[HLS2k6]

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no chance at top school. yale could fill their class with people with 175+ and 4.0 cum.

Your best shot would be to get a stellar LSAT, get into the best school possible (probably a low to midlevel), then bust your ass and transfer.

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This is not entirely correct. The difference between a 170 and 180 LSAT is major, as is the difference between Yale's selectivity and the rest of the T14. One of the unique things about the LSAT is that the last 15 points (25%) of the range separate the top 10% of test-takers, and it gets significantly more top heavy for literally every point above 170.

If the OP could pull a 180 and a 4.0 semester and a good, honest story about how and why he turned things around, he could easily find himself in the running for several T14 law schools and would be a lock for a tier one.

If the OP is going to be waiting until the following fall to apply to law school anyway, he should go to an extra year of undergrad and pad his grades. Spread those 17 credits over 3 semesters with other electives or add a second major, earn a 4.0 this spring and next year and supplement those applications with the continued good grades.

FWIW, I did very poorly when I started college and was also academically suspended like the OP. I had a 3.3 cum after finishing my last 5 semesters at straight 4.0 When I applied my senior year of ugrad around I had a 2.8 with 3 consecutive 4.0 semesters and a 179 LSAT and a good story about turning my life around, and was accepted at several top schools (including Michigan, Chicago and Columbia). I applied again the fall after undergrad and was accepted everywhere I applied save Yale. I graduated from HLS in 2006.