<p>But if someone had a 3.1 cum and would like to get into a very good law school (UCLA), and he/she pulls a high lsat score (169-170), but the gpa doesn’t suffice, <em>is</em> there any way he/she can make up for the GPA or do anything else that can warrant entry?</p>
<p>What could such a candidate do to convince the admissions committee to favor him/her over thousands of candidates with better academic credentials?</p>
<p>it would have to be something pretty spectacular. Being named MVP of an NBA championship team might do the trick. Bill Walton got into Stanford Law School, and I’ve never heard him brag about his undergraduate GPA.</p>
<p>Update: Bill Walton is a member of the Academic All-Americal Hall of Fame(R), which requires a GPA of at least 3.00, which he managed to do in those far less grade-inflated times at UCLA while winning two NCAA championships (and losing in the finals in a third year).</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cosida.com/formpdfs/A-A%20HOF%20Fact%20Sheet07.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cosida.com/formpdfs/A-A%20HOF%20Fact%20Sheet07.pdf</a></p>
<p>greybeard…your sarcasm isn’t funny.</p>
<p>It wasn’t sarcasm. I was pointing out from a different perspective what the OP is asking. Law school admissions decisions aren’t based solely on numbers, but it’s based largely on them. But anyone who hopes to convince an admissions committee to admit them in favor of people with much larger GPAs has to have a very compelling story if they have a chance of succeeding.</p>
<p>Bill Walton started law school the same semester I did, across the San Francisco Bay. When I was trying to think of someone who was admitted to a top law school who had the sort of achievements outside the classroom that might have tipped the balance, his was the only name that came to mind. I have since learned, however, that Walton graduated from UCLA with honors.</p>
<p>What about transferring to another law school if that’s the case? How about starting at LMU law and trying to transfer to a top tier.</p>
<p>it is possible–i know someone who transferred from John Marshall to the University of Michigan. but it is very very rare. often, lower-ranked schools have tougher curves than T14s and a lot of people go in thinking they’re going to be at the top. pretty cutthroat.</p>
<p>The top factor considered for transferring between law schools is your grades/class rank at the first school. Most of the top law schools accept a few transfers. There is keen competition for those spaces, but it is possible.</p>
<p>I understand that there’s a lot of emphasis put on getting into a top tier law school. But they’re not the final statement on your legal career. Not everyone who goes to one of those schools gets a job with “Big Law.” (I fall into that category.) There are others (fewer in number, admittedly) who go to less reknowned law schools who do get those Big Law jobs. But there are also lots of people who don’t get those Big Law jobs who go on to rewarding and well remunerated careers as lawyers.</p>
<p>Is the transferring process dependant solely on your 1L grades, or do they consider the Lsat score</p>
<p>Here’s what Boalt says:</p>
<p>"Advanced standing students, including transfer students and special status students, come from law schools across the country and make a substantial and welcome contribution to Boalt Hall’s student body. Applicants are considered for the fall term only, and admission decisions are made in early August.</p>
<p>"In reviewing applications for advanced standing, reviewers consider each applicant’s performance in law school. Advanced standing applicants are required to provide two letters of recommendation from law professors with whom they have studied.</p>
<p>“Admission to Boalt Hall with advanced standing is competitive. The school usually receives more than 200 applications for the 30 to 40 places available in the second-year class for transfer students, and those accepted are usually in at least the top 5 to 10 percent of their classes. Boalt Hall typically receives 25 to 30 applications for the five places available for special status students in the third-year class.”</p>
<p>Grey, have you completed/are you in law school? Being at the top of one’s law class is real difficult, so if you were in law school, how do you go about that? What’s the strategy</p>
<p>B,</p>
<p>I finished law school during Reagan’s first term. Boalt had a vague grading system, and didn’t rank its classes. I was a working musician at the time, and far more devoted to that craft than I was to my law school studies. I’m accordingly not in a position to advise anyone about how to do well in law school.</p>