Which Tier To Aim For? (Unusual Circumstances)

[Tuftsguy1123]

Hey All! I will keep this short. I am interested in Law School next year. I am currently enrolled in a prestigious masters program. Currently I am also cross registered at Harvard Law School (active student in class / receiving good grades)

Undergraduate GPA was 3.65 at a good school

Graduate GPA was/is 3.84 (will most likely hover from 3.75-3.90)

DID NOT TAKE LSAT

Conversion Score for GRE: 157 LSAT (High verbal reasoning and writing ATROCIOUS quantitative reasoning)

So with that said: What tier should I be focusing on ?

[Jeremy Press]

Hi Tuftsguy,

It's a tricky question because there isn't as much public data to guide you here. I'd recommend that you apply to at least several (4-6) schools that would be considered targets/safeties for someone with a 157 LSAT/3.65 GPA (the undergrad GPA carries the vast majority of the weight, because that's the number they report to US News for rankings). Given many schools' public statements that they will consider GRE percentiles on par with an LSAT score of the same percentile, this is playing it safe. Generally, schools that would be targets/safeties for a 157/3.65 would fall in the 50-100 ranking range in the US News rankings.

However, since the schools don't have to report your GRE score, you may get a little bit of leeway in the application process that someone with a hard (reportable) 157 LSAT score wouldn't get. An admissions office may like your personal statement, or recommendations, or experience--so it's certainly worth applying to a targeted set of somewhere between 5 and 10 "reach schools" in the top 30.

In your circumstance, I also think it would be worth working with an admissions consultant to guide you and help make sure you don't make any missteps in the other parts of your application. Those parts take on a considerable importance without the LSAT score. Check out our offerings, and let us know if we can help: https://www.powerscore.com/lsat/law-school-admissions/.

Best of luck in the application process!