Prospective Law Student Applicant: Questions

Graduate School Law School
1

<p>I will be applying to law schools two years from now and I have a few questions about the process. In all honesty, I'm only interested in attending either Harvard, Stanford, or Yale Law. I can see it is a very grueling process, and I plan on preparing early. However, I do have some questions.</p>

<p>I have been attending a community for the past three years. I first enrolled in my local CC when I was 14, concurrently with high school. Although I applied as a junior for transfer for 09, I think I'm going to be staying home for an extra year. I've changed my major since last November so I have three extra classes to take, I also want to spend some more time on my own personal development (I'm 17). </p>

<p>1) Does attending a community college and then transferring significantly affect one's chances of admission to law school? What about the time spent at the CC?</p>

<p>I will be starting my fourth year at CC. I've changed my major from Econ to Business, to now Math/Physics. I need to only take three more classes to fulfill all my pre-reqs. I was told that staying at a CC for too long may look bad for grad school admissions. I plan on explaining my situation in my application, but does this really make a huge difference?</p>

<p>2) Does courseload/unit count hold significant weight in law school admissions?</p>

<p>Because I was attending high school at the beginning of my CC career, I was only taking 8-9 units a semester for that first year. The following year (my second year) I took a full course load of 20+ units per semester. In my third year (this current one) I only took 8 units in the Fall semester, and 10 units this Spring. I also did summer sessions of ~7 units. My totals were 25 units 1st yr (while I was attending highschool), 55 units 2nd yr, and 21 units this third year (all of these unit counts include summer sessions). I've already accumulated ~100 semester units, and plan on only taking an additional 10 units combined over this summer and fall. I won't be taking any classes spring 2010 or summer 2010, instead I will be actively participating in community service and work. As a result, for my fourth year, I will only have 7-10 units total. Despite all those units, I will still be transferring as a junior for 2010. Am I totally screwed with all these irregularities? I'll do my best to explain the situation.</p>

<p>3) How does LSAC deal with Withdrawls, Repeats, P/F?</p>

<p>Last semester I withdrew from a course that I had an A in. I withdrew from it because I was only taking the class for fun and felt like I wasn't learning anything. I didn't want to spend more time on it. I also have two other withdrawals due to abrupt schedule-conflicts. My school reports all withdrawals as a simple W. LSAC won't incorporate those classes in my GPA correct? I also took one course for P/F (which I Passed), this too won't be counted in my GPA right? Or will it count as a C? I also repeated one course that I got an unsatisfactory grade in and got an A, are there any cases/instances where LSAC would not include a failing grade in their GPA calculation?</p>

<p>To summarize, I have 3 Ws, 1 Pass, and 1 Unsatisfactory grade that I later received an A in. How would LSAC incorporate these grades in my overall GPA?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for your responses. I appreciate the help.</p>

2

<p>A simple search could provide you the answers you’re looking for.</p>

<p>1.) I would look at what you mean by “significantly”. Will your application be thrown out because it indicates you first attended a community college? Of course not. Will it be a slight disadvantage compared to someone with the exact same qualifications? Possibly. </p>

<p>I think most people are able to remedy the disadvantage by “proving” their academic ability upon transferring. If you maintain a high GPA throughout your entire academic career and rock the LSAT, it should not pose a “significant” disadvantage. Some applicants even decide to wait a year after graduation so that their senior year grades get factored into their LSAC GPA.</p>

<p>2.) You’re not “totally screwed” but it does not look good to have an inconsistent academic record, particularly the one you’ve delineated. This is something that could potentially go into the addendum. If you’re spending your time doing other activities, then I don’t think it will be a “significant” detriment. But if you’re doing nothing else except taking low-unit courseloads to get a high GPA then of course it won’t look good. Remember that law schools will see every course you took, where you took it and when you took it and not only the GPA.</p>

<p>3.) W’s don’t look good in the sense that they make you appear as though you don’t plan things out well which is never a good sign. However, I believe that 3 will not hurt you horrendously, but more than 3 and you’re just asking for trouble. In most of the anecdotal evidence I’ve seen, 2 is the “safe” number. W’s don’t get factored into your GPA.</p>

<p>Repeats, both of the course grades will show up on the LSAC transcript, irrespective of your school’s replacement policy (i.e. if your school only factors in the higher grade in your GPA, your LSAC GPA will be lower because they factor in both).</p>

<p>Pass/fail are no longer factored into your GPA much to my chagrin, as I should’ve taken a class credit/no credit this semester but didn’t realize the LSAC had changed their policy on pass/fail.</p>