Chance Me: In Law School, which GPA do they consider?

So I’ll break it down: I just recently graduated from undergraduate school and obtained my Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice and a minor in Psychology. I attended community college for my first two years, and then I transferred to complete my last two at a four-year college.

My first-ever semester is the only one I did the poorest, with only 1 D and mostly C’s. However, I never got below a B- after my first semester. I graduated from community college with a 3.0 GPA, and I did a lot better in the four-year school where I had a cumulative GPA of 3.6, which I thought is my overall GPA but turns out, they didn’t add my community college grades which brought the “all institution GPA” down to 3.3, and I was pissed because I know the average law school applicant who is admitted has a GPA higher than that so my plan now is to just do well on the LSAT but I have some questions:

  • Will law schools combine both my community college and 4-year college GPA or will they place more emphasis on the 4-year college?

  • I do not plan to attend a Top 14 law school (that’s probably out of the question but most lawyers didn’t go to a T14 law school and they don’t regret it so ef’ it) but hypothetically, if I did well on the LSAT and have a 3.3 GPA, will I possibly be admitted in the Top 100 law schools?

Thanks in advance.

A strong LSAT and a couple of years good work experience should get you into law schools in the range of Hofstra or Gonzaga.

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https://www.lsac.org/applying-law-school/jd-application-process/cas/requesting/transcript-summarization describes grade conversion for law school admissions.

https://schools.lawschoolnumbers.com/ can give you an idea of what law schools are realistic at a given level of college GPA and LSAT score.

Discover law schools | Law School Transparency can give you an idea of employment outcomes of various law schools.

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Cumulative GPA of ALL undergraduate courses, so yes, they will combine. (Don’t forget any Dual Enrollment courses that you might have taken.). An upward trend is nice, but the cum GPA is what counts.