Chance me cGPA 3.44, LSATs 152, 148 (Osgoode, UOttawa, Windsor, UNB, Dalhousie)

[KingFish7]

All of my applications have just been sent to their respective committees, so in the meantime, I wanted to see what my chances are. 

I know my LSAT scores are bad, and my first-year grades (2.64GPA) bring down my cGPA (I talk about this & how I overcame it in my PS). But, I have strong (I think) ECs, and have been told by a few students/advisors that truly holistic schools may only see my LSAT as a blemish.

I was told to work as hard as possible for things I could control (GPA, ECs, etc.) rather than trying to take the LSAT a 3rd time. 

Other info: 

Undergrad is Law & Society (graduating 2023)

Top 15% in my class for 2.5 years (3.81, 3.71 GPAs. current semester GPA 3.6)

Same 3 jobs kept throughout uni (all 2019-2023)

Competitive Athlete

President of one society, founder/head captain of another

Practicum at a Judiciary (ongoing)

Honours Thesis to be completed 2023

Placed top 5 in a handful of undergraduate moots

[Renerik]

11 minutes ago, KingFish7 said:

I was told to work as hard as possible for things I could control (GPA, ECs, etc.) rather than trying to take the LSAT a 3rd time.

This is some odd advice. Your LSAT is by far the weakest part of your candidature. "Holistic" doesn't mean that a school will ignore a low LSAT score, especially when that's one of the easiest parts of your application to fix (as opposed to fixing 4 years worth of GPA / picking up long term ECs). If you apply again next cycle, I'd hammer down on the LSAT studying to get a 160+.

As is, I think your chances are quite low at all the schools you applied to. 

[utahjazz]

Hi @KingFish7,

First of all, let's focus on the many positives of your application. It sounds like you are a really well-rounded person and have great ECs which I'm sure you were able to write authentically about. You also have a pretty good L20 GPA, and your cGPA is not bad. Certainly, applicants have gotten in with much worse GPAs.

Your passion for going to law school jumps off the screen, and I think this will be a great asset for you. I think if you're willing to stick with it, it's just a matter of when you'll get in, not if. 

I really appreciate the courage it takes to open yourself up to public scrutiny and I know these are your hopes and dreams we are talking about. I say this with full empathy - I think your odds are quite low. If I had to guess the percentage of students at any given law school with an LSAT of 152 or lower, I would say it's likely 1% or less. It is also likely that an applicant getting accepted with a 152 LSAT would have applied as a mature student or in the access category. I'm not sure if either of those categories apply to you, but that might increase your odds. 

If you don't get in this cycle, my advice to you would be to bear down on the LSAT. GPA and LSAT are king. Some people recommend writing the LSAT as many times as possible. I think you can write it 5 times or maybe even more. Get that number up to 160+ and it's quite possible you may get into multiple schools. You can do it! I hope to be your law school colleague soon. Please let me know if there's anything I can help with. 🙂 

 

[Chewy]

Yeah, have to agree with @Renerik. Whoever gave you the advice to not focus on retaking the LSAT again should not be giving out advice and it certainly is not advice that you should be listening to. 

At the end of the day, your GPA and LSAT are the main factors that influence a decision going your way. Having good ECs is great and all (and honestly, it's hard to gauge how "good" one's ECs are), but unless they are truly spectacular, they're almost never enough to mitigate the effect that a ~50% LSAT score has on an application. Your best course of action is to retake the LSAT. Your cGPA is fine and your L2 is even better. Get your LSAT up and you'll be fine. 

What have you done in the past to prepare for the LSAT? 

Edited February 7, 2023 by Chewy