First Semester @ W&M

<p>Hey guys, </p>

<p>I transferred into W&M from CNU this fall as a second semester sophomore. I took 17 credits with 200 to 300 level classes and am going to end up with a GPA around 3.4 to 3.5 for this semester. I'm slightly disappointed with myself because I know I'm capable of better, but now that I know what to expect, I know I am going to do better in the spring. I'm trying to get into W&M Law.</p>

<p>This brings me to my question. What would you say is the average semester GPA at W&M? I've googled it but I didn't find any good answers. Thanks for your time.</p>

<p>I've heard the average (all 4 years) is a 3.3, so a 3.45 is a good GPA, especially considering you took 17 credits! Especially with the whole grade deflation thing everyone talks about.
Of course I just finished my first semester too, so I can't be sure.</p>

<p>according to my official academic transcript the most recent average printed on it is 3.22. If you are shooting for W&M law, the median GPA is 3.68 and the median LSAT is 164. The bottom 25% medians are 3.44 and 159 respectively. Keep in mind that if you are looking to go to law school right after undergrad, your LSDAS report sent out to the various schools will only show your grades through junior year spring term (provided you send it out in the fall of senior year). According to the graph at lsat.com, you won't have a very good shot at getting accepted unless you have between a 160-164 LSAT and 3.50-3.74 GPA. If you are able to get in this grouping, there are still only 96 out of 390 who are admitted. If you can score a 165 (extremely good score), your chances increase tremendously (your chances are actually better if you get a 165-169 and gpa 3.25-3.49 since 99 are admitted out of 200). If you get below a 160, there is really hardly any chance at all of getting in. If you can manage better than a 3.5 (even if a 3.55) and rock the LSAT's you will have a chance. Also, if you can claim minority status it can potentially give you a much increased shot at getting in with lower scores. But remember, even if you can't score that high on the LSAT there are many great law schools to pick from whose medians are in the 150's. And take it from me as a 1L, getting in is tough but getting through it the real battle (:</p>

<p>I think the average is ~3.2 at graduation (which is confirmed by the post above me). Of course, to end with a 3.2, you can have a wide variety of individual semester GPAs.</p>

<p>W&M Law School is pretty tough to get into... again, the above post gave you the info you need in that regard.</p>

<p>William</a> & Mary - Grades</p>

<p>The most recent figure there is from Fall 2005, when the average GPA was 3.22. There's an upward trend though, so it's probably higher now.</p>

<p>3.2? they are taking it easy on you guys. It used to be below 3.0</p>

<p>I am slightly unclear on Table 2 in that link... is that the cumulative GPA of all undergrads, or the cumulative GPA of all the grades handed out?</p>

<p>Like... if there are 2 grades given out, and A and B, then the cumulative GPA of all grades handed out = 3.5</p>

<p>If there are 2 students, one who has completed 30 credits with a 4.0, and one who has completed 60 credits with a 3.0, then the GPA is 3.33</p>

<p>there was a pretty drastic GPA jump between 01 and 03, but 03 to 05 is not much change.</p>

<p>there were also significantly fewer P/F and audit grades given out in 2005 than the previous year.</p>

<p>I also think there should be an assessment done to try to make sure the average GPAs stop rising. I would be satisfied with something in the 3.0-3.1 range for the average.</p>

<p>The average of all undergrad is 3.26. Average by gender: females are a 3.34 and males a 3.17. Greek members are a tad bit lower.</p>

<p>Source: <a href="http://web.wm.edu/so/greeks/scholarship/GradeOverall_Sp08.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://web.wm.edu/so/greeks/scholarship/GradeOverall_Sp08.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Good job on doing well on your first semester!</p>