Chance me B2 2.9 LSAT 166

[Katmouse]

Hi, I’m hoping to get some opinions on if I even have any chance with these grades.

so first and foremost i would be applying access when available. A bit of background information

1. In my second semester of my second year of university, my father went missing, for a few weeks and was later found deceased. He was no longer married, his mother a wreck, and since I was his only adult child i became next of kin. I was responsible for everything. I suffered from survivors guilt, became severely depressed, retroactively withdrew from school for the semester. I did go back to school in the fall of year 3. My younger half brother was frequently in the psych ward for suicide watch and I was still struggling a lot mentally, and it was noticeable on my grades.

2. fall of year 3 a week before finals I got into a car accident. My car was written off 14k in damage and I was in a different city than my university with no vehicle. I was also see I dealing with bad whiplash. This causing me severe head and neck pain and an inability to sleep. I deferred my finals but it showed in my grades a combination of the above problems as well as the accident.

3. Covid, like for most was difficult for me. I don’t realize how much until about a year later. But I really struggled with online school.

4. my last semester of my final year I was diagnosed with ADHD. Long story short I misdiagnosed as a preteen with something else. Ironically a very high dose of the medication I was on helped lessen some ADHD symptoms. A week before finals I was put on a different medication and holy moly has it made a difference in literally every aspect of my life. Essentially all the problems I’ve had with focus, reading, writing, studying, paying attention…were almost eliminated. For 3/4 of my classes this change can be seen in my grades (all 80s). But for 1 class (French) the final was not worth that much and I ultimately got a 62 in the class.

I was hoping my LSAT score would be enough show these positive changes and why these issues are no longer a problem. But I continue to see on here people applying access (and being accepted) who have high gpa’s and high LSAT scores.  I’m very scared that this will not be enough and my grades would still be considered too low.

I spent my final year of university also working part time at legal aid as a legal assistant. I currently work as a legal assistant for the government. 
 

I would also have I would have 2 influential K.C lawyers as my references.

I am hoping to apply in Saskatchewan (home province) and Alberta and possibly Ontario. But I’m just questioning if I even have a chance.

All advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Renerik]

You definitely have a chance. It will come down to how the admissions teams assess your access claim. 

Ultimately schools only want to admit students that they think will succeed in law school. Your LSAT is definitely good, but it's not exceptional. Combined with your GPA, it'll take some convincing. Shoot your shot nonetheless. 

Many access applicants found success by taking additional courses post-degree to demonstrate that they are able to succeed academically. If things don't materialize after you apply, consider taking additional classes.

[danytea]

Have you considered taking a fifth year to demonstrate your ability and improve your gpa?

[Katmouse]

30 minutes ago, danytea said:

Have you considered taking a fifth year to demonstrate your ability and improve your gpa?

I’m thinking about possibly taking a few additional classes. They would have to be online or evening ones. But my main concern is when to take them. I was thinking spring/summer, but U of S doesn’t use spring summer classes when calculating gpa. But fall might be too late for other schools. Any thoughts? 

3 hours ago, Renerik said:

You definitely have a chance. It will come down to how the admissions teams assess your access claim. 

Ultimately schools only want to admit students that they think will succeed in law school. Your LSAT is definitely good, but it's not exceptional. Combined with your GPA, it'll take some convincing. Shoot your shot nonetheless. 

Many access applicants found success by taking additional courses post-degree to demonstrate that they are able to succeed academically. If things don't materialize after you apply, consider taking additional classes.

Thanks, I’m thinking taking a few extra classes is my best option. Hopefully showing improvement and bumping out some lower grades. Either that or retaking a few that were lower.