What would you do in my situation? (advice, please:))

[Pittman]

Does anyone have advice for a nontraditional law school candidate whose academic record in college was hurt by several significant extenuating circumstances? I went to a strong school and earned a 3.9 over my last three semesters, but my cumulative GPA is notably lower than even the 25th percentile of the Harvard-Yale-Stanford applicant pool due to the said extenuating circumstances.
    However, I will have conducted an intense year-long independent-study, three separate several-month cultural immersions across Europe, Latin America, and, hopefully, Asia, done service work, and completed a second degree before applying to law school. If my LSAT is 98+%, do you think I would have a chance at HYS? Do Adm. committees really view an application holistically in light of past difficulties? Lastly, what sorts of schools would you shoot for if you were me?
-Thanks-

[HippieLawChick]

Luckily, it seems that LSAT overrides importance of GPA a lot of the time.  However, Yale seems to love people with really high GPAs.

I am not sure at what point schools look at each app.  Meaning: do they just auto sort based on LSAC GPA?  If they do, you will have a tough time.  There are some schools that blatantly state on their sites that they take into account "grade acceleration" like you have (and I do too).  Seek them out.  Read the websites of HYS etc carefully and look for clues that they take more recent grades into account. 

What were the extenuating circumstances?  If it was an illness, you are in much better shape than a "hard to explain" situation.

[Pittman]

Thanks HippieLawChick. The circumstances are fairly easy to explain. In terms of grad school grades, what have you heard about the weight accorded to them by Adm Comms? If I earned As in my second degree, do you think this would have a strong positive impact on my chances? Or, is a second degree virtually irrelevant in the HYS etc. equation?