Cover Letter Importance; Medical reasons accepted for low GPA?

Graduate School Law School
1

<p>How much of an impact can the cover letter have concerning your cumulative GPA, especially in the top tier/Ivy League schools? What if your Major GPA is very high, and the GPA of your junior/senior years is high, but your cumulative GPA is low due to medical reasons during freshman/sophomore year? If I obtain a high LSAT score, do I still have a chance at a top tier law school?</p>

<p>Due to financial circumstances I was unable to see a doctor until college. During the first 2 1/2 years of undergrad, I've been in and out of the hospital dealing with clinical depression (1 year of therapy, another year of medication match attempts and failures), chronic gastritis, and functional problems with my intestines - as well as all the different medication involved and their various side effects. Blood test, x-ray, endoscopy, biopsy - you name it. Needless to say, my grades were all over the place, with random As and a bunch of Cs and Ds. On top of medical reasons, I was constantly dealing with family issues via phone and travel... my younger brother is autistic (I was his main caretaker before college), and my parents cannot speak English. I finally took a medical withdrawal/leave last semester.</p>

<p>After fully recovering and going back to school, there would be a significant increase in my grades (from D/C to A/A-). Even then, I could probably only salvage my GPA up to a 3.0-3.25~ by the time I graduate. Oh and I'm currently attending a Top 20 undergrad college.</p>

<p>What can I do? What should I do? I'm planning on taking 1-2 years off between graduation and grad school to gain work experience... but I'm worried that even after all that I may not even pass the initial glance of application papers due to my GPA. Any input is appreciated, thank you.</p>

2

<p>Write about that in an addendum, not a cover letter. Focus on your lack of family support (i.e. if your parents don’t speak English, you’ll be looked at as a striver). </p>

<p>Many law schools will not care; they simply want a very high GPA. Others will forgive your low GPA if you have a high LSAT score to compensate. Get really, really good letters of recommendation.</p>

<p>Unsolicited advice: do not let your problems follow you to law school. Make sure that all of those things are straightened out before you enroll.</p>

3

<p>3.25 plus a 170+ LSAT can get you a decent school or a T25 with a scholarship. However, you should critically evaluate whether you really want to do law. Law students have an absurdly high rate of depression (the majority will be depressed at some point in law school) and lawyers have a higher rate of depression than just about any other field. The same is true for substance abuse. Given your predisposition, I would take a great deal of care before deciding that’s where you want to end up.</p>