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Do most schools care about your undergrad GPA after admission? I'm in my last semester of undergrad, and of course I don't plan on bombing my last semester, but I was wondering if schools care about the GPA on your final transcript.
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My knowledge is fairly specific to Canadian law schools, though I believe it holds true to American schools as well. Each school will compute your GPA according to their own parameters to provide you with a cumulative GPA. Some schools drop a set number of your lowest grades, for example. This GPA, along with your LSAT score, is the most important metric used to evaluate prospective students. You can always speak with the admissions office of the school(s) you're planning to attend- personal experience tells me they're very helpful and happy to respond. Hope that helps!
Yes, to a degree. Unless something drastic happens, I doubt they would rescind an offer of admission. But I've seen with multiple schools that you must turn in your final transcript. They want to know the final GPA. Keep those grades up!
They care since it can alter their ranking. They get ranked based on your final GPA not the one they see when they admit you. This is probably another reason why they tend to favor applicants with a little bit of work experience. Their GPAs are locked in rather than uncertain.
That said, they won't rescind an admission unless the GPA change is dramatic or you don't graduate.
My initial reaction was "no way one semester can bring you down that much". And then I crunched the numbers, and wow it could destroy your GPA.
But if the school doesn't have a requirement, can they rescind your admission? I'd hope it isn't like dismissal in an at-will employment.
I don't know if they can or can't. I bet once you deposit, it is pretty much locked in. For all practical purposes your last semester of grades don't matter. I have not heard of anyone actually losing an offer for bad grades as long as they graduate when expected. Law schools don't want bad press.
Thanks for the comments everyone! I'm starting to hear back from schools and I applied as a "reverse splitter" to some schools so GPA is really important in my case. I guess after I finished worrying about studying for the LSAT and finally hearing back from schools I looked for something else to worry over! I guess it all just comes down to checking with the school you're accepted into.