What level law school should I apply to? Splitter, lots of leadership

callaghane22

I have absolutely no guidance from my school and don't know anyone that has gone through this process, so looking for any guidance and advice you all can give me. I recieved a 171 on my first LSAT and am hoping for a 174-176 on my next one. My UG GPA is a 3.66 right now, but it is dragged down by my first semester of college when I got a 2.6. Since then, I have recieved either a 3.9 or 4.0 pretty much every semester. Should I be considering t14s? Should I write an addendum?
Will they appreciate an upward curve like in UG admissions or do they just look at the number and call it a day?

I have a ton of leadership roles as well- I am the president of tour guides at my school, am on Mock Trial and a couple other clubs. I don't have much in terms of law-based internships or anything but have a lot of work experience and am the head intern at Admissions for my school this year. I'm not sure if law schools consider this stuff at all or just say they do.

TLDR: Where should I be applying with a 174 (ish) and a 3.66??

samk

https://7sage.com/predictor/

JudgeRamzilla

so if you stick with that 171, apply everywhere but Yale and Stanford. Especially if you have a solid resume and written. Also do you have you have any A+'s on your transcript? If so, your GPA will definitely be higher than 3.66 when law schools look at your GPA because the LSAC measures A+'s as 4.33 out of a 4.0 grade scale. However, if you get 173 or higher, apply everywhere. Regardless, you're gonna go somewhere great and 'miracles' happen way more often than you think. That addendum should be written religiously. Best of luck!

Selene Steelman

Former admissions officer here. I would apply broadly and early. Based on your current stats, 171/3.66, it would be reasonable for you to apply to T15 schools. In order to stand out, I encourage you to craft a clear narrative and take advantage of the optional essays if possible.

I would encourage you to write a GPA addendum explaining your situation. Schools will take into consideration an upward trend in GPA.

The review process is a holistic review process. Think about what makes you attractive to law school and why they should want a person like you in their incoming class. Shape your narrative for your intended audience (the admissions committee). Good luck!

Logician

I’ll also chime in here in regards to retaking the LSAT. The only plausible scenario in which you retake a 170+ score is if you are extremely confident you will do better, and I don’t mean one or two points better. This decision should be based on empirical data, in other words, you’d better be scoring in the mid-high 170’s VERY consistently and even then, given the margins, there exists the possibility of scoring the same or worse. I’ll quote the dean of admissions at both Harvard and Yale “I would question someone’s judgement if they retake a 170’s score”.

This is not to say you absolutely shouldn’t, but it is risky, as scoring the same or lower on another take would likely diminish the light in which your current score is viewed; which is already in the highest echelons of the test.

In any case, good luck!

Coco_119

Go for the whole top 14 plus Texas, UCLA,... As a splitter, your results will be all over the place. I was a splitter with worse scores than you, I got into Michigan, and Texas but waitlisted at UCI, USC, UCLA, Davis. Just make sure, your essay(s) and application are perfect and ideally submit them early like before Thanksgiving.

vichinsky

Do splitters get decent money? or have to pay close to sticker price?

callaghane22

Thank you all so much! I had no idea that retaking on a 171 might not be a good idea. I am planning to cancel my August LSAT and considering taking in October if I could score much higher, but right now I am going to focus more on strengthening other aspects of my application.

mdf1960

Don't bother retaking the LSAT. Apply to the top 14 plus 2-3 safety schools.