I have an MSW will it help me get into Law School?

[wing.kirsten]

I have a master's in social work. I have worked in outpatient settings, and inpatient settings. I have 2 internships and 2 years of work experience in the feild of psychiatric social work. Will it help me get into law school if I have an average ugpa, a good LSAT score, and a 4.0 graduate gpa?

[rsmageboxer]

define good lsat score and average undergrad gpa. it seems like you had no problem stating you 4.0 grad gpa and work experience, might as well tell us the numbers that actually matter as well

[wing.kirsten]

3.0 and a 175

[jack24]

What did you do your undergrad in?

You are a unique splitter.    Your GPA isn't horrible, but it may be viewed as horrible depending on your undergrad degree.

That 175 is a monster score.  Congrats on that.  For better or for worse, most law schools will view you as more intelligent than 95% of LSAT takers.   Based on what I've read, Most of the top 14 will have a big problem with the 3.0, unless there is some very unique reason for it.  (Like if you got D's in your first year because your family died, or if your degree was in chemical engineering from MIT)
On the flip side, most of the schools outside the 25 will salivate at that 175.   But in the 14-25 range (not exact, of course) your soft factors may matter more than usual because you are a splitter.   If the school you apply to has a great crop of high-GPA applicants but the LSAT scores aren't great that year, they will jump at the chance to get you in the door, and the soft factors will sweeten the deal.

That said, generally speaking, soft factors, though important to you and some prospective employers, are only used as tie-breakers.  But you are weird on paper, so all bets are off.

[Maintain FL 350]

Yours is one of those rare cases where your soft factors may very well come into play. Usually they don't, and the numbers determine your admission/denial almost exclusively. Hence, it's pretty easy to gauge your chances. The funny thing about being a splitter is that your admissions chances can be very unpredictable depending on which schools you're applying to.

175 is a fantastic LSAT score, and is probably sufficient to get into just about any school outside the top 25. The truly elite national schools (Harvard, Yale, etc) are probably out of reach with 3.0. Thus, your "battleground" will likely be the schools in the 15-25 range: UCLA, USC, Notre Dame, etc. If you look at the admissions grids on LSAC, you'll see that at many of those places the statistical probability of someone with your numbers being admitted ranges from 25-75%, depending on the school. This means that in similar situations those schools are looking at factors other than just GPA/LSAT. Youmight have a big advantage with your background.

Another possibility: depending on what you want to do after law school, and considering any applicable financial/family/personal concerns, you may want to consider seeking a full scholarship at a lower Tier 1 or Tier 2. A 175 LSAT is probably enough to pull off a full ride at many such schools, and the lack of debt may be more beneficial to you in the long term than a higher ranked school with a hefty price tag. If you get into an elite school, the cost may be worth it. But if it's a choice between the #24 school at full price versus the #37 school for free, you may want to carefully consider factors beyond rankings.

Good luck and congratulations!