<p>I'm a transfer student from a community college to a 4 yr university. Does anyone know how law schools look at the two different GPAs for applicants?</p>
<p>They add the two gpas and then the LSDAS will compute a final GPA that will go out to law schools. For example, if you had a 4.0 in your two years at a community college and then had a 3.5 with the same exact amount of credit hours at a four year institute, your "new" GPA would be 3.75 (unless your school has A-pluses that might throw off the scale). Your application will then be looked at based off of that single GPA average vs. two different GPAs.</p>
<p>milton- nobody on eaarth had the exact same number of credits from each school</p>
<p>Just imagine thats LSDAS doesnt look at individual schools, they look at it as if you it is 1 continuous school. I have more than 5 schools on my transcirpt and everything counts.</p>
<p>I have been wondering about this too. So, do they just average out the GPAs from every institution? or Do they actually look at every single grades to convert them into LSAC standards, then get the final GPA?</p>
<p>I understand that nobody has the same exact number of credits; however, I was simply trying to show that the grades attained at one institution do not inherently hold more weight than those of another institution (unless one university offered A pluses and the other did not). I apologize for any confusion this may have caused.</p>
<p>They take every single course you've ever taken at a college or university. That course is translated into LSAC standards and merged into what essentially is a new transcript. That LSAC transcript is then used to calculate your GPA.</p>
<p>As it turns out, my current school doesn't have A-pluses, but the school I transferred from does. The way GPA is calculated is different at both schoosl too.</p>
<p>Does, and if so, how does the LSAC/LSDAS calculate my undergrad GPA?</p>
<p>ok- let's try this again. LSAC works like a "bank"- collecting and accepting each undergrad grade you received. That includes grades from each school you attend, Study Abroad semester, summer classes etc. You have to inform Lsac of every school you went to, so they can get each transcript. </p>
<p>as an example my d will have 7 semesters of grades from her "home" school and one semester from a study abroad program sponsored by another university. She needed to give LSAC the codes from both colleges. And if she had taken even one summer class at the local community college, she would have had to give that college code too to LSAC.<br>
so basically it doesn't matter if you transferred, went to community college etc-- LSAC will gather the info and get ALL your undergrad grades.</p>
<p>then they convert each grade (with credit hours) . so I think each
A + is equivalent to 4.333 each A is 4.0 each B + is awarded a 3.666 (or something like that- someone may be able to bring up the LSAC link).
and then LSAC will convert your grades to an LSAC GPA.</p>
<pre><code>if I knew then what I know now, I might have encouraged my kid to take a few summer or winter intercession grades at the local community college-- with the hope of getting a few A +'s. That may have boosted up her LSAC GPA.
</code></pre>
<p>everyone needs a little bit of a strategy in trying to get the highest GPA possible for Law school. Unfortunately, that may also steer someone clear of taking certain classes as the grading may bring your GPA down.
but the name of the game for Law school is GPA and LSAT!!</p>
<p>A is 4, B is 3, C is 2, D is 1.</p>
<p>A + is worth an extra .333, while a minus substracts .333.</p>
<p>So a B+ is 3.333, while a B- is 2.667.</p>
<p>Hi Blue- I realized a few minutes later that I meant to say an A - is a 3.667 (not a B +), but hubby was on computer. He thinks I am nutty enough spending too much time on this website. I wouldn't dare ask him to get off the computer to make the correction
so I'm glad you were able to do so. Thanks!</p>
<p>marny- overloading on summer/intersession courses can have a negative effect as well. I took multiple summer and winter classes to boast my GPA, but in reality this made me inellgibile at UCLA, UCB, and Columbia because I had earned too many credits to transfer.</p>
<p>she's a senior- so for her it doesn't matter. but I think one or two A +'s would have worked in her favor. At her school it is almost impossible to get an A +. She has plenty of A -'s but that translates into 3.667. She got a 4.0 from her study abroad semester, so that really does give her a bit of a boost. </p>
<p>But you are probably right, if you are planning to transfer- it may not be too smart to have too many credits from summer/winter semesters.</p>
<p>Aztec- if you can get a high enough LSAT, it may not make that much of a difference if you're a graduate of Columbia or Oswego State (my alma mater). Law Schools really take your LSAT grade into account.
IMO- an LSAT of 170 and a high GPA from ANY college will get you into a T-14 Law School. so concentrate on the LSAT. It will have more impact on Law School admission than the school you graduated from. </p>
<p>Even the Harvard grad with a LSAT of 161, may not cut a T-14 acceptance. Law Schools do not want to bring down their median LSAT score- even for the HYP graduate. And it seems pretty tough to get a T-14 acceptance with an LSAT below 166. And even with the 166 LSAT, you probably need a 3.8 GPA.<br>
Your LSAT score counts ALOT!!</p>
<p>Law school is much more of a numbers game, I know, but other graduate programs would certainly have frowned on such an obvious "back door" to the system.</p>
<p>I don't think anyone is going to categorize taking 2 summer courses at the local college as a "back door" way into law school or other graduate programs. Some kids really do want to lessen their semester load, especially those kids who have a campus job and work 10 to 15 hours a week- or even the semester you're taking the LSAT. That may be the perfect time to take only 12 semester credits and STUDY for the Lsat. So there is plenty of justification for taking a course or two away from the "home school". And if you can get the A or A +, more power to you!!</p>
<p>does taking summer sessions during all 4 summers in your current university give negative effect to your law admissions?</p>
<p>PEOPLE,
it's called a weighted average of GPA's.....</p>
<p>Oh, and Marny 1- Go Oswego Lakers (my old school, too)...national hockey champs!!!!</p>
<p>NS: Law school is mostly a numbers game, so even if it's a negative effect, it's a minimal one.</p>
<p>However, if I were the admissions committee, I would wonder seriously what you thought was so lacking about the normal school year that you felt compelled to continue it through your summers -- and about what your other summer options were, that you thought classwork was preferable.</p>
<p>Lots of kids in my neck of the woods, often take a summer class or two. At the same time, they have summer jobs in shopping malls, restaurants, work at the beach and other types of jobs that college students take. It's very easy to fit in a class at the local community college with a summer job. --
and some kids take classes so they can graduate a semester early and save themselves a load of money.<br>
Maybe its different in NYS. We got colleges all over the place. So it is extremely common for a NY student to take a college course during their summer vacation. I can't imagine that it could be interpreted in a negative way.
In fact, the college student who is working and taking a class during the summer, would strike me as being a mature and responsible individual.
Funny how the same situation can be interpreted differently!! </p>
<p>Hi Tom- didn't go to too many of the games during my years at Oswego.</p>
<p>Marny, the question involved specifically mentioned "all four" summers. So that's automatically at least four courses -- and more likely eight -- and it automatically is not for the purposes of accelerating graduation -- in fact, it might reflect a slight delay.</p>
<p>Both possibilities had entered my mind.</p>
<hr>
<p>Too, my opinion might reflect premed bias. Unlike law school, premedical courses are very specified because future medical students have knowledge which is clearly expected of them. Taking these at a CC is extremely frowned upon -- so much so that many medical schools will flat-out declare you ineligible.</p>