M.A. or M.S. a good idea?

Graduate School Law School
1

<p>Hi All, </p>

<p>This is my 1st post here, I'm at a fork in a the road. Hope to get some good opinions.
I'm graduating UG with a "hard" science (biochem), and my gpa (3.38) is
lower than the avg of many schools I'd like to goto. I've taken two timed practice LSAT's and a diagnostic, scores hover around 160. Hoping to push it up with a prep course and more practice.</p>

<p>Question: Should I boost my GPA by pursuing a Master's in something like English or Philosophy? Or just take the LSAT, apply and hope for the best?</p>

<p>Pros:
1. I'd really enjoy this course of study.
2. It'll "round" me out, not just as an applicant, but as an individual (I can't stop seeing amino acid structures in my sleep!.)
3. Good probability of higher GPA than UG (I have a 4.0 in all non-science classes)</p>

<p>Cons:
1. $$$!
2. Is it worth it?
3. Anything else, guys?</p>

<p>Thank you very much in advance!</p>

<p>-Ugly</p>

2

<p>I think that people ignored your question because it was just discussed in another thread. </p>

<p>Bottom line: While you will get varied opinions on this, I would advise you to forget about the master's. First, you should understand that, while you will have to send your grad transcripts in, grad courses do NOT count in the calculation of your LSDAS gpa. It's fixed once you get a BA or BS. It's that gpa which is used to set the 25/75% ranges and which goes into US News' ranking formula. So, while getting a master's may help, it's not going to help as much as getting good grades as an UG. </p>

<p>As I said in the similar thread, I think you'd be better off spending the time working for Teach For America, Peace Corps, etc., than going to school, in terms of what it will do for your LS admissions chances.</p>

<p>I'd advise you to take off a year, so that the LSs will see those 7th and 8th semester grades.</p>

<p>And, of course, try to ace the LSAT.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the reply Jonri,</p>

<p>I searched the forum before I posted for any similar posts but wasn't
able to find one. Since I am new to this board, I didnt want to make
the cardinal mistake of reposting.</p>

<p>This is the first time that I have heard grad grades won't be included in
the calculation of my gpa. That is quite disheartening, but thanks again for your post.</p>

4

<p>Ok, I've found the post you were referring to by digging through
your post history. For anyone interested....</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=66822%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=66822&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

5

<p>"This is the first time that I have heard grad grades won't be included in
the calculation of my gpa."</p>

<p>Read the Princeton Review's guide to applying to Law Schools. I think it will help.</p>