Cornell Slacker

[dedalus77]

Hello All,

I'm new to this web site. I am starting to seriously think about law as a post-graduate plan and I am a junior at Cornell studying Economics and English literature. I am a self-proclaimed slacker, and my gpa can show for it. I hope to graduate with around a 3.0 (my English grades are much better than my Econ grades), and I have 2 questions:

1. Can I apply to Law schools with my English major gpa and not Econ?

2. Does coming from an Ivy help my chances at getting into a top law school regardless of the fact that I don't have a stellar gpa?

I'm sure similar questions have been asked before, and if so, I apologize for the redundancy. Thank you.

[FalconJimmy]

1. Can I apply to Law schools with my English major gpa and not Econ?

Generally, your undergraduate gpa is calculated by LSAC and they calculate ALL undergrad coursework.  In your major, out of your major, the 3 classes you took at a JuCo one year, everything.  You can't exclude any undergraduate classes from the calculation (except by, for instance, not providing a transcript, and lying that you ever attended, etc.)

2. Does coming from an Ivy help my chances at getting into a top law school regardless of the fact that I don't have a stellar gpa?

Maybe, but frankly, when admissions people are being candid, they'll tell you that pretty much anything but gpa and lsat are just not real factors.  They just don't have the time to read everything they get and they don't have a mechanism by which to say that volunteer work in botswana is worth an extra .1 in gpa or whatnot. 

If I had to put a number on it, 95% of the decision is LSAT and GPA.  If you are a URM, that factors.  Other than that, pretty much any other factor would be 1% of the admissions decision or less.

I don't mean to discourage you, but with a 3.0 gpa, your chances of going to a truly top law school are nil.  However, you can still get into a school that's top 50 with the right LSAT. 

Best of luck.

[Thane Messinger]

I'm new to this web site. I am starting to seriously think about law as a post-graduate plan and I am a junior at Cornell studying Economics and English literature. I am a self-proclaimed slacker, and my gpa can show for it. I hope to graduate with around a 3.0 (my English grades are much better than my Econ grades), and I have 2 questions:

1. Can I apply to Law schools with my English major gpa and not Econ?

2. Does coming from an Ivy help my chances at getting into a top law school regardless of the fact that I don't have a stellar gpa?

No, and not really.  In fact, #2 can be counter-productive, if they get a sense of your essential over-indulged slacker-hood.  Absent other compelling reasons, they'll want to favor the single-mother immigrant entrepreneur.  (Yes, I have had just such a person in my class, and yes, she blew the curve for everyone.) 

However . . . admissions officers will be looking a course-by-course grades (if your LSAT warrants the deeper look), so that's where you can point out meaningful distinctions.  This, after all, is what lawyering is.

Your single way to show them is to ace your LSAT.  Do that, and write up how you "came to," and you've a shot.

Once you're in, try Slacker's Guide to Law School: Success without Stress, (mentioned elsewhere).

Thane.