I finally got my GPA according to LSAC today. I had a slightly non-traditional undergraduate experience. I went to a large and highly respected community college for most of my general courses (about 2.5 years) and spent another 2.5 years at NC State University and I graduated from NCSU. According to LSAC, I have a 2.54 Degree GPA and a 3.0 Cumulative GPA. I know T14 schools are out of the question but I'm working my butt off to make sure my LSAT is good enough to attempt to get into T25-50. But I'm worried about my GPA. When it comes time to submit applications, does anyone know on degree or cumulative GPA, will one have more bearing over the other? I think I can write an addendum for the semesters that brought my GPA down. So that may help some. While on that note, does anyone know how mental illness addenda are viewed in law school applications? Furthermore, is community college viewed negatively? Should I write an addendum for it? Lastly, do law schools look at the classes at all or just the GPA? It would be nice if my semester of paralegal courses that made me want to be a lawyer were considered. I did well in them.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Comments
I won't comment on the GPA addenda since I'm in no position to give a legit response but for all intensive purposes, schools will primarily care about your overall LSAC GPA as that is what is being reported to USNR.
@jdawg113 Community college was very normal in my mind too. But I've encountered some negativity from educational elitists over the years because I went to community college. That's why it concerned me. But it all sounds good.
Thanks again. :-)
Any college class that was taken before your bachelor is awarded counts towards the LSAC gpa. That includes any community college classes you took in high school to "get ahead".
Now, if you already have your bachelors degree, you wouldn't be able to take extra class to pad your gpa.
OP, I'm not totally sure on AP classes though. LSAC has all my transcripts in and there's no mention of AP classes...lol.
One of the counselors told me a story about how an applicant wrote an addendum for alcoholism and drug abuse during their undergraduate career, but never mentioned anything of improvement or controlling their issue. Therefore, he said, he assumed the problem was still continuing - that he would not want a student with that type of serious set back in his law school taking on such a rigorous course load.
So make sure if you decide to go with it that you explain the full story, filling any gaps so people can't just "assume". I am sure that applicant did not intentionally do that. Hope that helps!!!!
It depends. If he had any run-ins with the laws aka got in trouble, he would've had to disclose everything to the law school anyways. You don't want to lie and leave anything out. It'll come back and get you when you're going through the C&F procedure with your state's BAR.
Hello,
I have a 3.07 GPA from a community college, however, I got a 2.59 GPA from a college where I got my bachelor's degree.
My question is do LSAC combine all the grades from both colleges and calculate them into one cumulative GPA?
Yes, they take everything you've taken for credit in college at any level and combine them. Unfortunately, people's LSAC GPA is lower than any 'cumulative' GPA that you'll see listed on any one of your college transcripts. I'm still in the process, but once you upload all of your transcripts to LSAC and they're processed, you should see your LSAC GPA. It's recommended to write a 'GPA addendum' in addition to your applications if you want to explain pockets of poor performance, or inconsistencies in your grades.
T14 schools are not out of the question, assuming that you desire attending one. If you were to kill the LSAT, you would be a 'super splitter,' someone with a big gap between their GPA and LSAT. Your success at the T14 would be unpredictable, so the general advice given is to apply to many different law schools.
Cumulative GPA carries like 99% of the weight. It's standardized and is the one law schools have to report to the ABA (American Bar Association) and US News Rankings.
You definitely should write an addendum. Mental health issues are a popular addendum item and are viewed fine in law school applications, however, you should make it clear (if this is the truth) that, while you once had issues, they have now been resolved and will not negatively affect your ability to succeed in law school. Law school admissions officers want to know that you'll be able to be in a stable headspace because law school is demanding.
Community college is not viewed negatively. I have even heard top law schools like Harvard welcome community college applicants because they see them as more diverse.
You should not write an addendum for community college merely because you attended it.
Law schools will have a copy of all your official transcripts, so they technically will have the ability to see your classes. But, by and large, your GPA is much, much more important than what your transcript says. Most admissions officers don't spend that much time looking at your transcript. For someone with a lower GPA, they may just glance over it to see if you have an upward trend.
Best of luck!
LSAC converts everything to a standardized 4.0 scale (A+s count as 4.33) and calculates your GPA according to the number of units/credits taken. So, for instance, let's say you took 10 units/credits at one institution, and 30 units/credits at another. The latter institution would have 3x more weight as far as GPA is concerned.
Do Supersplitters get scholarship money I am curious if they get any type of major money from a top 25?