Exchange student to the US: Next cycle admissions question

[gabrijelafr]

Dear Dave and Jon, hi! Thank you so much for everything you are doing through your podcasts and forum alongside your traditional services - you are making quality LSAT studying so much more accessible!

If you get the time to answer, I have a question regarding the upcoming admissions cycle.
I am a Sciences Po Paris undergrad coming to UVA as an exchange student for my Senior year next year. My current GPA in France is around 15.8/20; Scholaro translates it to 3.76 while World Education Services to 3.98 on the American scale so my GPA situation is dubious to say the least. I am taking my LSAT in June and hoping to score around 174 and apply to T20 schools with hopes of getting the highest scholarship possible. Do you think it would be smart for me to wait for my Fall grades at UVA if my grades seem to be around 3.8 or more, or should I just apply as early as possible (hopefully early October)?
Thank you so much for your response!

[Dave Killoran]

Bonjour Gabrijela et bienvenue!

Thanks so much for your kind words! I think there's actually a good chance some law schools would take your situation and wait for your grades regardless of when you apply. That way they could reassure themselves that your LSAT score matches your academic performance. That said, I would think that would be how most of the upper T14 or so would handle it. But schools outside the T14 might very well look at your LSAT score and give you an admit without waiting since your GPA won't count for them either way.

Merci et bonne chance!