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emilyokoronkwo584

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Admissions · Returning Student w/Low GPA. Do I have a chance?

emilyokoronkwo584

Thursday, Feb 07 2019

@ said:

Know that you are not alone. I am 46 and am applying in the current cycle with a 2.73 LSAC GPA (from 1998, after 2 attempts at college) and a 163 LSAT. I've been accepted to multiple strong regional T1 and T2 schools, some ranked as high as the low 20's. You need to demonstrate in your application that you have grown and are not the same student that you were back then. I also tried to visit each school in person prior to submitting my application or receiving a decision so they would have a real person in mind when they read my package. In my opinion, in-person visits are key to get schools to overlook not-shiny aspects of our applications.

Full transparency, if you have a good story, the issue is not getting accepted but receiving merit scholarship consideration. Schools are definitely willing to let you in with a good LSAT; however many calculate scholarships based on an index score combining your GPA and LSAT. The math hurts those of us fighting sub 3 GPAs. My advice is to apply widely and make sure some of your choices include schools that give >90% of their applicants scholarships.

This is really helpful. Thank you for this information. I think visiting the law schools is a brilliant suggestion.

Admissions · Returning Student w/Low GPA. Do I have a chance?

emilyokoronkwo584

Thursday, Feb 07 2019

Thanks for the input. I am now working on a second BA (to further demonstrate that I can succeed in an academic setting), and got my con law prof to write one LOR for me and a colleague at work to write another LOR. I would love to get my boss to write an LOR, but I don't want to alert him to the fact I would be leaving the company. I've been studying for the LSAT since mid-December, putting in 3-4 hours every day. It's grueling, but I think it's worth it. I'm okay with waiting until next year to attend if I have to, but I would really like to get the second half of my life going. I do logic games every day, and they are finally looking like less of a foreign language to me. :smile:

Admissions

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Thursday, Feb 07 2019

emilyokoronkwo584

Returning Student w/Low GPA. Do I have a chance?

I am an older student (almost 40). I dropped out of college in 2001 with a sub-2.0 GPA due to domestic violence/abuse issues. I worked full-time throughout my first stint in college. After I dropped out, I continued to work full-time, and decided to go back to school in 2016 to complete my degree. In my second stint at college, I needed 24 hours to graduate, and although I completed those 24 hours with a 3.5+ GPA, it only raised my cummulative GPA to 2.1. I completed my degree in May 2018. I have taken the January administration of the LSAT. I don't have my score back yet, but have also signed up for the March administration of the test. Assuming I score 165+ on the test, do I have any chance of getting into a decent school? I know my overal GPA is terrible and relatively recent, but the bulk of the damage was done 15+ years ago. Thank you for any feedback you can offer.