Top Law Schools

Hi TLS,

I'm a student at the University of Chicago graduating in (hopefully) about a month at the end of the summer...

At the end of this academic year, I was one credit short of graduating (I'm graduating in 3 years instead of 4), so I decided to take a course at a state school back home and transfer it back for an elective. For whatever reason, I decided to take high-level math because I thought I might one day also pursue mathematics, and now I am in jeopardy of not passing the class and, as such, not graduating.

Here are my questions:

I'm enrolled as a Non-Degree Student at this state university -- if I do not pass the class or if I withdraw, because this technically isn't part of my undergraduate program, do I have to submit this as part of my LS applications? It will not affect my GPA at UChicago because it won't be transfer-eligible if I don't get a C or better. tl;dr: do I get a freebie?

Second question, if I do get a C, I can transfer the course back to UChicago and graduate. It will be added to my Chicago transcript as a "Pass" no matter what grade I get because transferred grades don't impact GPA at Chicago. If this happens, my GPA will remain the same (3.86). Will law schools wonder what the deal is with this "Pass" and request a transcript from the state school? If they do, and they see a C, am I in trouble? Seems like it wouldn't matter because it's not in my GPA, but who knows?

Thanks. If it matters, my top choices are Duke and Vanderbilt and I'm 166-168 on PTs.

GodlikeAchilles wrote:Hi TLS,

I'm a student at the University of Chicago graduating in (hopefully) about a month at the end of the summer...

At the end of this academic year, I was one credit short of graduating (I'm graduating in 3 years instead of 4), so I decided to take a course at a state school back home and transfer it back for an elective. For whatever reason, I decided to take high-level math because I thought I might one day also pursue mathematics, and now I am in jeopardy of not passing the class and, as such, not graduating.

Here are my questions:

I'm enrolled as a Non-Degree Student at this state university -- if I do not pass the class or if I withdraw, because this technically isn't part of my undergraduate program, do I have to submit this as part of my LS applications? It will not affect my GPA at UChicago because it won't be transfer-eligible if I don't get a C or better. tl;dr: do I get a freebie?

Second question, if I do get a C, I can transfer the course back to UChicago and graduate. It will be added to my Chicago transcript as a "Pass" no matter what grade I get because transferred grades don't impact GPA at Chicago. If this happens, my GPA will remain the same (3.86). Will law schools wonder what the deal is with this "Pass" and request a transcript from the state school? If they do, and they see a C, am I in trouble? Seems like it wouldn't matter because it's not in my GPA, but who knows?

Thanks. If it matters, my top choices are Duke and Vanderbilt and I'm 166-168 on PTs.

This grade will need to be included on your LSAC transcript regardless of whether it transfers back or is part of your graduating institution gpa

I guess the obvious next question is whether or not it will matter?

If you feel in danger of not passing, why not withdraw now? Assuming this counts as a W/WP, not a withdraw-failing.

Then I'll have to wait another 6 months to have my degree and I'd rather not deal with all that.

The class isn't going HORRIBLY so I could very well pull it out with a C/C+ and be done with it...but if this C/C+ is going to be problematic in law school admissions, that would really suck.

GodlikeAchilles wrote:Then I'll have to wait another 6 months to have my degree and I'd rather not deal with all that.

The class isn't going HORRIBLY so I could very well pull it out with a C/C+ and be done with it...but if this C/C+ is going to be problematic in law school admissions, that would really suck.

A C probably won't affect your GPA that much, but you may want to recalculate it with a LSAC grade calculator.

Wow that's really bad for me, haha. Maybe I'm ignorant for assuming it wouldn't count? This is a great surprise!!!

..

GodlikeAchilles wrote:Wow that's really bad for me, haha. Maybe I'm ignorant for assuming it wouldn't count? This is a great surprise!!!

If you get a C in a 4 credit hour class, it would drop to about a 3.81. You'll need a better LSAT score, but Duke and Vandy are definitely within reach

It's a 3-credit hour class. I need to withdraw in that case I guess...I dunno. Great...

GodlikeAchilles wrote:I guess the obvious next question is whether or not it will matter?

If the letter grade appears on your transcript from the school at which you're taking the class, it will matter. If you're going to Pass, I would see if you can audit the class. If not, Withdraw as long as it won't be recorded as a punitive W.

Doesn't an audit show up on a transcript as neither a P or an F, just as an audit?

GodlikeAchilles wrote:Doesn't an audit show up on a transcript as neither a P or an F, just as an audit?

Audit = Taking a class Pass/Fail, so it will show up as such. At least that's how it worked at BC.

Really? At my schools an audit just showed up as an audit, neither pass nor fail as you weren't required to do any work for it, just stop by when you feel like it. It also counted for 0 credit hours, though. Check with the school you're at right now.