Welcome to another installment of 7Sage's weekly advice column, "Dear AO,” a "Dear Abby"-style column where you can ask any question to former law school admissions officers. Each week, we'll publish our answers to a couple of our favorite questions. Submit questions here.

Dear AO,

Hi, I am a US permanent resident doing my bachelor’s abroad in Asia. I realize that those students without American/Canadian GPAs are treated as international students. I was wondering, however, if being a permanent resident would classify me as a non-international applicant, regardless of my GPA. If I were to be classified as an international applicant, would that affect my chances of admission negatively in any way? Thank you!

Signed,

Flamboyant Pelican

Dear Flamboyant Pelican,

First, thank you for your questions!

Especially in your situation, law school applicants who attended college outside of the US are not automatically considered international applicants. International applicants are those students who were not born in the US and do not have permanent residency regardless of where they attended college. You are a permanent resident of the US, so you are not an international applicant. You are a US resident who attended college in another country. This is somewhat unique, but admissions officers will be able to tell this because of the various questions we ask on the application (for example, your permanent address, where you were born, if you have a permanent resident card, etc.).

As far as GPA, the LSAC does not calculate a cumulative GPA for applicants who attended international universities. There are just far too many international colleges and grading systems to calculate a uniform GPA between them all. However, the LSAC does review the transcripts and gives admissions officers a summary of where the applicant’s grades fall: above average/average/below average. There may be a GPA or grade calculated based on a range/scale for a college as well: 8.5/12.0 or 76.7/100.0. This is why other parts of the application are very important, such as letters of recommendation from faculty and/or GPA addenda (if necessary).

Either way, your chances will not be affected negatively.

I hope this is helpful!

Warmly,

Dr. Riley

Dear AO,

If I graduated undergrad with a GPA that was average (3.0-3.3), would it make sense for me/is it worth it to attempt to get a master’s for the sake of having a higher GPA even if I'm able to get an above-average score on my exam (155-165)? Would the attempt at a higher GPA in an accelerated or short time span be better than just focusing on getting the highest score I can, working on my essays, and recommendations?

Signed,

CuriousCandidate

Hi CuriousCandidate,

Thanks so much for your question!

So here’s the thing: getting a graduate degree does not change your reportable GPA. The question is really whether there is a need for this additional degree if law school is your endgame goal. From an admissions perspective, I would not get a master’s degree just to have an additional GPA to show, especially if you don’t have a need to obtain this degree. This decision does bring judgment into question, and though application review happens quickly, we are scrutinizing everything, including a candidate’s trajectory to law school.

It would be different if the additional degree somehow supplemented what it is you’re trying to accomplish with your law degree––for some, a JD/MBA combination can be useful, but it’s not always necessary. Additionally, there are benefits to dual degree programs if you want to obtain two degrees simultaneously (e.g., overlapping credits that reduce the time it takes to obtain both degrees) rather than one at a time.

In looking at your undergraduate degree and whether it makes sense to supplement your education with a graduate degree prior to pursuing a law degree, there are a number of things to consider: your goals, the schools on your list, the context surrounding your academic performance, your financial situation, and how a graduate degree helps you. It’s important to consider whether a law degree can help you in the same way a graduate degree can. If that help overlaps, does it make sense to invest in an additional degree program that isn’t really necessary (in other words, how is the added investment justified)?

Though graduate GPAs are not reported, academic performance in graduate school is also highly scrutinized. There are times when candidates enter these programs to show a stronger performance but then don’t perform as they expected because life happened or because they weren’t actually interested in the material––it was just a means to an end.

If the GPA is below median and perhaps the 25th percentile for the schools on your list, then there’s an expectation that you’ll aim to get your LSAT score as high as possible to help offset and to have a reportable indicator that is above the median or ideally 75th percentile. It’s also expected that your written materials and letters of recommendation provide quality information and demonstrate strong writing skills. These are givens. The context in a GPA addendum will be helpful, including how you know that you are stronger now than when you were in school (often a candidate will point to the strength of their LSAT score and/or high-level work product from their post-college employment to help demonstrate this assertion).

My best advice is to only get a graduate degree if you want one for a reason outside of wanting to get into law school.

Warmly,

taj