Is there a chance? LSAT 143; 3.56 CGPA;

[johnlawschool]

This is my first time applying to law school and I'm anxious to see that nearly everyone's scores are much better than mine. I applied in the general category.

I have 9 months of legal assistant experience, volunteer lots, and have a strong personal statement. However, I feel that my LSAT is embarrassingly low. This legal assistant job takes nearly all of my time and I feel like I can't adequately prepare for it. I worked hard for my CGPA, but it suffered due other things I had going on during university. 

I took this job to see if I would like working in law. I'm now convinced that this is the thing for me. Seeing acceptances on this forum and comparing my scores is making me doubt that I'm cut out for this. Any advice would be kindly appreciated. 

[Hegdis]

You need to get a much better LSAT score to have a chance. 

[johnlawschool]

5 minutes ago, Hegdis said:

You need to get a much better LSAT score to have a chance. 

Thank you for the advice. I'll try my best to improve my score before the next cycle. 

[tillandsia]

Increasing your LSAT score as best you can is certainly advisable. However, I cannot say you lack a chance as there is hope for people who have trouble with the LSAT. It's not all about the hard stats with BLFL... There may be some internal thresholds that the school follows, but I'm unable to say to what degree. Some people with 166 LSATs are turned down for whatever other reason in their application.

I did meet one fellow law student with a 145 LSAT and a 3.55 CGPA who was accepted off the spring waitlist, general applicant. They had a connection with Thunder Bay, lived in the north, and had a lot of relevant work experience, which are things the school pays attention to. This person was also a brilliant and conscientious person who was very engaged throughout the school, so I'm sure their written application was strong. 

It is certainly a nerve wracking feeling applying to law school, but don't give up if this cycle doesn't work out for you! It is not a race to get in by any means. 

If you re-apply, in your application, you might think about providing your insights from volunteering/law work, describe what lessons you were fortunate to gain and from whom, or elaborate on your genuine growing interests in advocacy. Maybe reflect on events that made you feel so strongly about wanting to pursue law, or how you plan on using a law degree, or how you think BLFL will help you achieve your goals.

Edited January 16, 2023 by tillandsia

[Chewy]

You say that the job nearly takes up all of your time to where you can't adequately study for the LSAT. How many hours a day are you putting in at this job? What are you doing in the other hours that you're not working or sleeping? Do you have any other obligations going on at the moment? 

I'm going to be straight up with you. "I don't have time" is a bullshit excuse. If you want this bad enough, and it seems like you've realized that the law is something that you want to pursue, then you'll make time to commit to studying for the LSAT whether it means waking up a few hours before work to study or committing a few hours in the evening. You don't need to study for 4+ hours a day. All you need is a plan and to commit to it. You have 24 hours. Let's say you're working 8-10 hours and sleeping another 6-7 hours, that leaves 7-10 hours to devote some of that time to improving your score. 

I get that it is difficult. I went through the same thing. But I busted my ass to get the score I got and I made a lot of sacrifices with my time. Some people have a natural ability to score 165+ with little to no preparation. I wasn't like that and neither are you. Doesn't mean that you can't get there. If you are accepted then great, but I don't think you have a chance. 

[starbuxlawyer]

I'm gonna have to agree with Chewy on that - if you want it bad enough you'll make time. If you have other obligations like children to take care of then it's understandable, but I for example worked full time and studied for the LSAT, while also maintaining my social life. It took a while, but I went from a 148 to a 165. I was not naturally good at the LSAT, it definitely destroyed my brain cells. But I would wake up at 5am to get to work by 7- 7:30 and study for at least an hour before work, an hour during my lunch break, and study when I got home after an hour or more commute. I did that 3-4 days a week and studied for 4-5 hours on weekends. I knew that if I wanted to go to law school bad enough, I would have to work for it and make sacrifices. But I still went to the gym, slept 7-8 hours, and went out with friends consistently every week.

You may get in with that score, but if I were you I would prepare to have to apply for the next cycle and start studying again for the LSAT.  If you're going to law school for the right reasons you'll understand that the LSAT is not just a test to measure how smart you are - but to measure how capable you are of pursuing this career/ degree. 

[Lilbb19]

0 chance even with a 153. Aim for 160+.

[ParalegalTOLawyer]

48 minutes ago, Lilbb19 said:

0 chance even with a 153. Aim for 160+.

The Accepted 2023 thread indicated acceptances with an LSAT 153 and below so I’m inclined to believe this isn’t an accurate comment. 

[LMP]

1 hour ago, Lilbb19 said:

0 chance even with a 153. Aim for 160+.

This is a bad take. I wouldn't be shocked if half of last year's class got in with below a 160. 

[johnlawschool]

7 hours ago, Chewy said:

You say that the job nearly takes up all of your time to where you can't adequately study for the LSAT. How many hours a day are you putting in at this job? What are you doing in the other hours that you're not working or sleeping? Do you have any other obligations going on at the moment? 

I'm going to be straight up with you. "I don't have time" is a bullshit excuse. If you want this bad enough, and it seems like you've realized that the law is something that you want to pursue, then you'll make time to commit to studying for the LSAT whether it means waking up a few hours before work to study or committing a few hours in the evening. You don't need to study for 4+ hours a day. All you need is a plan and to commit to it. You have 24 hours. Let's say you're working 8-10 hours and sleeping another 6-7 hours, that leaves 7-10 hours to devote some of that time to improving your score. 

I get that it is difficult. I went through the same thing. But I busted my ass to get the score I got and I made a lot of sacrifices with my time. Some people have a natural ability to score 165+ with little to no preparation. I wasn't like that and neither are you. Doesn't mean that you can't get there. If you are accepted then great, but I don't think you have a chance. 

Chewy, thank you for your response and advice. I agree that the time excuse is a bad one.

I'm going to put in the work to get a better score for the next cycle. A silver lining is that I'll have even more legal experience between now and then. 

[johnlawschool]

16 hours ago, tillandsia said:

Increasing your LSAT score as best you can is certainly advisable. However, I cannot say you lack a chance as there is hope for people who have trouble with the LSAT. It's not all about the hard stats with BLFL... There may be some internal thresholds that the school follows, but I'm unable to say to what degree. Some people with 166 LSATs are turned down for whatever other reason in their application.

I did meet one fellow law student with a 145 LSAT and a 3.55 CGPA who was accepted off the spring waitlist, general applicant. They had a connection with Thunder Bay, lived in the north, and had a lot of relevant work experience, which are things the school pays attention to. This person was also a brilliant and conscientious person who was very engaged throughout the school, so I'm sure their written application was strong. 

It is certainly a nerve wracking feeling applying to law school, but don't give up if this cycle doesn't work out for you! It is not a race to get in by any means. 

If you re-apply, in your application, you might think about providing your insights from volunteering/law work, describe what lessons you were fortunate to gain and from whom, or elaborate on your genuine growing interests in advocacy. Maybe reflect on events that made you feel so strongly about wanting to pursue law, or how you plan on using a law degree, or how you think BLFL will help you achieve your goals.

Thank you for your response tillandsia. It is good to hear an anecdote like that- all hope isn't lost 🙂

From consulting lawyers at my firm and reading responses online, I've accepted that getting in this cycle is very unlikely. I'm going to take this time to study for a better score and further confirm that law is the thing for me. Your comment about it not being a race puts my mind at ease. Thank you so much for your tips regarding which insights to provide in my next application. 

[6ixlaw2021]

I'm not gonna lie Bora Laskin is a pretty holistic school and they're not about the whole "stats are everything" but honestly with that LSAT, I don't really think there's a shot anywhere in Canada, I'm pretty sure most of the cut-offs even for the most holistic schools are at least 152 or so, and that's with a 3.6+ GPA at least, looking at acceptance threads.