First Semester Freshman Year

Graduate School Law School
1

<p>Hey,</p>

<p>I'm a freshman at Yale and I'm wrapping up my first semester. I want to go to Law School and a lot of people around here have told me "Your grades this first semester aren't that important...unless you want to go to law or med school." I've been pledging a fraternity this semester so my grades aren't exactly stellar. Worst case scenario, I'll have a 2.65 GPA after this semester. Best case, I'll have a 3.25. One grade is already in, I got a C+ in my Psychology Class. </p>

<p>The thing is I didn't feel like anything was too difficult, I was just so pressed for time this semester. I'm sure I can raise my GPA. But how much by the time I graduate? Should I take summer classes? What can I realistically aim for? And will messing up my first semester freshman year really destroy my chances of getting into a top law school? And does going to Yale undergrad help me get into a good law school at all?</p>

<p>Thanks guys</p>

2

<p>Your Yale education should help you scoring high on LSAT. LSAT & GPA are pretty much the only two things that count.</p>

3

<p>Your fine man. Just dont take it so likely anymore. Try managing your time more. Buy a large calendar and put it on your desk to remind you what you have to do and when it has to be handed in. Do well on your other sem’s and you’ll be fine. </p>

<p>Study alot for the LSAT.
You’ll get into Law school just believe.</p>

4

<p>After just one semester, it should be fairly easy to boost your cGPA enough that it won’t hurt you when you’re applying. I would think admissions committees would notice the improvement and discount the first semester at least a little…</p>

5

<p>If you haven’t already done the math:
Assuming you get a 3.0 (median of your two extremes): You’ve lost 1.0 off your maximum potential GPA. Assuming that the highest GPA you can get is a 4.0 and that you’ll be graduating in 8 semesters (more importantly that you took 1/8th of your graduation requirements this fall), you’ve lost 1.0 x 1/8th of your cGPA = 0.125; so assuming you get a 4.0 the rest of college, the maximum GPA you can graduate with is a 3.875.</p>

<p>Without the explanation, your extremes are:
2.65 -> 3.83
3.25 -> 3.91</p>

<p>Moral of the story, clean up your act and do better in the coming years and you’ll have a good GPA + upward trend = GPA wise (assuming you have the capabilities to improve, which I’m sure you do seeing as how you got into Yale), you should be fine.</p>