<p>This question pops up on these boards every now and then but I don't seem to see a real consensus. </p>
<p>Is it true that having a transcript that contains a large amount of summer courses has the potential to weaken the value of the GPA for admissions officers due to the assumption that these courses are watered down versions of the real course?</p>
<p>I think this is what they say over on the graduate schools boards; I don't think I've seen it as much on the law school boards. It seems logical but I hope it's not true.</p>
<p>It would depend on the pattern in your academic career. If you have bad grades the preceding semester and out-of-the-blue you decide to take two introductory classes during the summer the year before applying to law school and get A’s, it will obviously look as though you’re trying to deceive the adcoms. </p>
<p>It’s not the same question. I’ve asked before if online courses (or an excess of them) are frowned upon. Now I’m asking if summer courses (or an excess of them) are looked down on.</p>
<p>And yes, i understand that there are probably situations where summer courses could be a bad idea. My questions is if summer classes THEMSELVES are looked down on, which would mean there are more than just particular hypothetical situations where it would be a bad idea.
Obviously there is is a situation for everything. It’s easy to see why taking intro classes the summer before applying to law school could be looked down on. But is there any reason to think that, in general, admissions officers need to assume, as a standard, that summer courses are easier classes.</p>
<p>I don’t see why. For some it’s a cost-effective method of completing pre-requisites and/or coursework they’d rather get out of the way so they can focus on their major-specific classes during the regular school year. </p>
<p>In the vast majority of the cases, I wouldn’t say summer classes are any easier or harder than regular semester courses. They might even be slightly more difficult because of the intensity involved in covering the same material in a shorter time span (albeit you have only one or two classes so that might negate some of the intensity). </p>
<p>The only case where I can see summer classes being “easier” is when a college designates that though a course may have the same title as the semester-length course, it will NOT satisfy the same requirement as the course offered during the semester. </p>
<p>I’m not sure if that’s the case at your college, but I know at some universities some summer science courses cannot be used to satisfy the pre-requisite(s) to enter a more advanced and/or specified science course in the regular semester due to the different structure of the course.</p>
<p>In my opinion, summer school is not going to be frowned upon if it’s just you trying to get through regular coursework that you would complete during the regular semesters anyway. This, and that your GPA was exceptional irrespective of the A’s during the summer sessions.</p>
<p>There are many more reasons to take classes during the summer than “padding” one’s GPA.</p>
<p>what if I WAS padding my gpa? haha
I mean I do not actually have any really good reason to take classes this summer. I don’t need the requirements. I just want to take some classes where I can get more A’s and be at school for the summer.</p>
<p>Obviously if I was taking intro courses be obvious that I was padding my GPA.
What if I took some non intro classes in a different subject that I was previously going to major in but now I am not. that would allow me to not have limited to intro classes. and while there’d be no obvious reasons of why I took them, would that eliminate any potentially negative perception?</p>