<p>Hi. I’m a second-year student at Wash U. in St. Louis, who is looking for some advice. To be thorough, the issues I’m having extend beyond law school admissions, but as pre-law is something I’m considering, I want to have a realistic discussion about what I can do. </p>
<p>Like most Wash U students, I was a top student in high school. I went to a challenging country day school and graduated with a 3.8 gpa and an SAT score of 1490. I was always one of those students who was good at most subjects. My weakest subject was math, in which I typically got B+'s. I was probably best at history and English, in which I was at the top of the class. I was also a good student in biology and chemistry, which led me to consider pre-med. </p>
<p>Wash U. is well-known for its difficult pre-med program and its harsh grading policies. Needless to say, a big chunk of the incoming prospective pre-meds reconsider after their first semester; I decided I would stick with the program, despite a C in Gen Chem I, believing that I could improve and that I shouldn’t let a single low score in my first semester discourage me, especially since my other grades that semester were 3 A’s and a B+. Second semester saw an improvement in Gen Chem II, in which I got a B, but a C in introductory biology. Again, at the end of the year, I considered whether I should forego the bio/pre-med track, especially since I was nominated by my history professor for the sophomore honors history program. Again, I decided that I would stick with the pre-med program, despite some misgivings. </p>
<p>This year, unfortunately, has been rough for me. I found organic chemistry very difficult first semester, which earned me a C in that. That and a C+ in statistics (of all things) really discouraged me, the C+ in statistics coming from an unusually difficult final exam which I only got 2/3 of the way through. While my other grades were fine, I only got 1 A, as orgo and bio kept me from focusing enough on other classes, meaning that study time was rushed and I wound up only getting B’s in several of them. My GPA for last semester was only a 3.07. That should have been a wakeup call for me that I needed to reorient myself academically, but for whatever reason - inertia really - I decided I would give it one more semester. </p>
<p>That has proven to be a big mistake, as this semester, I’m getting a D in organic chemistry and at mid-term I have a C in biology, a B in organic chemistry lab, and even a C in microeconomics at midterm (plus an A+ in my history course). I have opted to drop organic chemistry, although I’m a bit unsure as to what I should do for the other two. In both cases, I’ve been kind of cooked by steep grading curves. In my microeconomics class, the average on the last two tests were in the low 90s, so my scores in the mid-80s has given me a C. Similarly in biology, a relatively high mean of 81 on both tests coupled with a low standard deviation left my mid-70s scores in the C range. </p>
<p>People back home have been telling me not to panic, and I’m trying not to. I’m sure I can get my GPA above a 3.3 by the end of senior year, but while that may open plenty of doors, I’m not sure it’s going to open the doors I really want. I don’t see myself working in an administrative, managerial, or business job. I’ve always seen myself as either an academic-type, or as a doctor or lawyer, all of which I feel are going to require a strong GPA coming out of undergraduate. </p>
<p>Frankly, I can’t help thinking that option two (doctor) is probably out of the question now. Sure, if I get A’s in all my bio and subsequent pre-med classes, retake orgo, do a masters program, and then do well on my MCATs, I may be able to get into med school, but at this point I’m pretty turned off the subject. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, I’m not sure law school’s really an option either, which is unfortunate for me, as english, history, writing, and philosophy were my best subjects and while I doubt that in such a high-achieving student body as Wash U. I could land at the top of the class, I do think my GPA would have been a lot higher had I been taking more humanities classes and fewer pre-med courses. Granted, my C+ in statistics and my current C in microeconomics indicate that it may not have been all smooth sailing. OTOH, perhaps both would have benefited from more study time devoted to those subjects rather than my pre-med courses. </p>
<p>Whether I even want to go to law school, I don’t know. But I would like to have the option. I would want to go to a good law school too, as in upper 50 at least. My options right now are to simply continue the biology major, improve my grades in that and forego medical school for graduate school (although even for that I’ll need to bring up my GPA in science pretty drastically), or to drop biology in favor of a different major, most likely history, anthropology, or psychology. It’s unfortunate that I’m having to consider this NOW, at the end of my sophomore year, given that junior year is so crucial, and picking up a major in any of those would probably require me sacrificing a summer to get caught up in the major and/or staying an extra semester before graduating. </p>
<p>Realistically, let’s say I can get between a 3.6 and 3.8 gpa in my junior and senior years (dropping science). Of course, there’s no guarantee that my GPA won’t be lower than that, but I’m playing the “what if” game. My cumulative GPA right now is 3.233, and this semester it probably will be somewhere between a 2.8 (that’s why I’m panicking!) and a 3.3 depending on whether I can turn those C’s into B’s. So that would give me somewhere between a 3.4 and a 3.5 cumulative GPA. A 4.0 GPA over junior and senior year (which is not at all likely) would give me roughly a 3.6 gpa. </p>
<p>If I were to do this, would I have a chance at getting into a top law school? How would they regard the C’s on my transcript from my pre-med courses? I know that LSATs are crucial, too. If I were to graduate with, say, a 3.4 GPA and a double major in history and psychology (but with those C’s still on my transcript), how would I fare? Would I be better off in that case doing a masters first or working for a couple years? </p>
<p>Like I said, I may decide I don’t even want to go to law school, so it may be a completely moot point. I can see myself actually being quite bored by many careers in law, as I would most like something in human rights law or constitutional law, and since those are very difficult disciplines to get into, I may opt for something different. Still, I would like some honest and constructive advice about how I should proceed and whether getting into a good law school is even realistic.</p>