Reverse Splitter Help

manneeagle57

Hi all,

I am in a bit of a quandary: I had a ugrad gpa of 3.84 from a top 30 undergrad (graduated with many national honors), currently am working full time and doing my MEd in ed policy and leadership (grad gpa 3.9), on the board of a local non-profit and other strong soft markers, but my lsat was 158, aka WAY LOWER than reflects my ability but was where I was testing during practice. I have never been good at non-subject based standardized tests so I know it doesn't reflect my inherent academic aptitude. I don't have the time in my schedule to take it again so I really just don't know where to move forward. I think I'm just going to apply to my school list anyway and hope for the value of a holistic review. Anybody know of any success of people in similar positions?

10000019

" I don't have the time in my schedule to take it again so I really just don't know where to move forward. "
You don't have the time, or you don't want to move your schedule around?

You didn't mention the schools you're interested in so kinda hard to give you feedback. Your GPA is close to the median at some great schools.

manneeagle57

Grad school plus a full time job with lots of overtime is already a substantial time suck. So I literally do not have the time if I want to sleep and be healthy. To me that's pretty important. I tried moving my schedule around when I was studying this summer and it didn't help much so I don't know what I could do differently this time around.

My proposed list is:

Targets-
Fordham
BC
BU
George Washington
Minnesota

Reaches-
Harvard
Georgetown
Columbia
UChicago

Safety-
Northeastern
Suffolk
Loyola Chicago
Villanova

This is the expanded list and I'll probably cut some of the reaches because why waste $80...

AllezAllez21

I really think you should take the test again. Commit yourself to it and study hard and improve. With your GPA and life accomplishments, it seems like you should be able to score much higher. That higher score will unlock schools and scholarships that will greatly improve your post-law prospects.

On mylsn.com, historical results suggest you have essentially no chance inside the top 15. If you raise your score to the 165-167 range, which I full believe you can do, those chances rise to around 50% for the bottom half of the T14, which means money at lower ranked schools.

You do have time for this test. How busy you are in the next year is nothing compared to the three years you will spend at a law school and the lifetime after.

LindsMitch

I understand that it can seem like there is absolutely no way that you could take the test again..but maybe just consider delaying a year? This of course could throw a huge kink in your plans, but I also think you may later regret not fully committing to trying to get into the best school you possibly could. Especially since your reaches are Columbia, Harvard, Chicago, and Georgetown...seems like the desire to go to a top institution is there, maybe it would be a shame to just let that go?

If you truly are committed to applying now with the 158, then the numbers kind of speak for themselves. Of course you could be that one outlier that is able to get into a school with a score well below even the 25th percentile, but to count on that would obviously be unwise.

If I may ask, what sections of the test are you missing most questions on and how much time did you spend prepping? If your LG is not consistently around -2 or less, I think that even by improving on that one section you could potentially raise your score substantially.

Trust But Verify

Not an expert by any stretch but Nova and Northeastern will most likely accept with scholly $. Those are the only 2 that I can confidently say that about. Focus on PS and fee waivers to apply to all of those by dec/jan.

You'll land where you supposed to my friend.

Namaste

tcookPHL

I completely understand this sentiment! If you want to apply now, make sure your apps are phenomenal. I went to a Duke admissions panel and the one thing that I took away from that experience was what the dean said to me. He said "as soon as I get an applicant's application package, I look at their personal statement and their resume". Yes, the rankings tell us this is not true but schools DO look at applications holistically and you are more than a number. If you truly think you have put in every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears into this test, then my friend move on and apply. Only you can really make that judgement call. Mylsn.com, TLS, & lawschoolnumbers are all great resources but they're USER generated. Remember that and take those with a grain of salt. Just saying, last week I went to an alumni HH with a girl who had a 142, 3.7 GPA and was accepted to Villanova. YA NEVER KNOW. But the most important part is is if you think you did everything and your best. Not everyone can dedicate three years of their life to this test to get the perfect score. What is your goal? To get into law school, to go debt-free, to be the best at the LSAT? You can achieve all three individually or simultaneously but that decision is up to you and what you're willing to do for it.

TheMikey

Assuming you are non-URM, probably out at all of your reaches, most likely in at your safeties and low chance at targets but I think if you get into any of your targets you may be paying sticker or will get very little money.

Taking a year off can be good, I recommend it so you can get a higher score to accompany that beautiful GPA! Plus, if you take a year off, you can pace yourself with LSAT studying and not rush it and be overwhelmed with grad school, work and the LSAT.

manneeagle57

So a few things:
If I take a year off to study, I'm still going to be running into the same issues I faced this summer where I'm balancing all three and won't be fully able to commit before the June or September exams. I work in higher ed so my crazy seasons are the weeks before both of those exams. I worked 80 hours the week before the June exam this year and 70 before the September. This is why I'm hesitant to retake because even if I do better on the LG and LR sections I'm going to be exhausted anyway.

In terms of URM status, my sexual orientation would be something to write about as I identify as LGBTQ but I dont use that as a primary identifyier so I feel slimy trying to leverage that for admission.

So ultimately, thoughts on an lsat addendum actually being useful as well as a diversity statement?

Alex

There's really no such thing as "reverse" splitters. Law schools care so much about the LSAT that a good GPA cannot offset a low LSAT score the way a high LSAT score can offset a low GPA.

I would retake. You probably would get WL at Fordham, BC, BU and maybe get into one at sticker. If you can get a 163 or so, you should have a great shot at all 3 of those schools. You have a great GPA and with a higher LSAT score, any school you dream of would be in play. The only reason H needs to be a reach is if you don't retake

Good luck

NotMyName

There's really no such thing as "reverse" splitters. Law schools care so much about the LSAT that a good GPA cannot offset a low LSAT score the way a high LSAT score can offset a low GPA.

I would retake. You probably would get WL at Fordham, BC, BU and maybe get into one at sticker. If you can get a 163 or so, you should have a great shot at all 3 of those schools. You have a great GPA and with a higher LSAT score, any school you dream of would be in play. The only reason H needs to be a reach is if you don't retake

@"Alex Divine" @manneeagle57 This sounds correct to me. It is the reality of the situation. We all have finite resources and it's up to us to do the best with what we got or change the equation.