Expert: Jay Cutts - 10/1/2009

Question
Hi Mr. Cutts,

I am nervous about my prospects for law school.
I am persuing a double major (philosophy, and a individual major).
After a rough first two years, my undergraduate Fordham University GPA is 2.80. However, my LSAT practice scores are 168.
My resume is decent.

What Kind Law Schools should I be looking at?
I am interested in Human Rights Law, and De Paul and Minnisota have caught my eye. Am I aiming too high?

Regards,
Richard

Answer
Hi, Richard.

Are you still a couple years away from law school?  Would you be starting F11?

Your practice scores indicate that you have a good aptitude for the LSAT. If you were to work with an experienced LSAT specialist(such as myself), you could probably get into the upper 170's.  This would give you a lot of options but your GPA will definitely hold you back.

Your two most critical strategies will be to get your maximum score on the LSAT and to significantly improve your GPA.  At Minnesota, for example, if your LSAT is above 170 and your GPA is in the 3.25 to 3.49 range, you are pretty much guaranteed acceptance.  If your GPA is between 3.00 and 3.24, however, your chances are closer to 50:50.

To bring your GPA up:

1.  See about retaking classes in which you had low scores.
2.  Arrange your finances so that you don't have to work outside of school.
3.  Take a lighter load if necessary so that you can focus on doing well. This may mean going an extra semester or year.
4.  Get help/tutoring in classes if you need it to get A's
5.  Drop most extracurricular activities, especially if you have a busy schedule.  Your first goal is high grades.  Without those, other activities will not be impressive.

The principle here is that time is money.  You may have to go a little further into debt (because of not working) to graduate on time with high grades.  Or if you can't do that, you are going to have to sacrifice a year in order to lighten your course load.  Of course, if you lose a year, you are also losing a year of earning an attorney's wages.

For Fall 2011 admissions, you would need to take the LSAT by December 2010.  If you can start prepping for it earlier, you may be prepared to take it in Oct 2010.

I do work with people on the LSAT.  I am an LSAT specialist and have been teaching it for 19 years, full time.  I specialize in advanced strategies that should be able to get you into the upper 170's.

You can get additional free planning help at my website:

http://www.cuttsreviews.com/lsat/

You will find a booklet on admissions there and you can get monthly planners that will help you succeed.  You can also get my phone number there and are welcome to call me to go over your plans a bit.

I hope that helps!

Regards,

Jay

Jay Cutts
Cutts Graduate Reviews