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Extremely low uGPA, two Bachelor degrees

rmdyyycrmdyyyc Free Trial Member
edited December 2019 in Law School Admissions 5 karma

I am just over 40 years old and would like to attend law school, with the goal of practicing in a small private practice.

My education:
Bachelor of Computer Science: 65% average, or a 1.0 GPA. 120 credit units. Completed in 2002.
Bachelor of Economics: 3.7 GPA. 60 credit units. Completed in 2008.

cGPA: 1.9

My first degree in Comp Sci is a train wreck for grades. It was not a subject matter I could excel in. In addition, I worked part time at an investment management firm, and also ran my own IT service company doing work for small law firms. To say the least, the above all took a toll on my grades. Upon graduation, I ended up in consulting doing data management/software development for top tier investment management companies. I realized I loved trading and analysis, so after a few years I went back to school for a BA in Econ. This time I took school seriously. I ended up on a trading desk as an analyst, and eventually managed a large book for a multi national company. Unfortunately the trade floor was closed for a few reasons, and I was packaged out. I now work in corporate development.

Long story short, my terrible grades didn't hold me back, until now. From my understanding, LSAC only uses grades from your first undergrad, but their website seems to contradict that. From LSAC "A cumulative GPA that includes all undergraduate work is also calculated and reported." The LSAC website is not clear if this means simply from your first undergrad, or from all undergrad courses.

Given my age, time between my Comp Sci degree, good work experience, and much better Econ GPA; assuming I score a decent LSAT (165-170) is there any hope for attending an ABA law school? I am ready to do whatever it takes. Another year of undergrad is no problem. I can quit my job and dedicate whatever time required for a top LSAT. This is something I can be fully committed to, as long as that initial BSc GPA can be overlooked/fixed.

Thank you for your time and any suggestions.

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Comments

  • LSATcantwinLSATcantwin Alum Member Sage ⭐
    13286 karma

    The reason it is unclear is because the LSAC doesn't even know what they want...trust me, I've fought them.

    Now for the bad news, they will take all your transcripts and calculate your GPA based on them. So you will not be able to avoid having the Comp. Sci. Grades included.

    There is good news, admissions officers, unlike the LSAC, are cool and know we are human. Get a decent LSAT score and write a good addendum explaining grades, and you have a chance of being admitted to an ABA law school - especially since you have such a long gap of time between the grades and now + significant work experience.

    I would also call the schools you want to attend and talk to some of the admissions people to see what they suggest - it can never hurt.

    TLDR:
    They will use all transcripts
    Get a good LSAT
    Write a good addendum
    Be proactive
    You have a chance

  • Chipster StudyChipster Study Yearly Member
    893 karma

    One of my buddies does admissions for med school. He said they always keep at least one spot a year for someone who is older and who had really lousy grades but crushes the MCAT. They get that people have real lives and real problems sometimes.

    I bet if you get a super high score on LSAT and write a good application, you will get some interest.

  • SkrikSkrikSkrikSkrik Alum Member
    34 karma

    I don’t think that should bother you at all. I attended a couple of T14 law school info sessions, and I remembered two of them mentioned “the longer you’re out of school, the less important the GPA is”. If you’ve been out of school for a long time, they will look to what you have you done/achieved after graduation. Good news is that for some schools actually like people with working experience and prefer people with mature mindset relative to fresh graduates (this can somewhat be told from the median age of all students in each school’s JD profile).

    You can also just email the law school admission offices - briefly stated your experience and your question (two degrees and low GPA for one of them), and ask them what they think (yes, you can literally ask them anything). This would not make you look stupid, but show you care and are interested. I have two undergraduate degrees, one in the states and one overseas. Having similar question as yours, I emailed the admin and went to talk to an admin officer directly. She gave me detailed and honest answers. Just contact them, I believe most of them would be very nice and are willing to help. (If you’re not applying this cycle, you could ask them later. It is currently busy application season and they might give you less than comprehensive answers instead.)

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