Every year, applicants are admitted to law schools when their GPA or LSAT score is well below the school’s median. Granted, it’s been very competitive in the law school admissions world lately. But still, there are strategies to help overcome less than stellar grades or scores.
Take A Year Off Before Applying: If you take a year off after college, rather than applying to law school during your senior year, this may give you some advantages. You will be able to show your entire senior year of grades when applying. This gives you extra time to boost your GPA. It may also give you extra time to retake the LSAT and use your score for the following admissions cycle. Finally, your job during your time off may be a resume builder and also allow you to make connections, network, and earn money towards law school.
Apply Early: If you apply early in any admissions cycle, preferably before Thanksgiving, you may be able to give yourself an advantage. There may also potentially be more funds available for scholarships earlier in the cycle. Applying later in the cycle, while also having a low GPA or LSAT score, could make admissions more challenging, potentially.
Write an Addendum: If you write the optional addendum, that gives you a chance to explain a bad semester of grades or a low test score. If you were sick, or had other challenges, you have an opportunity to explain what happened in your addendum. With the LSAT, you can also explain any technical challenges that may have occurred when you took the test. The addendum is ideally short, and factual, and hopefully ends on a positive note—for example, if your GPA went up in more recent years, you can emphasize that.
Work the Waitlist: If admissions was impressed with your application, but your grades or scores were borderline, you may end up getting waitlisted at some schools. This is good news—you still have a chance to be admitted. If you are waitlisted, read the school’s instructions very carefully. They may ask for an additional essay or letter explaining your continued interest in the school. Some schools will accept updated resumes or additional recommendations. Schools vary, so follow the indicators that each school gives. See if you can remain flexible through at least the early part of the summer, as waitlist offers often suddenly happen in June, July, or even August. I have known applicants to get into their first choice of law school from the waitlist as late as mid-August, as classes were beginning.
Consider Transferring: If you are ready to start law school and not admitted to your top choice of school, you could still start and possibly transfer. Although it is not as common as it is to transfer while in college, I do know quite a number of people who started at one law school and were able to transfer, having obtained very good grades during the first year of law school.
Hillary Mantis consults with pre-law students, law students and lawyers. She is the Assistant Dean for the Pre-Law Advising Program at Fordham University and author of career books. You can reach Hillary at altcareer@aol.com.
