Can I Get Into Law School With a 2.7 GPA?

It is possible to get into law school with a 2.7 GPA, but definitely not a guarantee.

In the article that follows, we’ll explain.

Can I Get Into Law School With a 2.7 GPA? (Answer Explained)

Law school is possible with a less than ideal GPA, but only if the remaining aspects of your application are in good shape.

The fact is, there are more than 200 ABA accredited law schools in the United States.

Many of these schools accept several hundred students.

Very few of these students will be 100% on every aspect of their application.

Further, law schools are not always looking for the best students.

In fact, the best students often make poor lawyers.

Instead, many law schools will be looking for people who appear to be “the whole package.”

Well-rounded people with a variety of interests are healthy, happy, and the most likely to become the best lawyers out there.

This is why a student with a 2.7 GPA still has hope of getting into school.

However, law school with a 2.7 is not guaranteed.

Further, acceptance into the top tier of law schools (think Harvard, Yale, Stanford and the like) is pretty unlikely, as many of the applicants to these schools will be ‘whole package’ students will a better GPA than a 2.7.

However, if you broaden your horizons for law schools beyond the ones at the top of the US News top 50, you’ll find that there are still some good schools that you can compete for.

How To Apply To Law School With A 2.7 GPA?

Nothing will guarantee your entrance into law school.

But one of the first places you can gain some points back for yourself is with your LSAT score.

The LSAT is a standardized test that assists law schools in selecting students that are not only good students, but also individuals who are likely to succeed in the school itself.

This is why a bad GPA and a good LSAT score could produce an admission; the committee can see that you still have the makings of a successful student.

(Over time, the LSAT has been phased out at several high profile law schools, and may eventually be phased out completely).

Another place you can shine is with your personal statement.

This essay give you a chance to highlight your positive qualities that are not reflected in your GPA.

If you have done some amazing things (public service, business, politics), this is a place to let your personality and passion for them shine through.

Your resume is also a place to shore up a bad GPA; if you have significant work experience, you make a better candidate, especially if the work experience was in the legal field or involved supervision/management.

Finally, you can usually submit an addendum to your application with a valid and persuasive explanation for your 2.7 GPA.

Take Time Before You Apply

If you are sure you want to apply to law school, but you aren’t sure if your credentials are strong enough, you should consider taking some time off to work on them.

Instead of rushing into the LSAT, take some time to study for it.

Pay for an LSAT prep course and actually show up and do the work.

Make every effort to get the best LSAT score possible.

Get a real job, one that looks good on your resume.

Pick up a volunteer hours, and even better if you can do them in the local legal aide office.

Make plans for who you want to ask to write your recommendations; spend time with them and work hard with/for them so they’ll feel good about writing the recommendation.

Do something interesting during that gap time so you have more for your resume.

Not just work stuff, but stuff that would inspire curiosity and a conversation.

Do you love to cook, eat, learn languages, volunteer, garden, hunt, fish, train for marathons?

If the answer is not yet, then take some time to pick up some cool hobbies to talk about.

Create your resume, and then run it by some actual lawyers you know to get their opinions on it.

If you don’t know any lawyers, now would be a good time to meet some.

Draft your personal essay, and revise it.

Show it to other people, have them suggest edits, and revise it again.

In the meantime, you can also network with other folks in the legal fields in the vicinity of where you live.

This will help you make decisions later on about where you’d like to apply, what areas of law you’d like to focus on, what sort of career you’d like to pursue, whether you’d like the work, and whether you really want to afford the (likely) six figure cost of obtaining a JD.

If you are really serious about law school, and want to apply to one of the top tier schools, you might need to continue your education a bit.

Maybe you’d get a master’s degree, or another bachelors

This would give you some more impressive looking grades than the ones you’ve gotten so far.

Apply Broadly

When you do apply, make sure you apply to a broad range of schools, and many of them.

Applying to multiple law schools (and paying all the application fees) might seem like a waste of money, but remember what law school is going to eventually cost you.

If you are not prepared to pay for the application fees to apply to law school, then how will you be prepared to pay for the actual school itself?

For reference, tuition at a public school (when you are in-state) can cost close to $30,000 a year, while private school tuition is closer to $50,000 a year.

This does not include the costs of a laptop, books (several hundred dollars), a good looking suit, and living expenses.

Wrap Up

Yes, law school is possible for someone with a 2.7 GPA.

But just be prepared to work for it.

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