Ridiculously personalized question about application window. Read me if you dare.

cqas190517

Hi all, I have a weird question.

I’m a 34-year old active duty Marine looking to apply to law school on the GI Bill. I have four classes left to finish my BS, and my GPA is only a 2.94 thanks to a recent statistics class (seriously, F statistics). I have “diversity” up the wazoo and tons of life experiences to draw on for my essays, and I’m aiming for a 170+ LSAT score (sitting in September). I’m finishing up the CC and reviewing/PTing now and my cold diagnostic in June with no formal background in logic was a 150. (Yes, I realize many will think I should move my test date back but I cannot change it without losing the payment for it, and I’m taking a week off work to just do LSAT prep, and I’m also a very good tester).

Based on median LSAT scores on US News, I’m looking at:

Harvard (dream)
UCLA (realistic)
UC Irvine (realistic)
University of San Diego (safety)

So should I apply with the 2.94 GPA when the cycle opens in October/November, hope that all my “diversity” and experience (I litigated my own divorce as a pro per against an ACTUAL attorney and got everything I wanted, and I’m handling my TPR case against said Ex as well as the adoption case myself, parental rights are already terminated woot woot!) sells my application, or should I wait to finish the two classes I’m taking this fall and apply in December with a GPA at or above 3.0? How big of a deal is the GPA in my situation? Thanks for any info you have!

Kermit750

I'm no expert on how schools view GPAs, but I would believe that any additional boost would be to your advantage. That being said, applying in December might be best. However, if you can pull a 170+ in September, I would suggest applying once apps open, and then updating schools with your recent GPA come December. Unfortunately, your experience might not help much without the numbers. Hope this helps. Good luck!

samantha.ashley92

Hey! First, congrats on winning those legal battles! Seriously, I hope you're very proud of that and are somehow incorporating it into your application (probably your personal statement). For a real shot at Harvard with a GPA under the 25th percentile, you would need an LSAT score in the upper 170s. That being said, I would absolutely wait for your GPA to bump up a little more, especially considering that you could hit that 3.0 mark. Applying in December does give you a little less of an advantage in terms of scholarships, but you'll be fine otherwise. If you want a chance at applying early decision somewhere and increasing your admissions odds, wait until the next application cycle. Btw, I'm also looking at UCI! I love California, and they got bumped up to #21 in 2019 rankings. They also have high bar pass rates, employment post-grad, etc. If you and I both wind up there, I'm sure we will meet!

Good luck!
Sam

eRetaker

Are you able to delay a cycle and apply the following year? Cause you would have significantly better chances getting the GPA above 3.0, studying more for the LSAT, and applying early for Fall 2020 instead. Also depends what your diversity factors are.

akistotle

@cqas190517 said:
Hi all, I have a weird question.

I’m a 34-year old active duty Marine looking to apply to law school on the GI Bill. I have four classes left to finish my BS, and my GPA is only a 2.94 thanks to a recent statistics class (seriously, F statistics). I have “diversity” up the wazoo and tons of life experiences to draw on for my essays, and I’m aiming for a 170+ LSAT score (sitting in September). I’m finishing up the CC and reviewing/PTing now and my cold diagnostic in June with no formal background in logic was a 150. (Yes, I realize many will think I should move my test date back but I cannot change it without losing the payment for it, and I’m taking a week off work to just do LSAT prep, and I’m also a very good tester).

Based on median LSAT scores on US News, I’m looking at:

Harvard (dream)
UCLA (realistic)
UC Irvine (realistic)
University of San Diego (safety)

So should I apply with the 2.94 GPA when the cycle opens in October/November, hope that all my “diversity” and experience (I litigated my own divorce as a pro per against an ACTUAL attorney and got everything I wanted, and I’m handling my TPR case against said Ex as well as the adoption case myself, parental rights are already terminated woot woot!) sells my application, or should I wait to finish the two classes I’m taking this fall and apply in December with a GPA at or above 3.0? How big of a deal is the GPA in my situation? Thanks for any info you have!

Wow, congrats on winning the legal battles!

That being said, as you may know, it is largely about the numbers in law school admissions:
https://7sage.com/admissions/lesson/affects-chances-getting-law-school/

Your GPA matters a lot. But your priority should be the LSAT now if you are currently not taking classes.

It's not easy to make a 20-point jump from your diagnostics, and unless your current PT average is 170+, it isn't likely that you will get 170+ on the September LSAT, which is just few weeks away. It's possible, but it isn't likely.

You can use 7Sage's to predict your results: https://7sage.com/predictor/

Leah M B

There’s some good advice here already. I definitely think you should wait until you have the 3.0. Either way you’re going to be a splitter, but there does seem to be a cut off at many schools around a 3.0. If you apply before securing that GPA, it’s be riskier of being rejected. Especially since there’s no distance from your GPA, I would suggest applying with the best one you can. If you could even somehow take an extra class (an easy online class from a community college even), I think it would help. You can always study more for the LSAT, but once your degree is done, there’s nothing you can do to change your GPA.

I think you would be putting yourself in a better position waiting another year if you can. I think a 170+ LSAT would be necessary to give you a shot at one of those schools. I don’t know what your most recent PT score is, but unless you’re scoring in the 170s now, it’s unlikely you’ll hit that in September. You really will need to put forth your best possible application in order to overcome the GPA.

LivingThatLSATdream

What is your current PT score average? That should determine whether you should take the Sept test or postpone, not the $190 you spent on the test. You can call LSAC and ask them to change your test date, I've heard of them doing it for no fee recently and very close to test dates. If money is a serious concern you can also apply for the LSAC fee waiver.

If that F is recent, I would talk to your professor or the dean to see if they can replace it with an Incomplete (I) - then do whatever possible to boost the grade or even a retroactive Withdraw(W). This may be possible due to extenuating circumstances.

Additionally, do NOT finish your BS without taking as many classes as possible that can boost your uGPA. If you have four classes left to finish, draw it out! Get a bunch of As this semester then next semester take more classes and get more As. Postpone law school till next year. As @"Leah M B" mentioned, once you graduate your uGPA is set in stone. I think you have to have your undergrad degree by June/July of the year you attend law school. You could theoretically take 3 more semesters, after this one. UCLA and UCI have 25th percentile uGPAs at 3.54 and 3.38. I would attempt to get my GPA as close to those numbers as possible.

_oshun1_

Handling your own divorce case isn't a diversity factor...it isnt even a soft factor. Being a marine will be a good soft factor. Tread lightly on bragging about terminating someone's parental rights if that's what you'll be writing your personal statement on. Your PS shouldn't be just revolving around talking about your kids mother.
You likely won't hit a 170 within...a week...with a most recent 150 score.
I also don't think it will make a difference if you apply with a 2.9 in october or a 3.0 in a couple months after that. If you get a 150, you'll be an auto reject from those schools aside from U of SD. If you get your expected 170+ then adcomms will likely mull over your application for a while which will give you time to send in your updated transcripts. Last year when I applied, high ranked schools like Stanford would not even review my application and marked my application as "incomplete" until they received an updated transcript with the last 3 classes I took.
Also, if you get 170+ there is no reason to apply to U of SD.

I agree with the above commentors that you should postpone getting your bachelor's degree so you can boost your gpa.

Kalayaan

Your goal is 170+. I wouldn't sit for the LSAT unless your most 5 PTs are in the 70-80s with scores 170+. Given that you likely won't be able to do that by the September exam, I suggest you apply after you've taken the November exam and raised your GPA.