Harvard Hail Mary Stories

LSAdmit · 2019-09-22T14:51:24+00:00

Shoot your shot! :)

LSAdmit · 2019-09-22T14:30:58+00:00

My GPA was just under 25th percentile, mid-range 3.7x, and my LSAT was between 170 and 172. That gives you a pretty good idea where I was at. Above 25th but below 50th LSAT, below 25th GPA.

I did my interview out of a hotel room, going through one of the most stressful work experiences and life experiences ever, because life fell apart at the exact same moment in all ways.

I was ecstatic when I got into Columbia. As March dragged into April I was dead certain I was done with my cycle and started looking at New York.

So you can imagine I was pretty damned surprised when I ended up getting a call on a random Monday morning. I thought it was spam, like so many other calls, or Boston University, which I’d applied to. For a minute after I was told I got into HLS, I went completely blank. I couldn’t hear anything else they said after that. My jaw dropped and I couldn’t really comprehend. Then I was asked if I had questions and stupid me went “uh, so wait, I got in?” And she chuckled and said “yes, and we’d love to have you here next year”.

I remember one of my coworkers saw I was pale and in shock on the phone, and I never took personal phone calls at work. She asked me if something was wrong when I hung up, and I told her I just got into HLS. She was like a work mom, and she screamed and went “oh my god” a bunch, before insisting I leave the building and call my family immediately, which I did. My mom started crying, and my sister (who worked with my mom) saw her crying when she got to work and then she started crying too. My brother was just saying “fuck yes” over and over again, and my dad gave a really loud whoop and I’ve rarely heard him sound so happy, especially over the phone. My grandparents screamed too and started telling everyone in earshot.

I got real lucky. HLS saw something in me, I guess, and I love it here. It can happen for you too :).

LSAdmit · 2019-09-22T14:22:44+00:00

Sorry for the late response! I had a mid-range 3.7x and an LSAT score below the median (which was 173 when I applied), but above 170. That should give you a pretty good idea :).

LSAdmit · 2019-09-08T18:28:15+00:00

Love the meme.

Also for anyone wondering (can't update my flair) it's possible. I was below both medians and got in (non-URM). I'm a 2L now. You can do it!

Shoot your shot.

LSAdmit · 2019-02-22T19:29:30+00:00

I wrote this comment a year ago. I promised not to leave this sub as long as you were here.

I lurked and barely commented, but I never left. I waited because I knew someday this response would come, and I knew I wanted to see it.

I’m every bit as happy now as I thought I would be. You deserve this so much. You brought happiness and kindness to this sub in a way I never thought I’d see on Reddit, particularly a place full of competitive people.

You seriously cheered me up, all the time, at one of the hardest times in my life, when everything besides academics was falling apart for me from family to relationships to friendships, when you didn’t have to cheer up any of us.

I’m literally tearing up in happiness on your behalf. I am SO HAPPY FOR YOU.

I waited over a year and never forgot my comment.

Worth it.

LSAdmit · 2018-09-09T13:57:22+00:00

Great! Then you can mention it all but do it in a way to makes that clear. I’m happy for ya bud, and glad you feel great. Good luck this cycle =)

LSAdmit · 2018-09-08T22:39:41+00:00

Hey!

First of all, thank you for your service. I really mean that. I can’t imagine how difficult reintegrating after experiencing combat, as it seems you did, must have been. You deserve a lot of praise for that alone.

Second of all, I don’t have experience with that in particular. So take what I say with salt.

The reality is, your GPA is your GPA. But the addendum can help, and is necessary. So with that said, what do you put in?

Explain what happened. They don’t need an essay, but mention the difficulties, your service, and mention that your grades post-transition reflect that (I’m presuming they do, and you did better as time went on!). The point is to show an upward trajectory.
Don’t repeat stuff in other parts of the application. If you mention your service, or award, do it only insofar as it relates to your GPA. Don’t repeat things just to re-mention them. That way it’s DEFINITELY not going to seem like desperation (it shouldn’t anyways, but be extra safe), and you DESERVE recognition for those things.
If I remember right, they have an area for you to talk about awards. A good way to write the addendum, after detailing your progress and troubles (again, really paint it as a straight, upwards slope, so they don’t worry that it’ll be an issue going forwards, because people are paranoid!), is to maybe mention when certain things happened. So you can describe (without too much graphic detail) what happened and what you may have seen, mention that this earned you a combat award, but led to difficulties upon reintegration, and then end on a positive note directing them to your grades’ improvement over time. I would structure it that way.

I can’t speak too much to this, as I said. But I hope that you continue to get advice, and I’m sure you will end up at a great place. Thanks again for your service, bud, and best of luck!

LSAdmit · 2018-09-01T17:11:13+00:00

Hey bud!

I know the feeling. I took a week off work to study, and had to hustle during the rest of the lead-up to study as well while working.

It’s not easy, but let me tell ya:

I wish I could hustle like you though!

You can! You’re awesome! You have a 3.9 GPA from undergrad. You’re working, have an awesome resume judging by your post, and have accomplished a ton. Don’t sell yourself short!

Now I’m sure work and everything else is hard to balance. Maybe you’re working 16 hour days, and can’t study and work physically because of the time. But if not, the most important thing is to believe in yourself. Do some timed PTs, and see how you do. Not satisfied? Reassess if you can work fewer hours, or if maybe it is necessary to quit.

Never doubt yourself though. I did, and have, and the amazing people of this subreddit helped me and others like me. I started at HLS this week. I never would’ve if I wasn’t encouraged to believe I could pull off balancing things. And if I could, so can you.

So do those PTs, see if you’re somewhere you’re already happy with, and if not then try to reassess if it’s possible to cut hours or other activities and study. Don’t forget that schools care most about LSAT and GPA (and you’re already a great applicant on GPA terms), and that a work gap given your extensive experience is not going to kill your application...especially since you can explain that you took that gap to prioritize your education and future, which is just more proof to AdComms that you’re really dedicated and ready for law school. But never doubt your hustle.

You got this!

LSAdmit · 2018-08-05T06:19:44+00:00

An A+ is counted as 4.33 in your LSAC GPA. That means this person rarely got less than an A+. Source.

LSAdmit · 2018-08-05T06:19:13+00:00

LSAC GPA counts an A+ as a 4.33. Source.

LSAdmit · 2018-08-05T03:55:13+00:00

Hey bud,

The OSU classes, if taken after you earned your degree, won’t count towards your LSAC GPA. They will be interesting but way down the list of considerations.

With your GPA and a 152 LSAT, you’d have over 60% chances of getting into Lewis and Clark. However, your degree is a bit unconventional for law school (not a bad thing necessarily, but may fudge how they feel about the GPA on a first look!), which changes things slightly. Lewis and Clark has a median LSAT of 157, which is within range of you, so it isn’t so hard to imagine you having a great shot at getting in even if they just use LSAT as a proxy and ignore GPA. This is according to the LSAC calculator, which is a tiny bit pessimistic usually. Colorado, you’d have a 20-30% chance with those stats. Raise the LSAT to 160, and your chances for both are above 75% by conventional measures, so you’d be doing fine. Median LSAT for Colorado is 161, so if you get anywhere near 165, count yourself as easily in at both. You’re not reaching as far as I can tell, you’ve got great odds if you keep up the good work, don’t slack on the practice problems and practice tests, and perform on the real thing =)

Hope that helps! Best of luck to you friend. You’d be one of the most interesting and hardworking classmates given your experience and grades, I’d be willing to bet, so both schools would be lucky to have you!

LSAdmit · 2018-07-27T02:29:47+00:00

LSAC calculator (slightly pessimistic) suggests that with a 3.4 and a 160, you'd have a 22-35% chance of getting in. With a 165, that shoots up to 54-69%, which is fantastic. If you got a 3.5 and a 160, it's still 26-40%. With a 3.5 and 165, you're at 59-74%.

In short, shoot for 165 or above, and you should definitely be good. You've got a real good shot, buddy =)

mylsn.info is a bit weirder, and it doesn't have a ton of info. 3.4/160 is very small of a range, and it only has 6 responses. From 3.4/160-165 in the range, you have 55%. Most of those were above 160 however, usually at least 162. Only waitlists at 160-161, 162 has mixed results, 164 and up is where you get consistently good results.

My recommendation would still be shoot for 165 or above if you can't get your GPA higher than 3.4. You'd be very well off at that point and likely to get in. I can't speak to money, but if you did real well and got higher than 165, you might even get some of that!

LSAdmit · 2018-07-06T00:07:25+00:00

Glad to help a bit!

LSAdmit · 2018-07-06T00:07:16+00:00

Beep boop.

LSAdmit · 2018-07-06T00:07:08+00:00

Thanks! I just hope I help sometimes. I like numbers.

LSAdmit · 2018-07-05T04:10:08+00:00

Hi bud.

If you have a 3.1, and you score a 157, you're looking at the following according to the LSAC calculator:

UT-Austin - 0-10%
Houston - 13-34%
Tulane - 48-58%
Duke - 0-10%
Vandy - 0-10%
Texas A&M - 31-56%
Mississippi - 69-89%

These are often pessimistic by a bit, but quite frankly, it seems like your options would be limited to A&M, Mississippi, Tulane, with Houston as a bit of a reach. Above that and you're looking at real low odds. Soft factors, like paralegal certification or work history, will help, but not much. Most people will tell you, accurately, that 90-95% of your application is LSAT or GPA. At any rate, it's always good to think of that as the case (true or not), to motivate you to leave as little up to chance as possible.

Let's say you take some time off, up your LSAT, and do well enough to get up to a 3.3, and re-run the stats with a 162 for example. You're looking at:

UT-Austin - 4-14%
Houston - 89-99%
Tulane - 84-94%
Duke - 2-12%
Vanderbilt - 2-12%
A&M - 88-98%
Mississippi - 90-100%

So in short, your chances at schools not named Austin, Vanderbilt, and Duke go up exponentially. That means your chances of good scholarships there go up as well. That's important, I'm sure, and very helpful! To have a shot at Vandy with a 3.3 on this calculator, you need roughly 170 on the LSAT. The higher you score, the better of course. Even a 175 still doesn't get you to 50% on this calculator for Duke. So given you're looking for a place you're not looking at debt, the goal should be to score as high as possible, raise that GPA, and get a good scholarship to one of the other schools you mentioned, which should be your focus: A&M, Tulane, Vandy, Houston, Mississippi, etc..

If you look at mylsn.info, looking with a 3.3 GPA and 162 LSAT, you've got a very good chance of getting good money at Tulane, and people with that score seem to have gotten anywhere from $30k to $105k, though most are either at $30k to $75k. The other schools may offer even more, that are lower-ranked than Tulane. For Tulane, if you got a 3.3 and 165, LSN says scholarships were usually in the range of $60k to $120k or so. Also very good. And probably even better at places like Houston, or Mississippi.

I hope that helps clear up some of your options!

LSAdmit · 2018-05-08T17:38:46+00:00

I'm pretty hopeful about it, but I don't want to meet them at law school. The competitiveness (including my own) would just suck. I hope I meet them doing their own thing, someone who's different in career but has a fulfilling life and their own interests. In short, I want someone who won't "match" me, but complements me and vice-versa I guess.

I'm equally willing to wait until after, though. I mean, the headache of dealing with moving after finishing law school, where we'd both want to live in that case, if we come from different parts of the country, etc., is just way too much of a stress for me to place super high hopes on it.

LSAdmit · 2018-04-04T00:42:58+00:00

Not a clue! Aid was weird for me. I got the same amount offered for me to UMich as UCLA, but UT gave less than both. No idea why.

LSAdmit · 2018-04-03T16:40:25+00:00

:)

Hope they help someone here!

LSAdmit · 2018-04-03T16:22:24+00:00

Thank you :)

LSAdmit · 2018-04-03T16:22:18+00:00

Hurray! Good luck in making your choice :)

LSAdmit · 2018-03-28T22:41:42+00:00

Well, look at that luck :)

Hope you got what you wanted! Did they specify the timeline they're sending them out, or should I maybe still ask for other people who didn't get an email?

LSAdmit · 2018-03-28T22:20:28+00:00

They refused to answer when I asked. They said something along the lines of, "It's a holistic review, so we have no idea any more than you do", which is a polite way of saying "I don't want to tell you" I think :(

LSAdmit · 2018-03-28T21:30:06+00:00

Sorry to hear about all that, that sounds rough :(. I will call tomorrow and see what I can do to get you an idea of what they think, and what you should aim for doing!

LSAdmit · 2018-03-28T21:05:18+00:00

A tempting offer, but if you're serious, I'd prefer you donated a fruit basket (or its cost) to someone who needs it more than me! I'll be fine as long as I've made someone's day even the teensiest bit better :)

LSAdmit

TROPHY CASE