The Official BLSD "What Are My Chances?/Where Should I Apply?" Thread

[A.]

Several of us have been on these boards for years (yes, years), have seen where people get in with what numbers, and generally are fairly accurate with our assessments (esp. where they conern URMs, which are easier to predict than other applicants).  Law school is a numbers game.  Don't fool yourself into thinking otherwise.  We all like to think they look "beyond the numbers."  Well, they don't (save a very few schools like Yale and Stanford).  There might be a different standard for URMs, but it's still about the numbers even at that different standard.  Unless you've done something truly amazing (and being a student legislator, feeding the homeless, being a "Morehouse Man," etc. don't even count as amazing), it's the numbers that matter.

[TruOne]

Yet I know so many lawyers who have gone to T1 + T2 schools with 2.9 gpas or 143 LSATS.

Hell, the lawyer with a 2.9 went to Cornell. And all he did was tutor English as a Second language. IN fact this same lawyer was on Cornell's "board" that was in charge of admissions. (As if that gives more credibility)

So what part of the "numbers game" would account for his being recruited by a Ivy League school? Did AA really give him THAT big of a boost?

So it begs the question: Who is the ultimate authority?

Students who are currently going thru the process who hoop and hollar that all this is one big numbers game.

or

Practicing attorneys and Administrators who say to not let numbers dictact yer future.

[lex19]

and even the amazing stuff isn't too amazing at this level, it's all about the total package, okay i need to go study so i can be the toal package

and yes being AA could have given him that boost depending on the other AA candidates that year, the game is always changing....i'm still wondering why some schools offerred me money last year when i didn't deserve it number or soft factor wise

[A.]

Yet I know so many lawyers who have gone to T1 + T2 schools with 2.9 gpas or 143 LSATS.

Hell, the lawyer with a 2.9 went to Cornell. And all he did was tutor English as a Second language. IN fact this same lawyer was on Cornell's "board" that was in charge of admissions. (As if that gives more credibility)

So what part of the "numbers game" would account for his being recruited by a Ivy League school? Did AA really give him THAT big of a boost?

So it begs the question: Who is the ultimate authority?

Students who are currently going thru the process who hoop and hollar that all this is one big numbers game.

or

Practicing attorneys and Administrators who say to not let numbers dictact yer future.

And I would be among the first to tell you that it is not at all implausible, perhaps it is even likely, that a 2.9 could get into Cornell with a sufficiently high LSAT.  And a 143 can get into a T2.  Like I said, you can't measure a URM by the majority standard.

And I'm not "currently going thru the process."  Been there, done that.

[Hybrid Vigor]

Yet I know so many lawyers who have gone to T1 + T2 schools with 2.9 gpas or 143 LSATS.

Hell, the lawyer with a 2.9 went to Cornell. And all he did was tutor English as a Second language. IN fact this same lawyer was on Cornell's "board" that was in charge of admissions. (As if that gives more credibility)

So what part of the "numbers game" would account for his being recruited by a Ivy League school? Did AA really give him THAT big of a boost?

So it begs the question: Who is the ultimate authority?

Students who are currently going thru the process who hoop and hollar that all this is one big numbers game.

or

Practicing attorneys and Administrators who say to not let numbers dictact yer future.

I think schools like Cornell will take URMs with lower numbers b/c they have a harder time getting URMs to matriculate - most URMs who have the numbers to get into Cornell can probably get into a higher ranked school, at which point Ithaca becomes a very hard sell. Same thing can be said for Michigan and any other T1 school that isn't in a major city or doesn't already have a thriving black student population.

I agree with Alcibiades - law school admissions is more of a numbers game than anyone cares to admit, which is why folks who have been around for a while can make predictions with a good degree of accuracy based on LSAT, GPA, undergrad institution and URM status.

[Lawprofessor]

Law school admissions for the most part is a numbers game.  Take that from someone who has been through the process on more than one side.

[Slow Blues]

Yet I know so many lawyers who have gone to T1 + T2 schools with 2.9 gpas or 143 LSATS.

Hell, the lawyer with a 2.9 went to Cornell. And all he did was tutor English as a Second language. IN fact this same lawyer was on Cornell's "board" that was in charge of admissions. (As if that gives more credibility)

So what part of the "numbers game" would account for his being recruited by a Ivy League school? Did AA really give him THAT big of a boost?

So it begs the question: Who is the ultimate authority?

Students who are currently going thru the process who hoop and hollar that all this is one big numbers game.

or

Practicing attorneys and Administrators who say to not let numbers dictact yer future.

I think schools like Cornell will take URMs with lower numbers b/c they have a harder time getting URMs to matriculate - most URMs who have the numbers to get into Cornell can probably get into a higher ranked school, at which point Ithaca becomes a very hard sell. Same thing can be said for Michigan and any other T1 school that isn't in a major city or doesn't already have a thriving black student population.

I agree with Alcibiades - law school admissions is more of a numbers game than anyone cares to admit, which is why folks who have been around for a while can make predictions with a good degree of accuracy based on LSAT, GPA, undergrad institution and URM status.

It's too bad there isn't a better database to assess one's chances other than LSAC and LSN. I would love to be able to see admit % for schools based on all kinds of factors: URM status, state of residency, work experience, etc. LSN just doesn't do it b/c it's not reliable.

[Slow Blues]

.

[A.]

Look like a good list to me.  I would probably throw out the last two, though.  And I encourage everyone to apply to Yale 

[John Galt]

Good Luck at Columbia.