I've been trying to navigate if law school would be the right fit for me and how the admission process, etc works. One thing I still feel like I need help in understanding is how soft skills, school, major, etc is considered.
For some context, I graduated from an Ivy League engineering school in Computer Science (I've also been wondering if I am at a disadvantage for my alma mater?) my GPA as a result of that and some personal hardships is quite low. I have a GPA of 3.6 and just started on the journey of studying for the LSAT - my diagnostic test landed me in the high 160s. However, I've noticed that people have been saying that its quite unlikely to get into the T14s even with high LSATs since this GPA is below the 25th percentile for these schools. I have been employed for three years in the public sector in environmental science as a developer of climate products in the Pacific Islands... Is my current role considered a plus in terms of soft skills? Is being a co-author on a paper in a social science journal also considered a plus? It is why I have been considering law school since I would like to be involved in Pacific Islander issues and environmental policy in a higher level capacity. I have experience working with NGOs, government, academia, policy makers, etc but no traditional legal experience at all...
If I rigorously studied to aim for the 170s - what would my admission chances be for the T14s? Or should I consider the fact my interest specifically in the Pacific islands is so niche that I should ignore the T14 and just go to Richardson instead?