(4/14/22)
A bad undergrad GPA is by no means a career breaker in law, but ultimately, a low GPA must be offset by a relatively high LSAT for a school to seriously consider you, and LSAT score is king when it comes to scholarships. Most law schools understand that undergrad GPA, especially in STEM, can often have little bearing on law school/law career success, but it still plays a massive role in their rankings, so unsurprising to see many T50 schools interested in me yet hesitant to accept me. Every LSAT point counts, and several schools which waitlisted/rejected me very well could have accepted me if my LSAT were 1-3 points higher.

It’s certainly somewhat absurd that it seems common for splitters to either struggle to find acceptance, or have over 50% scholarships thrown at them, with few outcomes in-between, but this is the admissions game we play. If you have above a 160, by all means apply to a wide range of schools because at least one in the bottom half of the rankings will probably give you a full or near full ride, independent of GPA.

Planning on playing the waitlist game and seeing what happens, or perhaps taking the LSAT again to see if I can bump it up, but all in all, being able to attend a regional school like Chicago-Kent with a strong IP/patent program for just ~$30K is still a great outcome.

1 year later update:
I have a 3.77, top 10%. This is so much easier than engineering. Applied to transfer to GULC and they ghosted me, oh well.

2 years later update:
3.60, top 20%. Landed a midlaw patent prosecution gig.