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Active Duty Military

goodluckgoodluck Member
in Law School Admissions 13 karma

Hello all, just looking for some advice on admission for someone getting out of the military.

Long story short - I initially learned in July that I was facing a possible medical discharge from the military (discharge will 100% be honorable). I had always intended to go to law school following the military, but this made the timeline much tighter than I would have preferred. I began studying for the LSAT, and took it in September. I did poorly, I scored on the low end of what my practice tests were (151-161 for PTs, all progressing towards 161...I scored 153 in September). So I signed up for the January LSAT knowing that I'd just have to apply later in the cycle to ensure I'd have time to study for the January test.

For some context:
My undergraduate degree is in electrical engineering from Penn State, however, I graduated with a 2.99 GPA. I made some mistakes as a freshman/sophomore, and really turned it around my junior/senior years, just missing the 3.0. Following school, I worked using my degree for 2.5 years before I decided to join the military. In that time, I took some grad classes and had a 4.0 GPA.

I now know I AM being medically discharged, likely in June/July. My fiance and I would like to stay near where I am currently stationed, near Nashville, TN. There are only two viable options (in my mind) for law school in Nashville, Vanderbilt and Belmont. Now, obviously, I'd love to go to Vanderbilt, but I know that it is a long shot and a stretch for my past academic performance.

I guess my question revolves around the January/February LSAT dates. In an ideal world, I'd have applied before today, but the world that was handed to me not ideal (the best laid plans of mice and men...), and I'm looking for advice as to whether I ought to apply this year, or wait another cycle. Is the January/February timeline too late to apply to a stretch school with my low GPA? What score range should I be looking at on my LSAT before I need to look in the mirror and understand that Vandy is not a viable option? I'd love to score 170, but I realistically expect I can manage around a 165.

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Comments

  • ostephanzostephanz Member
    2 karma

    Goodluck, I am also transitioning active duty military and do sincerely wish you the best of luck in your endeavor. Bottom line, don't rule anything out just because of your GPA. It is A factor, not THE factor in admissions processes. The question I pose to myself regarding whether to apply this or next year is solely based around my transition timeline and how I will best be able to support my family. If that's not a concern for you, and you can afford either year, go to Vanderbilt Law's webpage and see what their standards. They should have all kinds of data about the admissions process and each freshman class such as the max, min, and median undergrad GPAs, LSATs, ethnicities represented, work experience, number of veterans etc. If you're ready to get out (or not and being forced out) then see where you fit in their historic data, but there truly are no black and white indicators on which school you can/can't get in to. Shoot your shot.

  • MarkmarkMarkmark Alum Member
    976 karma

    I'm active duty too and I learned something useful from contacting some admissions officers. Admissions generally does look quite favorably on military applicants but they can't officially say they give veterans any concrete preference in admissions like the quota system in affirmative action used to function. That said we may have a stronger chance at reach schools due to our soft application qualities

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