High WL and low Acceptance rate! What does it say about my application?

[frankzone]

I'm really curious. I'm WLed at Harvard, Columbia, Upenn, UVA, Northwestern, and G-town, (just got off the list of G-town), but no acceptance elsewhere so far. What does it say about my application?

My basic stat here: LSAT:165,168,175, GPA:77/100(about 3/5?).I'm an international student, and my college requires 5 years to get a BS, so I don't think GPA here really means the same as in the US. But what does this high WL and low acceptance rate mean? Is it because of the multipal LSAT scores? or low GPA? or a not-so-exciting PS and working experience? Anyone has any idea?

I want to know this because I want to get an idea of my chances of getting off WL of those big name schools. Should I keep waiting, or should I just go with G-town? What are the chances of getting off those big name school WL? Is that just a polite way of turning you down? insights needed.

 

[Yossarian]

Do you have an lsac gpa?

[AllTimeLow]

There is no "polite" way of turning you down. The polite way of turning down applications is the rejection letter that says, "We've had over 7,700 applicants for only 250 slots and as a result must reject some very good applicants." If they don't want you, they don't want you, and it really doesn't matter about politeness at that point. There isn't any reason for them to soften the blow. They aren't thinking, "Hey we'll just waitlist him and maybe if he pans out to be something great, he can utilize him for networking by reminding him of our kind waitlist offer."

The WLs are probably a result of your GPA. 77/100 in the US translates to a C+ on most scales, which is a 2.5. I'm not sure how US News translates international applicant GPA but a 2.5 will bring down the averages for all those schools. If you list your class ranking it might be helpful when examining this aspect. Another factor could be your LSAT score variance. Did you include an addenda explaining why your scores increased substantially? The 165 to 168 jump is easily explained. However, the 175 jump is both impressive and somewhat confusing without an addendum.

Another factor involved could be your application time. If you applied late (Feb or later) it would likely translate to more waitlists.

For your likelihood of getting off those lists it depends on the school. Check the WL standards for each school and you can gauge how much of a chance you stand for getting off of them. There are several waitlists at some of those schools as well and depending on which WL you are on, your chances will vary. Congrats on hearing from GULC so soon and good luck with your decision.