Low GPA (good LSAT) - opinions for admissions?

christian_tejerachristian_tejera Member
in Law School Admissions 71 karma

So my UGPA ended at a 3.1, but I don't know how my CAS GPA will look like, and fear it could be significantly worse- around a 2.8 even. I re-took several failed classes, so replacing an F or D with a B or A on 3 occasions helped my GPA quite a bit on my school's transcript, but it seems CAS won't calculate it that way.
On the bright side, I'm scoring mid to high 160's currently on practices and feel confident that by my second LSAT take, likely November, I'll achieve the 170 I'm aiming for, or at least a 167+.
Using 7sage's law school predictor with these numbers (2.8, 170) has had me rather confident about my chances for the schools I'm hoping for 20-40 ranked, with UF my #1 choice. 7sage predictor puts me at 85% chance for UF.

I have two questions - one, is that law school predictor very reliable? Because I'm kind of shocked that good schools would really want me if my CAS GPA comes out that low, knowing how high most applicants' GPAs are. (I know LSAT is a big factor, but the GPA difference seems so big that, to me, a score just above L75 wouldn't reconcile that. I could well be wrong, though). And two, anyone else who applied with low GPA can speak from experience how their admissions went, or just anyone with the knowledge?

Any help or advice is very much appreciated.

Comments

  • RtahlovRtahlov Member
    65 karma

    I have a friend who took the LSAT last year and he graduated undergrad with a 2.9, yet his LSAT was a 171. He applied to a lot of high rated schools and got into all of them, many with a scholarship. I wouldn't worry about GPA too much. Focus on scoring a 170+ and writing a great personal statement that would explain the shortcomings in your GPA.

    Wishing you success! You got this

  • ColdBrew180ColdBrew180 Member
    156 karma

    Have you looked at LawSchoolNumbers . com? Super helpful to look up schools and see who has been admitted with similar stats. You can also search your specific stats, see similar users and where they were accepted.

  • christian_tejerachristian_tejera Member
    71 karma

    @Rtahlov said:
    I have a friend who took the LSAT last year and he graduated undergrad with a 2.9, yet his LSAT was a 171. He applied to a lot of high rated schools and got into all of them, many with a scholarship. I wouldn't worry about GPA too much. Focus on scoring a 170+ and writing a great personal statement that would explain the shortcomings in your GPA.

    Wishing you success! You got this

    That's very relieving for me to hear. Thank you! I most definitely plan to write a killer statement which addresses the GPA.
    Any chance, would you know which of these high rated schools he was admitted into? Just to have a clearer idea of what I could be aiming for.

  • christian_tejerachristian_tejera Member
    71 karma

    @ColdBrew180 said:
    Have you looked at LawSchoolNumbers . com? Super helpful to look up schools and see who has been admitted with similar stats. You can also search your specific stats, see similar users and where they were accepted.

    Never had heard of that until now. Very helpful site and makes me feel confident about my upcoming admissions. Thank you!

  • BullfroggerBullfrogger Member
    184 karma

    Not answering your original question but I wouldn't recommend writing about your low gpa in your personal statement. I would just use and addendum if you want to address the low gpa and write your personal statement about a different topic, ideally one that highlights your positive attributes.

  • Elizabeth-4Elizabeth-4 Core Member
    17 karma

    I talked with one of guys from 7sage and he said that LSAT scores are so important, it's "almost" the only thing that matters.

  • VerdantZephyrVerdantZephyr Member ⭐
    2054 karma

    In the top 14 you are going to be fighting an uphill battle even with a 175. Outside of that many schools are happy to look at high LSAT super-splitters and some even give large scholarships. If you google splitter friendly law schools a list will come up, I forget what site it was on, may even have been 7sage. Arizona State is very splitter friendly for example. I am in a similar position, only more extreme. I have around a 2.5 and think I will probably score 175+ . It is a huge toss-up at that point anywhere. I could get full rides or rejected anywhere and I think that, while as long as you are above a three it will be less extreme, you may have similar results. They say the best thing to do is cast a wide net, apply to any school you are interested in within reason, and see what comes up. If you can score high enough on the LSAT you may even get fee waivers for applications. That is what I am hoping to do.

  • christian_tejerachristian_tejera Member
    71 karma

    @VerdantZephyr said:
    In the top 14 you are going to be fighting an uphill battle even with a 175. Outside of that many schools are happy to look at high LSAT super-splitters and some even give large scholarships. If you google splitter friendly law schools a list will come up, I forget what site it was on, may even have been 7sage. Arizona State is very splitter friendly for example. I am in a similar position, only more extreme. I have around a 2.5 and think I will probably score 175+ . It is a huge toss-up at that point anywhere. I could get full rides or rejected anywhere and I think that, while as long as you are above a three it will be less extreme, you may have similar results. They say the best thing to do is cast a wide net, apply to any school you are interested in within reason, and see what comes up. If you can score high enough on the LSAT you may even get fee waivers for applications. That is what I am hoping to do.

    Thanks, I hadn't known that splitter-friendly schools were a known thing.
    I'm sure with your target score you'll have great success with admissions + scholarships. Good luck.

  • VerdantZephyrVerdantZephyr Member ⭐
    2054 karma

    @cbran052 said:

    Thanks, I hadn't known that splitter-friendly schools were a known thing.
    I'm sure with your target score you'll have great success with admissions + scholarships. Good luck.

    Thanks, I wish I shared your confidence. I feel like a near full ride is a necessity for me, and it is stressing me out.

  • ShiftingScalesShiftingScales Alum Member
    21 karma

    In addition to Law School Numbers you can also check out Law School Data. In either case, take note of waitlisted as well as accepted students. Sometimes they don't update their status and were actually accepted. Also take a look at that data over a couple year period to see if there are any trends. Some T-14s don't have anyone listed under 3.0 for the last five years, while others didn't use to accept them but have recently been accepting more.

    I attended a mock application review session at a T-20 and the admissions members said an applicant with a below 25% GPA can balance their packet with an above 75% LSAT score. A rep at a T-10 told me they have reviewers specifically for 2nd look candidates like splitters or below both medians.

    Here are a couple charts of interest.
    https://www.reddit.com/r/lawschooladmissions/comments/iu6ps2/we_review_holistically_harvard_virginia_and/
    https://www.reddit.com/r/lawschooladmissions/comments/ide0sk/the_25ish_as_distance_between_25_to_75_lsats_and/

  • RtahlovRtahlov Member
    65 karma

    That's very relieving for me to hear. Thank you! I most definitely plan to write a killer statement which addresses the GPA.
    Any chance, would you know which of these high rated schools he was admitted into? Just to have a clearer idea of what I could be aiming for.

    @ColdBrew180 said:
    Have you looked at LawSchoolNumbers . com? Super helpful to look up schools and see who has been admitted with similar stats. You can also search your specific stats, see similar users and where they were accepted.

    While I do not remember the name of the schools, I do remember that the medians for all of them were in the 165 -168 range.

  • kilgoretroutkilgoretrout Alum Member
    795 karma

    I'm also applying with a low GPA - around a 3.2, aiming to have my second LSAT score above a 165. Let me say that looking at reddit or other law school admissions forums has made me feel terrible about my chances and I wasted a lot of time dwelling on that instead of studying. I'm happy to see people in the same boat as me staying positive. I'm also writing a GPA addendum so let me know if you'd like someone to brainstorm with.

  • christian_tejerachristian_tejera Member
    71 karma

    @kilgoretrout said:
    I'm also applying with a low GPA - around a 3.2, aiming to have my second LSAT score above a 165. Let me say that looking at reddit or other law school admissions forums has made me feel terrible about my chances and I wasted a lot of time dwelling on that instead of studying. I'm happy to see people in the same boat as me staying positive. I'm also writing a GPA addendum so let me know if you'd like someone to brainstorm with.

    You know I hadn't even known about GPA addendum! I was just planning to address it in my personal statement, but that sounds like a far better option. I'd love to hear more about how that is going for you and maybe can offer some advice of my own too. Feel free to message me!

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