Canadian w/ work experience applying to American Schools

[xenon]

Hi all,

A few question that I'm hoping the helpful folks on this forum will be able to help me with. I'm currently working in industry in Corporate Strategy of a large telco.  I've been giving serious thought to law school lately (with the ultimate goal of politics).

About myself:
I went to UBC and hold a BASc in Electrical and Comp engineering, and a BA in Economics.

I've been working for 3 years and just turned 26.

My grades in university in started out mediocre in the first couple of years with about a 3.0 (calculated out of 4.0) gpa.  I finished strong in my last three years with about a 3.8 gpa.  Are most law school admissions in the US (or Canada for that matter) calculated on cumulative basis? Is more weight placed on later years.

My question is, given this background and the assumption that I kill my LSAT, what is the best tier of US (or Canadian) school I can get into?

Thank you for reading.

[MorningStar]

First off, I'm not sure why you'd leave out your cumulative GPA.  Yes, that's far and away the most important factor (though an upward trend can't hurt).  You also mention -   First couple of years + last 3 years, you did your UG in 5+ years?

Your question is obscenely vague.  If you get a 178 and have, say, a 3.6ish engineering degree you've got a shot at any law school in the US or Canada.  If your heart is set on UofT in Canada and T-20 in the US and you indeed have a 3.6ish, aim for a 167-168+ LSAT and you should be good.

[nerfco]

Get a 180, and you can get into any law school in Canada, and get into every law school in the US outside of HYS. (You'll have a shot at those ones as well, just not a guarantee.)

But, none of this is useful information unless you have a legitimate shot at a 180. Really, write a few practice LSATs, determine what type of score you might get, and then figure out where that will get you. Speculation about what you could do if you ace a test is pretty useless.

[rene_descartes]

I really don't suggest coming to the U.S for law school unless you get into a top law school. Kids everywhere are having trouble landing employment in this economy. If you can stay home in Canada, just try to get into any law school in Canada.

[MorningStar]

169+ get's your into every law school in Canada except McGill that would also require some french fluency.  No 180 required.

[nerfco]

169+ get's your into every law school in Canada except McGill that would also require some french fluency.  No 180 required.

To be fair, I did not say he needed a 180 to get into every school in Canada, I told him what a 180 would do.

He asked for a best-case scenario.

[CJScalia]

To be fair, I did not say he needed a 180 to get into every school in Canada, I told him what a 180 would do.

See, the guy above made a great example of the first thing you need to learn when going to law school; read what the text actually says, no what you think it says or what it should have said or what it could have said.

Anyway, you have a great background in Canada, you're obviously plenty qualified (pre-LSAT anyway), and you have some great law schools up there. I guess I'm not entirely sure why you'd want to go down south for law school.

[MorningStar]

Sure, literally, his question is whether his GPA is sufficient to gain admission to top law schools given that he will "kill the LSAT."  However, I think it's a pretty reasonable to give some guidance on what "[killing] the LSAT" will need to entail, especially given that his original question shows a demonstrated lack of knowledge on law school admission criteria.

I wasn't implying that your statement claimed a 180 is required.  I was merely reinforcing that despite the 180 comment, don't worry about it, 168-169 range and you're likely good at every law school in Canada.  "No 180 required" was an independent statement.