LOR addressing my lower-than-ideal GPA Forum

[IronSkadden]

Hi there,

I was talking with one of the profs who wrote one of my LORs. He told me he addressed my lower-than-ideal 3.58 GPA, claiming I devote an inordinate amount of time to the things that interest me -- thus my high grades in some classes and my B's in others. He assures the reader that I am very serious about and will completely devote myself to law school.

Do you think my prof's addressing my GPA in this manner is good or bad? Will it answer the adcomms questions or will it highlight something I don't wish to highlight (the 3.58)?

Thanks for your input,

[AntipodeanPhil]

I would imagine that the admissions committees would be fully aware of your low GPA. My guess is that the letter will be beneficial, because it shows that your professor believes in you. Much better than a bland LOR or a form letter.

Although, I wonder if law schools might be a little concerned to hear that you don't work as hard in classes that don't interest you. What if you find much of law school boring? Still, that's probably better than other reasons for a low GPA (like plain laziness, drunkeness, et cetera). Perhaps you should try to show in your PS that you have a strong interest in the law.

[dpk711]

There is anecdotal evidence that many law schools don't even read your LORs.

[cold_logic]

There is anecdotal evidence that many law schools don't even read your LORs.

What is that evidence, out of curiosity?

[Straw_Mandible]

There is anecdotal evidence that many law schools don't even read your LORs.

There is anecdotal evidence that Polar Bears do not, in fact, exist. A close friend of mine told me that he has never seen one before.

[sarahh]

Hi there,

I was talking with one of the profs who wrote one of my LORs. He told me he addressed my lower-than-ideal 3.58 GPA, claiming I devote an inordinate amount of time to the things that interest me -- thus my high grades in some classes and my B's in others. He assures the reader that I am very serious about and will completely devote myself to law school.

Do you think my prof's addressing my GPA in this manner is good or bad? Will it answer the adcomms questions or will it highlight something I don't wish to highlight (the 3.58)?

Thanks for your input,

I think it is bad. Your first year of law school, for the most part, you won't have a choice as to what classes to take. If I was an adcomm, I would be worried you would not put in the effort if you did not like the class. Getting a few Bs and having a 3.58 GPA is not bad. (Yeah, it will put you out of the running at a few schools, but adcomms are not going to be wondering if you partied your way through school.) I don't think it needs to be addressed at all. Personally, I would ask him to rewrite it.

[almightypush]

Hi there,

I was talking with one of the profs who wrote one of my LORs. He told me he addressed my lower-than-ideal 3.58 GPA, claiming I devote an inordinate amount of time to the things that interest me -- thus my high grades in some classes and my B's in others. He assures the reader that I am very serious about and will completely devote myself to law school.

Do you think my prof's addressing my GPA in this manner is good or bad? Will it answer the adcomms questions or will it highlight something I don't wish to highlight (the 3.58)?

Thanks for your input,

I think it is bad. Your first year of law school, for the most part, you won't have a choice as to what classes to take. If I was an adcomm, I would be worried you would not put in the effort if you did not like the class. Getting a few Bs and having a 3.58 GPA is not bad. (Yeah, it will put you out of the running at a few schools, but adcomms are not going to be wondering if you partied your way through school.) I don't think it needs to be addressed at all. Personally, I would ask him to rewrite it.

this. i would ask him to just focus on my STRENGTHS... i mean, anything that might possibly be construed as a flaw (ie, the tendency to give an uneven effort) has no place in a (successful) law school app.

[Leira7905]

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. I mean, like someone above said, it's definitely superior to one of those lame form LORs that profs send out for everybody.

Also, I'd rather Adcomms think that I didn't get straight A's because I was busy pursuing other interests, working, or whatever, then have them think I had a hard time with the material. I mean, isn't this why we write addenda?

[BeaverHunter]

A 3.58 is an excellent GPA. No admissions committee would consider a note addressing this "deficiency". Everyone has interests outside of school, and most people work. I would think a note saying that you were less than fully committed to school would hurt before it helps.

[dpk711]

A 3.58 is an excellent GPA. No admissions committee would consider a note addressing this "deficiency". Everyone has interests outside of school, and most people work. I would think a note saying that you were less than fully committed to school would hurt before it helps.

A good dose of sarcasm.

[AntipodeanPhil]

A 3.58 is an excellent GPA. No admissions committee would consider a note addressing this "deficiency". Everyone has interests outside of school, and most people work. I would think a note saying that you were less than fully committed to school would hurt before it helps.

LOL. This person is presumably trolling. Still, it's worth pointing out that if you're applying to places that consider a 3.58 an excellent GPA then this is really just a fuss over nothing. Of course, if you're applying to good schools, this matters. Even if they might not read the LOR, you don't want to take that chance.

[IronSkadden]

I'm aiming for T10.

When you say "you don't want to take that chance", you mean the chance the adcomm will develop a negative impression from the letter? Because you previously seemed to think the letter may be a positive.

[DeeCee]

Hi there,

I was talking with one of the profs who wrote one of my LORs. He told me he addressed my lower-than-ideal 3.58 GPA, claiming I devote an inordinate amount of time to the things that interest me -- thus my high grades in some classes and my B's in others. He assures the reader that I am very serious about and will completely devote myself to law school.

Do you think my prof's addressing my GPA in this manner is good or bad? Will it answer the adcomms questions or will it highlight something I don't wish to highlight (the 3.58)?

Thanks for your input,

Personally, I'm not sure if it's good or bad but it's weird. Obviously your professor feels your GPA is a downfall or he wouldn't be devoting any time to this. If anything, I think the addenda should come from you. Sounds like to me he doesn't know what to write (other than the usual form letter crap) and is trying to make it personal (a good thing), but is doing it in a not so good way.

God why can't people just write normal LORs? I hear so many weird stories about LORs on TLS.

[AntipodeanPhil]

I'm aiming for T10.

When you say "you don't want to take that chance", you mean the chance the adcomm will develop a negative impression from the letter? Because you previously seemed to think the letter may be a positive.

By "take that chance" I meant not worry or care about your LORs or the impression they create. I am a little swayed by Sarahh's argument, but I still think that if you can convince them you desperately want to go to law school and/or will find the subject matter fascinating, you should be alright.

Also, how much do you trust your professor's judgment? Does he seem like the sort of person who would be senstive to these issues? If so, he might have written the LOR in a way that avoids our concern.

[Veyron]

Yeah, it will put you out of the running at a few schools HYS

FTFY.

Kids these days. The best LOR addressing a low-ish GPA is a good LSAT score.

Have him take that shit out. Everyone has a ton of activities, what kinda TTT school is this?

[DeeCee]

Have him take that shit out. Everyone has a ton of activities, what kinda TTT school is this?

LOL, but this response is definitely credited. You don't want your eh GPA being the center of attention when it doesn't need to be.....I mean it's not like you have a 2.9 or something.

[flpackerfan]

It all depends on how the person phrases it.

I would assume they'd write like "so-so and could have had an even higher GPA if they weren't so committed to X Y and X outside of the classroom", not "so and so over-committed themselves and has poor time management skills".

I wouldn't worry about it too much really. Even law schools will admit LoRs are the least important part of your application.

[DeeCee]

It all depends on how the person phrases it.

I would assume they'd write like "so-so and could have had an even higher GPA if they weren't so committed to X Y and X outside of the classroom", not "so and so over-committed themselves and has poor time management skills".

I wouldn't worry about it too much really. Even law schools will admit LoRs are the least important part of your application.

I disagree, when going for the T10 everything matters.

[flpackerfan]

I agree that it matters, but I think it matters the least.

[Leira7905]

It depends on how it was worded, what those other interests were that you were pursuing, your UG institution, and a number of other variables.

Also, how long was the letter? Does it go on an on about how wonderful you are and then just mention the GPA thing, or is the letter one paragraph making the GPA the center point.

Additionally, do you have a T10 LSAT score? This may not matter otherwise.

[IronSkadden]

With regard to how prof phrased the GPA passage, he told me he may have gotten carried away praising me. To me this indicates his phrasing approximated: "so-so and could have had an even higher GPA if they weren't so committed to X Y and X outside of the classroom".

But I am concerned by how unfamiliar he is with law school admissions. He believes the personal statement matters a lot and that adcomms look at the whole person, a la undergrad or b-school.

Does this impact any of your opinions?

[IronSkadden]

I'm closing in on a T10 LSAT score (curse you harder contemporary RC). I went to an Ivy for undergrad.

[Veyron]

I'm closing in on a T10 LSAT score (curse you harder contemporary RC). I went to an Ivy for undergrad.

SUNY Ithaca?

[DeeCee]

I'm closing in on a T10 LSAT score (curse you harder contemporary RC). I went to an Ivy for undergrad.

SUNY Ithaca?

lol

[scammedhard]

Do you think my prof's addressing my GPA in this manner is good or bad? Will it answer the adcomms questions or will it highlight something I don't wish to highlight (the 3.58)?

I think that it makes no difference. You will be judged by your numbers irregardless of what anyone says about them.