3.95 and their LSAT is 170 but they explicitly told me they admit people in the 3.0 range and below LSAT every year. People who have other things to make them think, yeah, this guy figured it out post Bachelors and they can handle this program no doubt.
"If your GPA is old, your LSAT is really what matters." Again going back to the idea of can you really handle the program? An LSAT of 170 that's fresh vs GPA that's 10 years old? Which is more likely to speak to your current capacity?
"US news and world report reduced GPA and LSAT and focus more on Outcomes." Which again comes back to their comment, can this person handle the program? Will they be hire able post graduation? will they pass the bar? So for some of you older students who maybe don't have an amazing GPA or LSAT but have shown you have a functional career and life with meaningful skills, that's tremendously valuable.
Strong LOR really do matter.
Extra Cirriculars (Espeically Military) matter a lot.
Your Essay on why be a lawyer needs to be just super genuine. They want to know something about you, who you are, not some formulaic template you found online. They want to know about your values, your goals, your experiences, WHO ARE YOU AND WHY DO YOU MATTER.
Write and addendum for your GPA if you need one, explain what went wrong, take ownership, and demonstrate how you have corrected the problem.
Transfers are rare, mostly because not that many people apply for it. They always save seats for it and almost never use them all. IF you do want to transfer you need to be in the top 3rd of your class wherever you are, assuming you are coming from a lesser school. Again this mostly comes back to the idea of can you handle the program? Will you add value?
-Edits are only minor grammar and spelling
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