How can I best improve my application to law school?

Question

I am a senior in college majoring in psychology. Upon graduation my GPA will likely not be any higher than 3.0. I know I am intelligent and can handle intense work, just a lot of things got in the way during my undergrad work. So far, I haven't done any extracurricular activities and I have almost no work experience. I plan to start an atheist student organization on campus and to do a research project of some sort in psychology.
In addition to these things, what can I do to really impress the admissions board at a law school despite all my weaknesses? The gem of my eye is Duke Law School even though it is extremely hard to get in. Please help!!!

Expected GPA: 3.0
Time left: 2 semesters
Expected LSAT: 160+

Answer 1

Forget Duke. You haven't got a shot in the world. Not with a 3.0 GPA and a 160 LSAT. You're a psych major. That's considered an easy major. A 3.0 looks pretty bad for psych. Now if you had a ton of extra currics and work experience, you could at least claim that took up too much of your time. That's not the case though.

I'd recommend taking a year off after college. Work, volunteer for some programs. Show how you can help society or at least that you want to help society. Try and use this last semester to raise your GPA as well as pack in as much extra currics as you can. Then, take a year off to show you have potential and aren't some slacker.

Answer 2

1) Obviously, any grade improvement in the next 2 semesters can only help you, and help make the case that you are capable of improvement.
2) Get friendly with teachers, make sure they see you are trying, and be sure there will be 2 or 3 professors who will give you glowing recommendations. Be sure to ask for these recommendations before graduation and send them in to the LSAC even if you take a year off.
3) Study your butt off for the LSAT. Sometimes a good score can compensate for a lot.
4) In your next 2 semesters start up an organization nobody can shake a stick at, like a student published research journal or a psychology club, then start the atheists club after you already invested energy into the unimpeachable orgs.
5) Take a year after graduation to work or volunteer. Do something that you can parlay into your statement of purpose as having to do with loving legal stuff, or humankind or fluffy puppys, or something equally desirable. Consider working and volunteering at the same time. If you can afford to, consider living with your parents or something and taking a really great un- or low- paid internship as a resume booster. If you take a year off, keep studying for the LSAT, and wait to take it until you are pre-testing well into the range that your school of choice generally accepts (I imagine for Duke that means getting in the 167+ range).

Answer 3

Honestly, I'd set your sites a little lower. Admission to Duke Law is highly selective, with fewer than 21% of applicants accepted. In 2006, the incoming class posted a median LSAT score of 168 and a median GPA of 3.78. I'd take an LSAT prep course to improve your chances of upping your score, and then I'd apply to schools that aren't so out of reach (it's expensive and time consuming to apply).

Answer 4

Why Duke? Tremendously expensive, and after a few years, no one really cares which school you went to anyway. I applied to Dook, Wake Forest, UNC. Got into UNC. Man, in hindsight, it was pennies on the dollar.
I don't know that the atheism dealio will be a plus at what was once known as Trinity College.
Try to show how you stand out. Run a marathon, write a book. Something that takes resolve.