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Splitter success stories? (2017-2018 cycle)

Hey guys,

My stats are 174 LSAT, 3.15 GPA from top 15 university, non-URM, and decent softs. I'm preparing my applications to send sometime next week. Blanketing the top 14 (minus HYS) and adding UCLA, Vandy, USC, WUSTL, and Emory. I'm considering applying ED2 Penn -- anyone know how my chances would look?

As I've read literally everywhere, my GPA means this cycle is going to be an unpredictable one. I was wondering if anyone had any splitter success stories, or words of advice to help keep my motivation up. For those studying for the LSAT or applying right now, good luck! :smile:

Peace,
AP

Comments

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    23929 karma

    @AmateurProphet said:
    Hey guys,

    My stats are 174 LSAT, 3.15 GPA from top 15 university, non-URM, and decent softs. I'm preparing my applications to send sometime next week. Blanketing the top 14 (minus HYS) and adding UCLA, Vandy, USC, WUSTL, and Emory. I'm considering applying ED2 Penn -- anyone know how my chances would look?

    As I've read literally everywhere, my GPA means this cycle is going to be an unpredictable one. I was wondering if anyone had any splitter success stories, or words of advice to help keep my motivation up. For those studying for the LSAT or applying right now, good luck! :smile:

    Peace,
    AP

    Apply broadly and you will undoubtedly have great options. People have gotten into all schools Columbia down with your LSAT score. You will almost 100% get $$/$$$ from WUSTL, Emory, UCLA, etc.

  • AmateurProphetAmateurProphet Alum Member
    183 karma

    @"Alex Divine" Thanks for the insight, that's definitely reassuring. What do you think about ED2 Penn with my stats? It's not my first choice over columbia/NYU but I'd be really happy to go there. Appreciate your input

  • KalayaanKalayaan Alum Member
    213 karma

    Yes, please. I too need some motivation while studying for the June exam.

    Anyway, there are splitters on r/lawschooladmissions with acceptances at several T14, including UVA, Penn, Mich. Just off the top of my head.

    With your LSAT, you'll probably get in at some T14 and some great $$$ at T20. Be ready to write some LOCIs. Still, it's pretty early in the cycle.

  • Leah M BLeah M B Alum Member
    edited January 2018 8392 karma

    I don't know a lot about ED at Penn specifically. Is there a guaranteed scholarship? Not sure of your financial situation, but if scholarship money matters to you then ED is rarely a great choice unless there is a guaranteed scholarship amount (like Northwestern, which has a guaranteed $150k scholarship with ED acceptance). You can really get screwed financially in having a binding decision but no leverage to negotiate scholarship money. If you got in ED at Penn with no or low money and then were offered a big scholarship at Columbia or something, you might regret it. Again, it depends on your personal financial situation.

    Have you checked out MyLSN? It's a little tougher to predict with splitters, but here's a general look at odds with your numbers:

    http://mylsn.info/06ax3j/

    And here it is for ED only with your numbers (though doesn't split out ED2, not sure if that is significantly different):
    http://mylsn.info/e7u3l1/

    Here's one with a little range to the input to get a broader picture:
    http://mylsn.info/frelcy/

  • AmateurProphetAmateurProphet Alum Member
    183 karma

    @Kalayaan Wow that's the dream for me. You should check the motivational post by @LSATcantwin, it helped me a lot. Also know that I went from low 160's to my first take of 174 in December -- anything is possible

    @"Leah M B" Thanks for sharing the mylsn tables, it's really helpful. Been on the site a few times but never know how to interpret it since there are such few data points for splitters. You should definitely keep berkeley and cornell on the list, as I know several people with similar stats who got in last cycle. Good luck!

  • DatguyM15DatguyM15 Alum Member
    211 karma

    Just got into Texas today with a 167 and a 3.12. A 174 is a lock for $$$ outside t14 and almost a lock to get into most t14's with some money.

    You have no reason to worry.

  • DatguyM15DatguyM15 Alum Member
    211 karma

    Also, I read an article/ blog that talked about how given the LSAT curve and the total number of high scorers the top 8 schools will accept most people with a 175 or higher score. They have to do it in order to keep their median numbers high for their rankings.

  • g00g00shg00g00sh Member
    119 karma

    @DatguyM15 said:
    Also, I read an article/ blog that talked about how given the LSAT curve...

    Do you have a link or source for this?

  • LSATcantwinLSATcantwin Alum Member Sage
    13286 karma

    Mannnn being a splitter sucks! I wish I could go back 10 years and kick 18 year old me in the ass....haha

  • OlamHafuchOlamHafuch Alum Member
    2326 karma

    @DatguyM15 said:
    Also, I read an article/ blog that talked about how given the LSAT curve and the total number of high scorers the top 8 schools will accept most people with a 175 or higher score. They have to do it in order to keep their median numbers high for their rankings.

    Don't really get this. No school has a median of over 173, so I don't know why 175 would be the magic number to protect medians. With regard protecting a median of 173, there's no difference between a 174 and a 180.

  • OlamHafuchOlamHafuch Alum Member
    2326 karma

    Unless you mean to protect the 75% number, but even then, there are only two schools with a 75 percentile of 175 or over.

  • PearsonSpecterLittUpPearsonSpecterLittUp Alum Member
    588 karma

    Just commenting to bring this post back to relevance :)

  • AmateurProphetAmateurProphet Alum Member
    183 karma

    In at Penn! :smile:

  • PearsonSpecterLittUpPearsonSpecterLittUp Alum Member
    588 karma

    Did you end up applying ED to Penn?? AND THAT'S AMAZING, CONGRATS!!!

  • AlexAlex Alum Member
    23929 karma

    @AmateurProphet said:
    In at Penn! :smile:

    Another one of my top choices! Where does it fall on your list of choices?

  • AmateurProphetAmateurProphet Alum Member
    183 karma

    @"adi.pickles" Yeah I ended up doing ED2. Thanks! I'm so excited.

    @"Alex Divine" Honestly it was a toss up between penn and nyu for my 2nd choice after columbia, but I think ED was the right move with my extreme splitter status and the increase in high scoring apps this cycle. Do you know if this means I have a 0% chance of money?

  • splitter_sagasplitter_saga Free Trial Member
    edited August 2018 60 karma

    @AmateurProphet update on your cycle? i'll be a splitter applying in the future and wondering how high up I can aim

  • LCMama2017LCMama2017 Alum Member
    2134 karma

    @LSATcantwin said:
    Mannnn being a splitter sucks! I wish I could go back 10 years and kick 18 year old me in the ass....haha

    Me and you both... yep, sucks.

  • abella123abella123 Alum Member
    72 karma

    What kind of scholarships can you get from UCLA with a 170+ LSAT and similar GPA? Do they give full-rides?

  • akistotleakistotle Member 🍌🍌
    9372 karma

    @aciss038 said:
    What kind of scholarships can you get from UCLA with a 170+ LSAT and similar GPA? Do they give full-rides?

    There are a few samples, but here is a list of people who applied to UCLA with LSAT 170-180 and GPA 3.0-3.2 on Law School Numbers:
    http://mylsn.info/dispresults.php?sk=jz63b1&school=ucla&sort=money

  • abella123abella123 Alum Member
    72 karma

    @akistotle said:

    @aciss038 said:
    What kind of scholarships can you get from UCLA with a 170+ LSAT and similar GPA? Do they give full-rides?

    There are a few samples, but here is a list of people who applied to UCLA with LSAT 170-180 and GPA 3.0-3.2 on Law School Numbers:
    http://mylsn.info/dispresults.php?sk=jz63b1&school=ucla&sort=money

    Thanks for this! Reminds me that I really need to kill this September 2018 LSAT.

  • tylerdschreur10tylerdschreur10 Alum Member
    1465 karma

    I applied to the whole t14, still waiting on most schools. But I'll share the responses I've gotten, as usual for a splitter (176, 3.56) very inconsistent. I've been accepted at Texas; waiting on aid info, accepted at UofM;120k scholly, waitlisted at duke, rejected by cornell.

  • SprinklesSprinkles Alum Member
    11542 karma

    @tylerdschreur10 said:
    I applied to the whole t14, still waiting on most schools. But I'll share the responses I've gotten, as usual for a splitter (176, 3.56) very inconsistent. I've been accepted at Texas; waiting on aid info, accepted at UofM;120k scholly, waitlisted at duke, rejected by cornell.

    Are you putting this info on LSN? congrats on your acceptances!

  • m.c lshopefulm.c lshopeful Alum Member
    614 karma

    I looked at a lot of the data and it appears that Cornell rejects any LSAT if it doesn't come with a super-high GPA. Are they like a mini-Yale in terms of having an academic focus?

  • CPAtoJDCPAtoJD Member
    edited February 2018 112 karma

    Apologies if this is a silly question. What is a splitter? Assuming it's a gap between LSAT score and GPA?

    Congrats on Penn!

  • PearsonSpecterLittUpPearsonSpecterLittUp Alum Member
    588 karma

    From what I (briefly) saw on LSN, it appears that Cornell is rejecting (or the occasional waitlisting) everyone with a 172+ LSAT this cycle, even with GPAs of 3.75+. So my guessing is Yield protection :neutral:

  • SprinklesSprinkles Alum Member
    edited February 2018 11542 karma

    @CPAtoJD said:
    Apologies if this is a silly question. What is a splitter? Assuming it's a gap between LSAT score and GPA?

    Yep it's basically an applicant whose GPA is at/below the school's 25th percentile and LSAT that's at/above the school's 75th percentile.

  • CPAtoJDCPAtoJD Member
    112 karma

    @Sprinkles said:

    @CPAtoJD said:
    Apologies if this is a silly question. What is a splitter? Assuming it's a gap between LSAT score and GPA?

    Yep it's basically an applicant whose GPA is at/below the school's 25th percentile and LSAT that's at/above the school's 75th percentile.

    Got it, thanks!

  • tylerdschreur10tylerdschreur10 Alum Member
    1465 karma

    @adillpickle said:
    From what I (briefly) saw on LSN, it appears that Cornell is rejecting (or the occasional waitlisting) everyone with a 172+ LSAT this cycle, even with GPAs of 3.75+. So my guessing is Yield protection :neutral:

    That's frustrating. I really like Cornell and I wrote what I thought was a very convincing Why Cornell. Yield protection seems like such a shortsighted and detrimental strategy. Ugh

    But I guess it's better than telling myself my 3.56 is too low for the t14

  • m.c lshopefulm.c lshopeful Alum Member
    edited April 2018 614 karma

    .

  • PearsonSpecterLittUpPearsonSpecterLittUp Alum Member
    588 karma

    Any more splitter successes this cycle?? :)

  • BirdLaw818BirdLaw818 Free Trial Member
    553 karma

    @AmateurProphet said:
    Hey guys,

    My stats are 174 LSAT, 3.15 GPA from top 15 university, non-URM, and decent softs. I'm preparing my applications to send sometime next week. Blanketing the top 14 (minus HYS) and adding UCLA, Vandy, USC, WUSTL, and Emory. I'm considering applying ED2 Penn -- anyone know how my chances would look?

    As I've read literally everywhere, my GPA means this cycle is going to be an unpredictable one. I was wondering if anyone had any splitter success stories, or words of advice to help keep my motivation up. For those studying for the LSAT or applying right now, good luck! :smile:

    Peace,
    AP

    I'll be straight, I've heard that this was a tough cycle. But, your LSAT is great so chances are you'll get some very decent offers. I had a 169, 3.28 and was accepted to UCI and some lower ranked schools, waitlisted at UCLA and Vandy, and rejected by USC and Penn. I didnt apply early so that may also be a factor.

    my friend had a 3.8 and a 161 but was waitlisted at UCLA and UCI and rejected from USC.

    I hoped that my 169 would be good enough for USC and UCLA, and I saw many acceptances on LSN with lower numbers and similar GPA, but again, these were people that possibly applied earlier or didnt report accurately.

    This cycle, I feel like they were super tough on low GPAs. Maybe because of an increase in applications. Who knows. F*** em.

  • westcoastbestcoastwestcoastbestcoast Alum Member
    3788 karma

    @Kewlaidd said:

    @AmateurProphet said:
    Hey guys,

    My stats are 174 LSAT, 3.15 GPA from top 15 university, non-URM, and decent softs. I'm preparing my applications to send sometime next week. Blanketing the top 14 (minus HYS) and adding UCLA, Vandy, USC, WUSTL, and Emory. I'm considering applying ED2 Penn -- anyone know how my chances would look?

    As I've read literally everywhere, my GPA means this cycle is going to be an unpredictable one. I was wondering if anyone had any splitter success stories, or words of advice to help keep my motivation up. For those studying for the LSAT or applying right now, good luck! :smile:

    Peace,
    AP

    I'll be straight, I've heard that this was a tough cycle. But, your LSAT is great so chances are you'll get some very decent offers. I had a 169, 3.28 and was accepted to UCI and some lower ranked schools, waitlisted at UCLA and Vandy, and rejected by USC and Penn. I didnt apply early so that may also be a factor.

    my friend had a 3.8 and a 161 but was waitlisted at UCLA and UCI and rejected from USC.

    I hoped that my 169 would be good enough for USC and UCLA, and I saw many acceptances on LSN with lower numbers and similar GPA, but again, these were people that possibly applied earlier or didnt report accurately.

    This cycle, I feel like they were super tough on low GPAs. Maybe because of an increase in applications. Who knows. F*** em.

    How are your softs, PS and LORs? The increase applications allowed law schools to be more choosy and select based on factors that they otherwise wouldnt have considered as much

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