Apply Early or Wait for Grades?

[charlesxavier]

I am looking at the University of Texas and I am out of state, so getting in is tough. Even if I got into T-14 schools Texas would be my first choice because I want to practice there. If I apply next fall my GPA will most likely be a 3.52, due to one NC. I came into undergrad with a lot of credits so a few more A's could actually bring up my GPA quite a bit. If I applied in January with updated grades I could probably bring that up to a little over a 3.6. People have noted that this cycle Texas has auto-denied many out of state applicants in the 170's for having a sub 3.6 GPA. So, would it serve me better to apply EA with a 3.52/169 or apply in January with a 3.61/169? I am afraid that applying late would hurt me due to their 35% OOS attendance rate. Or am I just looking at SMU with a pretty good scholarship and an attempt at a transfer?

[broker02]

How about taking a couple of easy (relatively) summer classes over the summer to bring it up even further just to be on the safe side?

[charlesxavier]

How about taking a couple of easy (relatively) summer classes over the summer to bring it up even further just to be on the safe side?

I am hoping to be able to do that, it is just a matter of finances.

[broker02]

It may make the difference later on, maybe you could amend your current student loan and get a refund to pay for it?

[twopoodles]

You say you can bring it up because you transferred in, but were your credits just from testing out? It seems like a lot of people don't realize grades from dual enrollment in hs or from non-degree granting schools will also count.

I agree, though, that summer classes are your best bet. If you wait, you will be really late by the time you can get the grades sent and processed by LSAC, plus you could end up not doing as well as you expected and then you would have waited for nothing.

[charlesxavier]

You say you can bring it up because you transferred in, but were your credits just from testing out? It seems like a lot of people don't realize grades from dual enrollment in hs or from non-degree granting schools will also count.

I agree, though, that summer classes are your best bet. If you wait, you will be really late by the time you can get the grades sent and processed by LSAC, plus you could end up not doing as well as you expected and then you would have waited for nothing.

No, my credits are from IB/AP credit. I can't remember exactly, but it was over 20 credits, so due to having less credits counted towards my GPA a few more A's could really pull up my GPA. My school offers a lot of legal classes online, like bankruptcy law and such, so they could help bring up my GPA and be somewhat informative. The disappointing thing is that I have an A in every upper level class. I received several B's, a C, and an NC in intro courses before I decided on law school.