<p>I have a question about law school. I am currently a freshmen at Princeton, first semester I got off to a rocky start, but I am trying to work on it now. Is it true that graduate schools do not put a heavy influence on freshmen grades? Also, since I do go to Princeton, where the grade deflation is apparent every day, is a lower gpa, say around 3.2 maybe, really unheard of for the top law schools? Also how do minorities factor in? Is it similar to undergrad, graduate schools look for minority students even if there scores are not as high as the other students?</p>
<p>Well, I think law schools may consider grade deflation, but race doesn't play a role really in law schools' admissions, particularly if you're Asian. Heck, I'd say it'd hurt you if you were Asian. </p>
<p>The two big things for admissions though: 1) LSAT 2) GPA.</p>
<p>So just do well on the LSAT and bring your GPA to a 3.6 or so.</p>
<p>Hey Micalo. I'm the Princeton dork on this board.</p>
<p>On the contrary to the above poster, race does plays a considerable factors in admissions. It helps if you are an URM and hurts if you are Asian-American. I don't have the chip on the shoulder that NeedAdvice seems to be carrying, but I agree with him or her.</p>
<p>Is the grade-deflation at Princeton really that pervasive? A 3.4 mean GPA doesn't sound too bad to me! (gradedeflation.com) I don't go there, so I can't cannot corroborate the information, but, if it is indicative despite being a few years old, I don't know what you're complaining about. Do you sense rampant grade deflation eric? I'm just curious because I've never heard this claimed about Princeton before.</p>
<p>Maybe grade deflation relative to a few years ago.</p>
<p>EricMeng: I'm female, and thanks for saying I have a "chip on the shoulder." </p>
<p>Must you insult people when it's unwarranted? I wasn't even talking to you or at you. But hey, ironically, you do seem rather arrogant and ridiculous.</p>
<p>if ure a URM - big help</p>
<p>but as mentioned, LSAT and GPA are the biggest factors (in that order)</p>
<p>I'm sorry if I offended you. Tone of voice doesn't come out across on the boards. I apologize if I wrote something inappropriate.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Also, since I do go to Princeton, where the grade deflation is apparent every day, is a lower gpa, say around 3.2 maybe, really unheard of for the top law schools?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>A Princeton student complaining about grade deflation? I would argue that, if anything, Princeton suffers from an embarrassment of grade inflation, even with the new Princeton grading policy. I think the new policy stipulates that 35% of grades given out can be A's. While this is less than before, believe me, there are LOTS of students at other schools like MIT or Caltech who would kill to be in classes where 35% of the grades are A's.</p>
<p>yeah i agree...at my school an A- is roughly top 15% of the class. </p>
<p>Ultimately, coming from Princeton (or any top school) will be a slight boost</p>
<p>Because you guys are at Princeton which has more generous grade deflation than others (trust me, other school's grade suppression is significantly worse), but which neverthless suppresses grades, can you take classes at other schools over the summer, so that even if Princeton won't calculate the grades from the summer into your gpa, the law schools might?</p>
<p>I have always been curious about how much summer coursework taken at a different college will affect gpas...</p>