Community College v University GPA?

thisismikecs

Hey everybody. I am hoping to apply this upcoming fall. I an worried about something on my application though. I transferred from a community college to a UC. At the community college my GPA was significantly lower than my UC GPA ended up being (something like 3.2 -> 3.8 I think). So this averages my LSAC GPA to something like a 3.5. How much do you guys think this will impact my chances of getting into a good school? Like will better ranked schools see a 3.5 LSAC GPA and not bother looking deeper into it? Thanks in advance!

Andrew K.

afaik most of the t14 schools really care about their stats. So it is not something that they will overlook and ignore, but you can always add an addendum to your application explaining the previous low GPA and your overall grade situation - how you've grown/improved as a student - which should be noticeable with your GPA change.

I am in the same boat as you, went from a ~3GPA to over a 4, but the LSAC GPA is sitting somewhere around 3.6...

Matt Sorr

As @"Andrew K" stated, there’s no way to get t14 schools to ignore your GPA. They simply place too much value on it, regardless of your situation. With this being said, however, maximizing your LSAT is the best way to make t14 schools consider your app regardless of your gpa. A super high lsat is far rarer than a high gpa and most schools weigh the lsat more heavily than gpa.

Tajira McCoy

Hi @thisismikecs, former law school admissions officer at a T14 here. While the GPA is obviously an important component that teams will consider when you submit your application, providing context can be extremely helpful. I strongly recommend that you draft an addendum to describe the circumstances that you faced while in community college and to highlight the strong improvement as the UC. Additionally, you can assert that the more recent performance at the UC is more reflective of your actual abilities (absent whatever circumstances you faced in community college), and that this kind of performance is what they can expect from you should you be offered a seat. Many candidates worry about an addendum being seen as an excuse, but as long as you provide the context, take responsibility, and detail for schools how you'd move forward, you've done your job. Additionally, if you are able to perform on the LSAT well enough to be a high LSAT splitter, you provide admissions teams with a positive affect on their LSAT median. I'm wishing you the best of luck! -Tajira

thisismikecs

@"Tajira McCoy" That is very useful info, and very appreciated. Yeah I figured an addendum was probably the best route.