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NYU is his best shot. Might snag CC with an ED. Likely a lot of waitlisting without ED.
ED to NYU - high chance
Most likely out for Columbia
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ED to NYU has a great chance, RD good chance, Chicago has a better than average chance, Columbia is probably out.
Or ED Northwestern for a $150,000 scholarship. OP should be admitted to two among Columbia, Chicago & NYU (CCN) with a 176/3.45, but what about scholarship money ?
Not going to get the NU ED with a 3.45
A quick look at lawschoolnumbers.com shows a 174/3.55 received $150,000 from NU this cycle. Applications are expected to be down even more next cycle.
op prob needs work experience for that to work out
OP’s friend may have work experience–we just don’t know.
Good chance at NYU with RD, pretty much a lock with ED. I think a pretty good chance at Columbia with ED (>50% anyway), and a low possibility of Chicago with ED.
Truth be told it really isn’t safe to say anything T6 with those digits is a lock. I can think of one applicant this cycle off the top of my head that has a better GPA and the same LSAT who has has yet to receive an admit to any school they applied to (all T14)
Would really like to know what kind of softs that person has… 
But yeah OP… MVP isn’t even a lock with those stats, though you’ll likely get at least one of them.
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So in other words, no work experience.
I’d argue that Columbia offers a better chance than Chicago. Chicago is bigger on GPAs, Columbia bigger on LSAT scores.
Columbia will still be tough though with that GPA.
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If you’re cool with paying sticker (and stoked on NYU) then yes that’s a solid move.