2.3 GPA, strong work history, 160 LSAT

[jlpugh]

Hello,

I'm new to this, but here goes. I graduated undergrad in 2010, three years behind scheduled because I spent 2 years in Afghanistan in combat. While in undergrad I had a second child and my relationship with his mother didn't go so well. It took a heavy toll on me and I was working full time while going to school full time. I know I know. Other people have worked full time and done great in school, but it didn't work for me.

At any rate... what are my chances of getting into law school with a 2.3 undergrad GPA, 160 LSAT score, and what I hope will be a stellar application packet with great letters of recommendations?

I'm hoping to apply to NCCU Law and Howard Law school.

Help...

[eric922]

I hate to say this, but law school is a numbers game mostly.  If I were the head of admissions I'd take your experiences into account as a way to balance your poor GPA, but sadly I'm not in charge.  Schools are obsessed with maintaining their U.S. News rankings.  It's a corrupt and broken system, but as the author of a book I'm reading on the topic points, it is as it is. That being said I don't know enough about the schools you are applying to to answer your question.  Check out lawschoolnumbers and search for your stats if you haven't already.  I will say that you should be very sure that law school is something you want to do and aren't just going because you think it might be a good career. It will be expensive and there are no gurantees, but if you truly care about the law then by all means go.  Dedication is needed, but be sure you are truly dedicated before you spend the time and money. 

[jlpugh]

Eric,

Thank you for your response. I absolutely want to go to law school. The biggest hindrance for me is having to balance being a father of a high school student and a young adolescent (7 years old).  I'm only 28 (Yes, I started quite young...), but I have a ton of work experience and aside from my military and combat experience I have well over 6 years of work experience with major companies. As we speak I make a little more than some of my friends who are  recent grads from law school. I could write a damned book on why my GPA suffered throughout college, but I just want to be sure that I have a fighting chance with a decent LSAT score.

[eric922]

Your military experience might give you a boost in admissions.  Also you would need to write an addendum to explain your GPA.  I know some schools really like work experience so that could help as well.   I have one more question, have you taken the LSAT yet and do you think you could do better if you retook it? If so, you should seriously consider studying hard and retaking. I am not saying this to be rude or anything, because my GPA isn't great, but purely from a numbers standpoint your GPA is really poor and a good LSAT would go a long way to overcoming that.  To illustrate my point, I've heard stories of people with 2.4s and 175s getting into T14 law schools. I'm not saying you need to go a T14 at all,(in fact considering that you have a family to take care of, it might be a bad idea to go to a T14 due to debt and having to move) but I'm just using to show the importance of your LSAT score. 

[livinglegend]

As the above posters mentioned your experiences will play some role, but it really is 90% a numbers game. Combat in Afganistan is probably something that will catch an admission officer's eye and give you a little boost the strong work history probably won't do much as many law school applicants have that.

lawschoolnumbers.com is a good site to see what your chances are, but I would predict NCC would let you in. Also if you are a URM your chances of admission will be increased greatly. Not to mention a 160 LSAT is pretty good.

Also realize that nobody anonymously posting on this board really knows anything about what a specific school will do. So take all info you read on boards like this one with a grain of salt anybody can say anything without repercussion so when choosing a law school remember to take the anonymous internet posts with a grain of salt good luck.