NonTrad Splitter - Erratic Transcript High LSAT

[reziak13]

I’m interested applying in the 2012/2013 cycle and wanted to see if anyone else has been successful with a similar situation.  Until considering law school I didn’t have a sense of purpose and was just going through the motions in most of my classes or not going through them at all.  The final 40 credits of undergrad were all A’s but left me with a LSDAS GPA of 2.78 and a institution GPA of 2.9.  I will take the LSAT in October 2012 and have been consistently testing 166-170 range.  My hope is that with continued study and a course I will be able to hit the 170 mark on test day.  I’m not overly concerned with rankings, meaning I do not care about going to T14 but I would like to go to a decent school with affordable tuition (probably public unless $$ is available.) Thoughts/Suggestions?

•   Started first real business at 18 while attending large state school successfully built the business for 5 years while attending school.
•   Sold first business and started real estate investment/development firm at 23 (30 now)
•   First 5 years focused on single homes and vacant land then moved on to multi-unit development last year
•   Currently building waterfront development in South Florida
•   10+ years to finish undergrad
•   Unbelievably erratic transcript including many W's
•   Didn't really have a purpose or reason to make school a priority over my business until deciding to pursue law school
•   Last 40 credits of UG have been all A’s
•   Have been self employed and working 60hrs+ while in school

[FalconJimmy]

With a 170, if you don't care what tier you go to, you will probably have a shot at a scholarship.  Just keep researching and apply. 

The soft factors?  Nice, but not going to matter much.  You just want a knockout personal statement in case they read them.

[reziak13]

Thank you for the advice. I figured the personal statement was going to be pretty important to at least shed some light on how it could possibly take 11 years to finish 4 years of work.  Was hopeful that my business experience and working while in school would help but I guess it doesn't matter how many hours are worked outside of school if the result is a 2.7.  I'll continue to research on LSN to target schools.  I plan on sending applications everywhere that I possibly can and taking advantage of the best opportunity.

[FalconJimmy]

Not that I'm advising going there, but cooley would give you a full-ride.

There are probably other schools that would, too.

http://www.cooley.edu/prospective/scholarships.html?gclid=CP7v5reAl7ECFYe6KgodE3AVjw

[jack24]

Here are a few people you can look at.  This might give you an idea.

http://lawschoolnumbers.com/swtlilsoni

http://lawschoolnumbers.com/sjhugs

http://lawschoolnumbers.com/schizoresume

http://lawschoolnumbers.com/lawwoman

[reziak13]

@jack

Thanks for the help.  I'm just getting around LSN researching schools and applicants w/ similar numbers, I'm pretty blown away by some of their acceptances/$$ offers.  Encouraging...

[jack24]

I don't know what you will get on the actual LSAT, so lets just assume you kill it.

I scored 160 with a 3.3 gpa adjusted down by LSAC to 2.99 (Damn you .01 percent!)   I was blown away that 159 was in the 80th percentile in my year.  A ton of T3 schools were willing to take a gamble on me because I scored better than 4/5 LSAT takers.  I got amazing scholarship offers, but I went to a respected T2 public school with no scholarship instead.  Probably a bad decision, in retrospect, but oh well.

Take a look at this http://www.alphascore.com/resources/lsat-score-conversion/

scroll down to the chart at the bottom.   A 170 is usually in the 97th percentile.   People who score 170+ are freaks.  You might be a freak.   You'll have admissions people dying to bring you in because the LSAT is king.   Get in that top 1 percent of test takers and you'll be able to go to a decent school for free.

[Maintain FL 350]

I was a non-traditional splitter like you, OP. I had a high LSAT/average GPA/great softs. The thing is, as other posters have already stated, law school admissions is very numbers driven. GPA and especially LSAT will dominate your admissions profile. As a splitter, your chances for admission to certain schools is a little less predictable, but if you focus on schools with average LSAT scores below your eventual score, you'll likely be alright.

It's difficult to predict how you'll do on the LSAT based on practice tests (some are easier/tougher than others), but if you score anywhere near 170 you will be fine. A high 160s/low 170s is probably sufficient to obtain a full ride at lots of schools in the T3-T4 range, and admission (but possibly without $$$) at lots of other places. The more prestigious the school, obviously, the less predictable the chances.

If you plan on staying in Florida you might want to check out FIU, Miami, and FSU. With a 170 you could probably get significant scholarships at all three.

Good Luck!