Chances at certain schools

[UTexas16]

Hello, is there any way of being able to tell what it takes to get into a school like Georgetown that does not participate in the LSAC predictor program?

Also, do law schools look at the numbers contextually? Do students in tough programs at top schools get any type of boost? Also, how important is trend? I personally started out with about a 2.4 and have since brought it up to a 3.2 with 3 straight all A semesters in UT Austin economics to end my undergrad. I plan on applying all over the place, but it would be nice to know those questions. Thank you for all y'all do on here as well as with the books. I have brought my LSAT score into the low 170's with their help, and know it would have been much more difficult without them.

My ultimate goal is to get into UT, but would love to go to any top school like GTown, Vanderbilt, or anywhere in the t14.

[Dave Killoran]

Hi UTexas,

Thanks for the questions! I haven't found another predictor that is updated and reliable for the schools not in the LSAC program, but it's also worth noting that I think LSAC's predictor is also somewhat crude since it uses just hard numbers. The best numbers in the world won't get you in if your personal statement is terrible, for example The most common way around the issue of certain schools not participating is to use the numbers from another school that has similar stats. It's about the closest you'll come to the rough approximation contained in the program.

As you might have divined from my response above, adcomms do look at various trends and soft factors to help make their decision. Things such as coming from a tough school or having an upward grade trend make a difference. But, that said, I think the benefit mostly occurs in the borderline groups. For example, if you apply to a school with numbers below their 25% for both LSAT and GPA, those small factors won't help you get in. On the other hand, let's say you are right on the line for a school. At that point, it comes down to these little differences, and you can hear how a conversation might go in an adcomm meeting for a candidate who had some apparent issues: "I think X could really do well here. She had a tough first year but we know that was because of her mother's illness, and then afterwards she was a 3.9 student. So that GPA is a bit misleading. And she came from a tough molecular biology program at Georgia Tech, and we all know they have a tough curve. I'd love to give her a chance!"

I have two thoughts for your particular case:

• 1. Can you point to a specific reason for the slow start? If you can, consider writing a GPA addendum. Law schools will like the trend, and if they can connect the 2.4 to some type of compelling reason, they will discount it even further.
  
  2. At a school like Texas, you will have a shot but as you know your GPA is an issue. This means that everything else in your app has to be flawless. Make sure you lock down those recs and give your recommenders some very solid, shaped advice, and really spend significant time on the personal statement (if you haven't already, check out my free seminar on the PS: https://player.vimeo.com/video/94191768. These resources might help as well: http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/the-pow ... ource-list). You need the GPA to be the only drawback the adcomm sees.

And hey, shoutout to a fellow Econ major! I was one as well

Please let me know if the above helps. Thanks!