Dear Spivey:
Do you think there are many schools that admit (a) nobody with both a below-their-median LSAT and a below-their-median UGPA, or (b) no both-below folks other than diverse students? Or “almost nobody” both-numbers-submedian?
Our Answer:
I think every school admits some people below both medians — beyond Special Interest and URM admits. But one way to think of the percentage of these admits is by looking at the rankings (roughly of course). Yale gets many applicants with amazing experience who also have 178 LSATs. And they yield +75%. So they get to be very picky with these admits. Schools at the other extreme struggle to fill seats. They are looking for any glimmer of qualitative “good” especially in this past few cycles. Somewhere between these ends of the continuum rests every school — but they do almost all/all take special snowflakes with amazing backgrounds. I have seen this every cycle time and time again. Often this happens off of the WL. Additionally, as you know, there are some applicants who you just start liking because of their interaction with the admissions office, who also significantly elevate their changes above numbers.