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Related Discussions
To wait or not to wait..
withrow53
Free Trial Member
So, I am conflicted on what to do.
I have a 2.93 GPA and my June LSAT was 149. I am retaking in November.
Should I begin applying when the cycle starts in a week?
Should I wait til after scores are posted for the November test?
Even more, should I wait til the grades for the semester are posted and then apply? (mid-December).
I am not trying to get into any T14 or hell even T20 schools, I know my numbers aren't good enough. So I am aiming for realistic schools that I may actually have a chance in.
Comments
Definitely wait until scores are out for the November test. It's definitely okay to go to a school outside of the T14/T20, but the schools you could get into with a 2.93 and 149 are quite frankly not worth spending three years of your life and money on. You didn't mention your practice/goal LSAT scores, but with a high enough score you could get into a respectable school with good employment outcomes. If you reasonably think that your GPA will be higher after December, then I would wait for that too. Any boost will help. If you apply right when they come out, your app won't be too late.
I think there are two things to balance here:
early applications might give an individual a better chance of gaining admission
vs.
applying with better stats at a slightly later date.
I'm not an expert on these matters but a chance to apply with better numbers in my experience far outweighs the potential boost from an earlier application, given some general boundaries of when one applies: I wouldn't submit that this benefit necessarily holds if one waits till April to apply. If it were me: I would crush this semester in school and try to raise that GPA to a 3.0, I would then try to raise that 149 to a 157+ in the coming 80 days. You become such a better candidate by waiting till December, that I don't think you'll regret it.
David
Full disclosure, I am starting to navigate the admissions process myself and am not an expert.
My highest practice score has been between 151-155, but I also haven't been practicing much. So I know if I keep it up til test time I can bring my numbers up.
I am also quite confident that after the fall semester my GPA will hit at least 3.0 or more.
I have an addendum explaining my grades (ten years of not caring/wasting away opportunities). So, even if I bring it up a bit I still want to include that.
@BinghamtonDave I completely agree with you. I am not an expert as I am also in the process of applying to law school. But I do have a friend who is a 3L at UT Law (T20 School).
He didn't have the best GPA or LSAT coming into applications. In fact I think he scored mid150s.
He got into a lower rank law school and transferred to UT after his first year.
Doing very well now and loves every bit of it.
Again I am no expert, I am not telling you to transfer. I was only mentioning this to tell you that it's not the end of the world if you don't attend a T14 or a well known law school.
I do believe that you can have a much higher score than your current one with more practice. If I were you, I would finish school and try to boost your GPA as much as you can and then focus everything on the LSAT!
I think you should seriously consider postponing your applications and improving your lsat. Postponing sucks but it's an investment in your future. It gives you time to get into better schools, reduce cost of attendance w scholarships, access better jobs after law school, reduce your chances of unemployment after law school, improve your chances of passing the bar your first time after law school (this might be a correlation but worth considering), and, not to mention, may actually help you perform better in law school since the lsat does have some predictive power in that regard.
As a side note, I don't think that "not caring for ten years" makes a very compelling addendum- people usually write addenda for things like severe medical issues, taking care of a family member, etc.
Agreed! The "lazy" addendum only works if you can show that you changed. In my case, my underclassmen GPA was a 3.3 and my upperclassmen GPA was a 3.7 so the "lazy" addendum works since it becomes an addendum of maturity and taking personal responsibility.
Another option that you have would be to get a couple years of work experience while you study for the LSAT to distance yourself from the GPA
I agree with pretty much everything said above. You can raise that score! Especially if you haven't really been studying too much. While transferring is always an option, that's a dangerous mindset to have going into your 1L year. You'd be putting a tremendous amount of pressure on yourself. Assuming you finish the year top of your class and then get accepted to a higher ranking school, from what I've heard you'd stuck with no chance at receiving financial aid from the new school.
I guess to be more specific. I spent 10 years in active addiction. I have 5.5 years clean and have been going to school the last 3 almost 3.5 years. Since I began school again I have received 4.0 every semester.
That's definitely more of a comeback story!
Wait. It sucks but it's going to be more worth your time and money to postpone and wait. Increase the LSAT and have a better chance at any possible scholarships. Not to mention a decent increase will hopefully place you in a school with a successful track record in placing students.
Applying in December has also been shown to not hurt your odds of admissions. While applying earlier is always better, December and early January apps aren't the perceived threat to your application.
Thanks for all the feedback everyone. It definitely helped
Definitely wait, 100%. With you old score, you only have space to grow, so use this chance to show "growth". I also am in a similar situation where I have a sub 3.0 GPA, and initially didn't do well on the LSATs, but by showing improvement in the LSAT's and focusing on persistence in my personal statement, even with a relatively low score, I was able to get acceptances in 2 top twenty schools. I think law school admissions people look at LSAT scores over time a lot more than the SATs, for example.
If you're asking whether to wait until the scores come in before applying, then the answer is also to wait. Schools mostly don't even look at an application unless it's labeled "complete" by LSAC, and that label isn't given until the day your latest indicated LSAT score comes out. So there is absolutely no point in applying before then.
Hope this helps, and good luck