<p>So my LSDAS gpa is just south of a 3.7 (should be higher by the time I graduate) and I'd like to think that I'm in a decent position for a T10 law school. However, I also have a lot of CC classes I took in HS (when I was 15 - 17 years old) and I didn't do so well in them, including one "D." Will these classes, that I took 5-6 years ago, still keep me out of top law schools? Haven't taken the LSAT yet, but hoping for around a 170 based on practice tests.</p>
<p>Junior at UCLA
Dream Schools: NYU, Columbia, UChicago, Northwestern, Georgetown.</p>
<p>Are you sure your LSDAS gpa is still a 3.7 with those CC classes where you received poor grades? After I incorporated my F and two D’s from years ago at another school it pulled my GPA down from a 3.7 to a 3.3. A single or a few bad grades can really take its toll.</p>
<p>No, it’s a 3.7 without the CC classes.With the CC classes it’s like a 3.63. My question is will law schools still care that much about these classes i took when I was still in high school???</p>
<p>If you had a 3.63 gpa and had gotten A’s in those same classes
that raised your gpa to 3.7, would still want law schools to consider those grades?</p>
<p>As far as I could tell from my kid’s cycle, all grades were factored in when it came to the dumpster. For some schools, if the LSAT or LSDAS score were under a school’s target for that year, they wouldn’t even look at the rest of the application. It didn’t matter what the grades were in. When dealing with thousands of applications for a class of two hundred or less, they can afford to be selective. </p>
<p>If marginally under the school’s target, then it might could make a difference just like other factors like having a poor freshman year, a poor grade in a particular subject that brought down a GPA, etc. You have a lot of company.</p>
<p>We’re all guessing. Your LSAT is so critical that perhaps you should wait to get your actual score, and then take both your GPA and Score to lawschoolnumbers.</p>
<p>I talked to the Dean at my school because I am in the EXACT same situation, and she assured me (though I don’t know if she just wanted me to feel better or not,) that law schools would look at my grades and realize that those D’s from when I was 15 years old shouldn’t matter. </p>
<p>Apparently, the LSDAS breaks out your GPA by undergraduate institution and by year. My situation is that I have 36 credit hours at the community college with an overall 3.0 GPA in them, but only because of two D’s in two math classes. If they look at my actual UNDERGRADUATE institution, where I actually went to college, I’m going to have at least a 3.5 GPA, probably higher. </p>
<p>My overall LSDAS GPA will be low - around a 3.3 or 3.4 - but it’s significantly (I feel) higher where it matters.</p>
<p>Yes, your cumulative GPA, which includes CC classes, matters. However, a 3.63 isn’t that bad, although you probably need at least a 170/171+ to have a shot at the T-14.</p>
<p>If you want more advice on getting in and picking a school – I think Georgetown is a bit of an odd choice for a “dream” school – check out <a href=“http://www.top-law-schools.com%5B/url%5D”>www.top-law-schools.com</a>.</p>
<p>I heard that they look at my UC gpa and my CC gpa as two separate grades? Is this true? And my main question is will they give the same weight to a GPA from when I was 15??</p>
<p>I don’t believe it is true that they will look at undergrad grades differently based on my kid’s and some of his friends’ experiences. Undergrad GPA from all colleges and the LSAT were calculated and sent out to schools with an index number. Only one GPA was submitted for all undergrad institutions my kid attended. It was a very mathematical process. You may see that the difference between a 3.7 and a 3.63 will not actually affect your index number much for many schools (your index number will vary for different schools). </p>
<p>You’re free to submit an additional personal statement explaining grades. However, in my opinion the schools were predictable. They appeared unlikely to admit anyone whose GPA or LSAT was signficantly lower than their published ranges - perhaps because of the impact on ratings, or perhaps the large volume of qualified applicants makes it unnecessary. My kid made it onto some wait lists that I didn’t expect and got into schools where his stats were on the low end of their admitted student profiles, but I generally felt that the information on lawschoolnumbers and the LSAC site was a useful predictor of admission chances.</p>