Transfer GPA Predicament

Comments

• MIT_2017 Alum Member

  July 2020 470 karma

  My understanding is that the overall average will hold the most weight, as that is what will ultimately be considered by USNWR rankings.
• 1 Like

  SSBM1000 Member

  July 2020 614 karma

  As a transfer student myself, I can confirm that your cumulative GPA between both of your schools will be your LSAC GPA. They don't weigh any school's GPA more than the other when calculating it.
• bbrightman10 Member

  July 2020 27 karma

  Thanks for the responses. But will schools themselves weigh the second GPA in evaluating my application's fitness, or will they mostly care about the rankings?
• 1 Like

  hopefulling Member

  July 2020 edited July 2020 905 karma

  The Academic Summary Report shows the GPA broken down for each year that you were in undergrad, also showing the institution. I transferred also, after the first year. My first school has an LSAT mean to compare to, but my 2nd school doesn't (engineering school, so not so many people take the LSAT after that ). The summary shows the GPA and semester hours for each of the years and then also as an overall total. It even charts out how many credit hours per each letter grade we earned that year. So, they will see a breakdown of your first school's achievement, but can also see your 2nd school's achievement also, together with an overall GPA. It might look good, that you turned around your GPA after you transferred (maybe include it in your personal statement or as a separate addendum).

  I don't know if performing inconsistently one year from the rest would make any difference to a school (beyond just the final, total GPA number) - but it might to a T10 if the difference is that large.
• 1 Like

  justrich23 Core Member

  July 2020 28 karma

  Hey OP, I was in the same boat as you. When I got my gpa back from lsac, the CAS gpa, it averaged it out to a lower gpa than my current gpa. If you're planning on applying before the end of the semester coming up, all I can say is write a addendum in your applications if you have a good reason for why your transfer gpa was low. Otherwise just buckle down this semester and try to improve you gpa as best as you can with the understanding it might be averaged to something lower than what you currently have. I would also focus heavily on your lsat as a high lsat score depending on the school you are applying to (usually most schools outside the t14 to t20 in my opinion) can cancel out a low gpa. Also keep in mind if you've been out of school for a while your gpa will still matter but it may not be the worst thing in the world if you've used that time to gain good work experience. So yes, I would highly recommend focusing super hard on the lsat and getting the highest score you can. Then, I would say try to make sure you have solid LORs, and work hard on your personal statement to make sure its very good! Lastly, I would say strap yourself in because depending on how your CAS gpa turns out you could be looking at an unpredictable cycle as a splitter or reverse splitter depending on what your final stats look like.
• bbrightman10 Member

  July 2020 27 karma

  It's looking like I will be a splitter, but I am also not that disappointed with my overall lsac gpa afterall.
• lexxx745 Alum Member Sage ⭐

  July 2020 3190 karma

  Yea its just about overall GPA. I mean you can write an addendum as to why you think your latter GPA is a better indicator of your record, but on the face of it, they just care about overall cumulative GPA, which they calculate themselves
• 1 Like

  99thPercentileOrDieTryin Free Trial Member

  July 2020 652 karma

  OP,

  My GPA is a similar situation to yours. My first two years at junior college were pathetic. However, my second two years at university were much better. The end result is an unimpressive overall GPA with a respectable final two years and a particularly good fourth year. I did some graduate school as well and ended up posting a 3.8 which some schools consider more than others. Either way, the upward trend is something you should explain in a GPA addendum because you can use it to identify what went wrong, how you overcame it, and what lessons you learned that make you a better candidate today.

  The bottom line is that law school admissions teams are looking for numbers that show that you have the stamina to keep up with the rigorous law school workload. Highlight any special difficulties you may have faced while completing your undergrad: did you have a chronic illness or non-diagnosed mental condition? Were you taking care of a child, parent, or disabled person? List any significant circumstance that could explain your poor GPA (do NOT write an addendum if all you can say is "I liked to party a lot those first few years...")

  Next, a good LSAT can right a lot of GPA wrongs. Even with my aforementioned garbage GPA, my LSAT got me into my top-choice school. Some top-tier schools are more lenient about GPA than others. In the top 14, you'll need a moonshot-high LSAT to even stand a chance but I've heard Northwestern tends to be better than others about forgiving an explain-ably low GPA. Outside the top 14, there are plenty of great schools that heavily favor LSAT to GPA (#17 WashU in St. Louis, for example.) Best of luck on the LSAT and on a great cycle!
• Mario Robo Alum Member

  July 2020 266 karma

  They will look at the average--whatever LSAC gives them, but they also look at trends--and your grades went up and not down, so they'll factor that in. Of course, LSAT matters heavily so focus on that and don't worry about GPA.