what do I do with two low LSAT scores? -- Virtually Advising Q+A

The Q: I have taken the LSAT twice and scored low each time: 136 and 128. My GPA is not that great either. I was young and foolish while attending college; however, the last years of my masters program, I grew up, and it reflects in my GPA. What do you recommend?

The A: Is there any chance that your "young and foolish days" included the two times you took the LSAT? The problem that I see with your application is not your low GPA; it's that you have low LSAT scores. Your low GPA, when considered in light of your recent excellence in your master's studies, could easily be discounted by law school admissions committees *if* it was coupled with strong LSAT scores. The problem, in your case, is that your LSAT scores are also low, so admissions committees would be more likely to think that your strong performance in your master's program is actually the aberration, rather than your poor undergrad performance.

Keep in mind that LSAT scores become "stale" (i.e., they will not be considered by law schools) after five years. If your scores are that old (or almost that old), then you should retake the LSAT and submit the new score to the law schools to which you apply.

Assuming, however, that you have received these scores recently, then in all honesty, I think you need to apply to lower-tiered regional law schools, hope to perform well, and then perhaps transfer to a more reputable school later on. Your LSAT scores, when coupled with poor undergraduate grades, are going to take you out of consideration for the upper-tiered schools. I don't want to discourage you, however, because there are lower-tiered schools that will provide you with an adequate education and give you the opportunity to either (a) be a big fish in a small pond by having great successes in that school (e.g., making bar review or journals, or excelling in extracurricular activities such as mock trial or moot court), or (b) excel in your first year and parlay that into a transfer to a more highly regarded school, from which you would then graduate with your law degree.

Whichever solution your situation calls for, you must be sure to emphasize your recent master's program success in your application, and try to show how that experience is connected to your desire to go to law school. If your master's program is the first step toward a legal specialization, then it would behoove you to emphasize that experience in your admissions essay.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

—Christopher Clough, Prelaw Advisor

This response was written on July 19, 2006.