What are my chances of being a Rockette?

Questions on Law School Admissions? What are my chances?

• I have a pretty bad GPA for law school standards (2.8ish). I went to a Top 30 Liberal Arts College. Here is my situation and I was wondering if anyone had insight on what my potential chances will be and what I have to get done. After I graduate in May I will be working for a Senator as a staffer in DC. The Senator I will be working for went to a T5 law school. I bring this up because I plan on distancing myself from my GPA with professional experience and I feel this may seem impressive to the admissions board. Am I correct on this assumption? I also bring it up because do you think a Letter of Recommendation from my Senator to his alma mater (UVA) would help my chances. I plan on working hard so the letter of recommendation would be personable as I am on his team. So would this all help my chances? Also, I realize I have to take the LSAT and this will be huge. How well do I have to score in order to get into at least a T30 law school? How about a T14? Is it possible? Howabout into UVA? Remember to keep in mind the letter of recommendation. Also, to further my resume and professional experience I will be interning (very part-time) with a law firm in my area. I am doing this to build up professional experience and so I can really decide if law is for me. Will this help my chances? My end goal is to become a lobbyist so I plan on working on Capitol Hill for some time before getting my second education. I have heard from multiple sources that a law degree can really help someone accomplish this goal. What are the chances I can squeak my way into one of these top law schools. What do I have to do?

• Answer:

  Hey Dan, I'll try to hit each point as you brought them up: 1) While work experience will help strengthen your application, you'll need at least 5 years of work experience before you even begin to 'distance' yourself from your low GPA. A 3.4 is on the low end for the caliber of school you're looking at, so a 2.8 is going to be on the very low end. Even after 5 years, your undergrad GPA will still factor heavily into the decision. Sorry for the bad news; we'll get to good news in a bit (when I talk about the LSAT). 2) The LoR will, at most, be a small bump. There are tons of people interning for Senators, mayors, congressmen, etc... Most of the letters of rec from those sources are viewed as being form letters, or, at most, written by the senator's secretary. A general rule of thumb is that no letter of recommendation will significantly increase your chances, because anyone with that kind of pull will just pick up the phone and make some calls on your behalf. So yes, it will help a bit, but not nearly as much as most people think, and certainly not enough to overcome the GPA. 3) The good news - getting a solid score on the LSAT will be something that mitigates a low GPA. While you'll still want some other things to mitigate it (work experience being the main one), a high LSAT is the single best thing you can do to make your GPA less important in the process. Generally, to get into the T30, you'd want a 160+, and the T14 you'd want at least a 170. However, with your GPA as low as it is, you want your LSAT to be as high as possible. Honestly, don't stop until you're 100% sure that you will never score higher, then take the test. I can't stress enough that for you, getting a high LSAT score is of utmost importance. More than the internship. More than the senator's letter. Get a high LSAT score. UVA, even with that letter, won't look at you if you don't have the numbers. 4) Part-time work at a law firm will help you as much as any other part-time job would in the admissions process. It will help you, however, in the overall decision process of whether law school is right for you. 5) Again, get a high LSAT score. That's what you need to do. You can also get a few years of work experience, which is a solid boost at a few schools (Northwestern and WUSTL). Good luck!