Numbers Game

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November 27th, 2007 admin Leave a comment Go to comments

Numbers Game

Is it true that law school admissions is a numbers game?

Unlike ungrad admissions where you have to do a bunch of community service and extracurricular is law school just about the LSAT and GPA?

It depends. Different schools have different formulas to arrive at their decision. All law schools ask for a variety of information when you apply. This includes information regarding extracurricular activities, sports, and volunteer projects. It also includes information such as jobs, study abroad trips, and really anything you want to tell them (your application consists of two to three essays, two to three recs, and a copy of your resume -- each school is a little different but this is fairly standard).

In reality, all schools have some sort of a cutoff, even if they don't advertise it. What this means is that at X school they use a combination of your GPA and LSAT score to give you an index score. If you fall below their cutoff your file is likely not reviewed very seriously. If You Are above the cutoff, admissions folks (who in the first instance are current law students and or professors at many schools) will review your file in a more detailed manner.

This also works the other way. If your GPA and LSAT together give you a high enough index score you will almost certainly be admitted.

Extracurricular activities are most helpful when choosing between two like students. When looking at two students whose index is similar, meaning that one might have a lower GPA and the other a higher LSAT or simply meaning two students with similar grades and LSAT scores, extracurricular activities make all the difference in the world.

There has been a lot of research done on the LSAT, and law schools beleive, that it is the single best predictor of a student's grades during their first year of law school.

So...depending on the school you are looking at, unless you have done something that absolutley amazing, having extracurricular activiteis will not overcoem a low LSAT and GPA (low is relative, as each school has a different standard).

By the same token, if your LSAT and GPA are competitive for a given school, extracurricular activities make all the difference in getting admitted.