undergraduate GPA

[bblue359]

How high of a GPA is needed to make an  applicant competitive for a top 5 law school. Thanks.

[Cicero]

You should check out Law School Numbers. Once logged in, you can find the 25%, 75%, & median LSAT/GPAs for schools, see what LSATs/GPAs are getting in to each school (list & graph), and sometimes see whats soft and other things may have factored into the decisions for outliers.

[BikePilot]

I think pretty much everyone in T3 at least are probably summa. As said, this data is widely available.

You don't even have to go to LSN, though that's a good idea.  All schools officially report this data.

[bblue359]

I think pretty much everyone in T3 at least are probably summa. As said, this data is widely available.

You don't even have to go to LSN, though that's a good idea.  All schools officially report this data.

could you define what summa would mean for a school that doesn't give out latin honors? top 10%? top 5%?

[bigs5068]

I don't know if a school would even care about your rank at your undergrad all that really matters is the number. If a 3.7 is the bottom 50% of your undergrad it won't matter U.S. News will use the 3.7 and look no further into it.  So if you are in undergrad take whatever B.S. classes you can to get some free A's on the side to give yourself a little boost.  An A in Frisbee golf counts the same as an A in molecular biology to an admissions committee.

[Morten Lund]

.. take whatever B.S. classes you can to get some free A's on the side to give yourself a little boost.  An A in Frisbee golf counts the same as an A in molecular biology to an admissions committee.

You and I continue to disagree on this.  Frisbee = Molecular Biology may be true for many, perhaps even most, law schools, but "top 5" schools do care.  An excellent GPA is required, yes - but the GPA (and LSAT) alone is insufficient for admittance to those schools, where the median GPA hovers around 3.9.  Every serious applicant has an excellent GPA and LSAT score - that's a given.  At that point undergraduate course selection - and EVERYTHING else - starts coming into play.

[bigs5068]

I agree I mean if everything in your transcript is a joke then it might raise some flags, but if you have a normal major and throw in a few A's in frisbee Golf it certainly will not hurt your chances.  It will help those schools look good in the rankings and what else maters to an admissions commitee? 

[Morten Lund]

I agree I mean if everything in your transcript is a joke then it might raise some flags, but if you have a normal major and throw in a few A's in frisbee Golf it certainly will not hurt your chances.  It will help those schools look good in the rankings and what else maters to an admissions commitee?

Oh, a couple of cheap A's here and there won't matter if your course selection is otherwise legitimate.  I agree completely, and choosing the gym class that gives everybody A's instead of the one that doesn't is certainly fair game.

But I disagree about your view of the admission committees' intentions.  If Yale/Harvard/Stanford wanted to, they could easily fill their class with 4.0 GPAs, and have THAT as their average admitted GPA instead of the 3.9ish that they do have.  That means that somebody with a 4.0 GPA was rejected by YLS so they could admit somebody with a 3.8 GPA instead.  On purpose, because they liked the 3.8 guy better.

The simple fact that the average GPAs at these schools are as low (relatively speaking) as they are is evidence that they all look past the GPA. 

[bblue359]

But I disagree about your view of the admission committees' intentions.  If Yale/Harvard/Stanford wanted to, they could easily fill their class with 4.0 GPAs, and have THAT as their average admitted GPA instead of the 3.9ish that they do have.  That means that somebody with a 4.0 GPA was rejected by YLS so they could admit somebody with a 3.8 GPA instead.  On purpose, because they liked the 3.8 guy better.

The simple fact that the average GPAs at these schools are as low (relatively speaking) as they are is evidence that they all look past the GPA.

So what sort of factors do they consider beyond GPA? Internships? Extracurricular activities?

[bigs5068]

Well I agree Morten top 3-5 schools will consider it, but most people are not getting into the top 3-5 schools. The OP has not mentioned whether they took the LSAT yet and before considering what schools etc they want to go you should take that test. So many people have such high expectations that they will get into an Ivy League school etc, but to get a 170 on it is something most people can't achieve. Everybody on this website talks about their practice LSAT's where they get 170's, but http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDBR2L5kzI Allen Iverson.   

The honest truth is the most important thing is your LSAT score. The second most important is your GPA. The little things that could help would things showing leadership coaching a junior high school team, or being a leader in some organization, some type of leadership responsibility role will help your app, but not much. If you have a 2.8 152 LSAT and do all kinds of wonderful things you are not getting into a Top 3-5 school probably not even getting into a top 100 school, but if you are that awesome a person you will have a successful legal career no matter what ABA school you go to.