Choosing schools when I have divergent undergraduate and graduate GPAs

Rigid Designator

Hi everyone,

Sort of a long question. TL;DR: How strongly can I lean on my good graduate GPA vs my weaker undergraduate GPA when looking at places to apply?

For the sake of argument let's assume that my LSAT score is at, or slightly above a given school's median... Now for the background.

My undergraduate GPA (converting it from UK grades using an online tool) is a disappointing 3.64. However my graduate GPA (also converted with the same tool) for my recently completed Master's Degree is 3.95, which will go up to 3.98 if my thesis comes back at my expected grade come November. I got my 2 degrees at 2 different universities, but both are members of the Russell Group (sort of the UK equivalent to the Ivy League, except maybe less prestigious). Basically it's not the case that I simply got the better grades somewhere less rigorous, I just developed a lot between degrees. For what it's worth I also did a full credit undergraduate class at Harvard one year during my undergrad as part of their summer school program, for which I got an A.

This 3.64 UGPA is at or below the 25th percentile for most T14 schools. However, that's is in the past and my most recent GPA from graduate school would put me in almost any school's 75th percentile. I'm almost certain my undergraduate GPA will hold me back somewhat, but I'm wondering if I should I let it entirely put me off applying to places where it's below the median, given that my graduate GPA is so much better? In other words, is it unreasonable of me to think that my graduate GPA can make up for a slightly weak undergraduate GPA?

Thanks!

Cant Get Right

@jacob.seeley said:
is it unreasonable of me to think that my graduate GPA can make up for a slightly weak undergraduate GPA?

Unfortunately, not really. Here's why: The school rankings are largely determined by the LSATs and UGPAs of the students that a school takes on. Because we, the students, place so much value on school ranking; they, the schools, must respond by prioritizing the metrics which determine the rankings. So, your UGPA is an enormous part of what they have to consider for the sake of their rankings.

That said, here's where it will help you. There are three types of students. Those a given school basically accepts automatically just based on the numbers, those they basically reject automatically just based on the numbers, and those they have a real decision to make. Given an LSAT above the median, you are in this later group. The thing about the median is, half the students they accept are below it. So here's where your graduate GPA comes in. It shows a positive trend. While it doesn't affect the rankings, it does show that your UGPA is not necessarily an accurate predictor anymore. You've shown improvement since then, and that will not go unnoticed.

So of half the students they're going to accept that will fall below the median, you can show that even though your numbers will not raise the median, you are very likely a better student than that suggests. If you can give them a good LSAT to boost their numbers on top of that, I think you've got a decent shot.