International chances of JD

[international]

Hi, please estimate my chances.

1. 31y, MBA full-time student with full tuition. Experience in VC/PE and corpfin.'
2. LSAT expected 175+, international GPA 3.95 (noname university).
3. Post law schools target - smth business related (or maybe law). Target schools Harvard, Cornell, Berkeley, maybe other t14.

[Adam Tyson]

With those numbers, you've got a great shot at a t14 school, international, and your age, advanced degree, and life experience should make you stand out among applicants. Make sure that LSAT is where you expect it to be by studying and practicing, and if you don't hit it the first time then take it again, and then again if need be. Work on the other factors in your application, like your letters of recommendation and personal statement, and if those line up you should just about be able to pick your choice of law schools.

Just to give you some idea, Harvard's 75th percentile GPA for the current first year class is 3.97 (50th percentile is 3.9), and their 75th percentile LSAT is 175. You're looking at something close to a 100% chance of getting accepted, as long as the rest of your application is in order.

Good luck, let us know how it goes!

[international]

But I have international GPA so it will not be important in application?
Can you comment on the fact that only 4% of FY students in Harvard and Columbia have NoGPA reported? It it highly unprobable for someone with international GPA to be accepted or just very few with strong LSAT scores apply?
Can you also comment on age?

[Brook Miscoski]

international,

There's no such thing as statistics that will get you automatically accepted at, and little that will get you automatically denied, at any of the top US schools. US schools simply do not make their selections in that manner, and even a perfect application, GPA, and LSAT is no guarantee. It does, however, make it vanishingly unlikely that you would be rejected from all of the top schools if you took the time to apply to all of them.

My advice to you is to not spend time calculating what you can't change. Many international students attend the top US law programs, some as JD and some as LLM. Those students are infrequently the strongest academic performers at the school, but they are appreciated and valuable students, and US universities actively seek to attract good international candidates. Part of the reason is that the top US universities are preparing their students to connect with an international world.

You should focus on presenting yourself well in your application and on illustrating why you bring something unique and valuable to the schools to which you will apply.