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Contact Info

347 Schaeffer Hall

319-335-2348

timothy-hagle@uiowa.edu

Twitter: @ProfHagle

Fall 2018 Office Hours

Tue & Th: 4:45-6:15

Mailing Address

Dept of Political Science

341 Schaeffer Hall

20 E. Washington Street

The University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa 52242

Posted updated Prelaw FAQ

Posted syllabi and book information for Fall 2018 courses.

Posted course evaluations for POLI:3113 Spring 2018

Posted two books in What I'm Reading

New book, Supreme Court Agenda Setting: The Vinson Court, published for Kindle devices and computers with Kindle reader.

My books

The list of formulas below was given to me by a student who obtained it as part of the materials sent to students who took the LSAT.  The sheet was dated 8/15/00.

There are six columns in the table below.  Brief descriptions of each are as follows:

• Law School: The list contains 162 law schools.  I didn't check to see which schools weren't included, but they are certainly the ones that either don't use formulas or don't release them.  Some schools that appeared on previous lists are not on the list for 2000.  These schools are identified with an asterisk (*) and their previous formula is listed.  The schools are listed alphabetically, with all "University of" schools listed under U.  Some abbreviations are: U = University, LS = Law School, SoL = School of Law, CoL = College of Law, LC = Law Center.
• X LSAT: This is the multiplier for the LSAT score used by the school.  (The formulas assume the LSAT score to be on the 120-180 scale.)
• X GPA: This is the multiplier for the GPA used by the school.  (The formulas assume the GPA to be on a 4.0 scale.)
• Constant: Most schools add a constant, positive or negative, to the formula. For a few schools this makes the total a round number.  About two dozen don't use a constant.   
• Total: The total is constructed by multiplying the maximum LSAT score of 180 by the school's multiplier, adding the product of the GPA multiplier and the maximum GPA of 4.0, and adding the constant.  For example, the total for American University is 0.576*180 + 4.580*4.0 + 20.220 = 142.220.
• %GPA: This is the weight given to the GPA relative to the LSAT in the formula.  This percentage ignores the constant.  The meaning of the constant varies depending on whether the constant is derived from the regression analysis mentioned on the Start and Comments pages, or whether it is artifically chosen based on other criteria.  Regardless of the meaning of the constant, the point of %GPA is to determine the importance of the GPA relative to the LSAT.  To calculate the %GPA, I dropped the constant from the formula and determined what percent of the new total was accounted for by the GPA.  Using American U as an example again, 0.576*180 + 4.580*4.0 = 122.0, and 18.32/122.0 = 15.02%.