How to interpret "Entering Class Profile"

Simbatron

Hey guys,

This might be a silly question but with the LSAT on Saturday I'm trying not to burn out by studying, but can't stop thinking about the LSAT so I have begun to browse different schools that I might be interested in's "Entering Class Profile." You know, the one that says 25% 50% and 75% GPA, LSAT, Age, etc. I'm wondering how I should interpret those profiles? If my numbers are solidly in the middle, that means I have a decent chance of being accepted, correct? What if my numbers are closer to the 25%, does that mean I still have a decent chance of acceptance?

alex.e92

Essentially all that this is doing is breaking the class into frequency distributions, so if the 25th percentile LSAT score in a class is a165, that means that 25% of the class members have LSAT scores that fall at or below a 165. The trouble is that we rarely know what the spread of data is (although some schools will also publish their range, which is nice). I would say that as a rule, if your scores are both at the 25th percentile then it's a pretty big reach, if your score's are both near the median (50th percentile) then it's probably a good school to target and if they're both near the 75th percentile then your odds are much higher. The math gets a little bit harder when, for example, one of your scores is at the 25th percentile and the other is at the 75th, then it comes down to the school and how their admissions formula weights GPA vs. LSAT - which is tough since many schools don't divulge this.

oh! and about the age thing. I was stressing about this recently because I noticed that 68% of the entering class profile for the school that I hope to attend was 2-3 years out of undergrad. I am going on 4 years out of undergrad! but I found a little * at the bottom of the page which said that age ranges accepted reflect the applicant pool, and that made me feel a lot better. This is probably typical, so I wouldn't worry too much about not being the average age or any of the other fun stats they post aside from GPA and LSAT.

Best of Luck on Saturday