I apologize if this is redundant, but I am currently a sophomore at UNC Chapel Hill. Although I’m doing great academically now, I had a terrible first semester freshman year. I had an extremely difficult time adjusting and could not handle my mental health well, which reflects in my GPA of around 2.4. I have no excuses and am ashamed to even being making this post, but I truly have done my best to bounce back from that semester in the time since then. How badly will this affect my overall GPA when it’s time to apply to law school (I’m sorry if this is stupid…I’m still getting used to this new GPA calculation)? Also, will this semester kill my chances at internships and study abroad during my undergraduate education? What kind of activities can I participate in to prove myself? Last thing, do I have a shot at a decent law school? I know I don’t have a shot at HYS, but I really admire NYU and other top schools.
If you have a 4.0 every semester but your first semester, then your GPA would be at most 3.8-ish.
Just take easy classes outside your major to boost your GPA and don’t apply to law school until you have the highest GPA possible, which might be after graduation if you need senior year grades to boost your GPA more.
@HappyAlumnus thank you so much for your response! I was definitely considering taking a year after I graduation to work…should I still take my LSAT junior year or no? Also, do law school admissions consider it bad to take GPA boosting classes? I know postgrad admissions are a completely different thing than undergrad, but I remember difficulty of classes being really important to get into UNC.
For the LSAT: take it whenever you have time to devote several months of full-time studying (8+ hours a day) to it. I took it in the fall of my senior year, as did most people then (1990s).
For GPA: yes, it looks bad to take blatantly easy classes, but what is “easy” should be what comes naturally to you, so major in something you love, which should be what you’re naturally good at. You’ll need strong recommendation letters, so don’t take blatantly easy classes particularly inside your major (assuming that a professor in your major will give a recommendation letter and will thus want to ensure that you challenged yourself), but outside your major, I would take the easiest things you can get away with, though. Don’t take something like basketweaving or something that is targeted at “dummies”, though, since that will reflect poorly on you.