Do T14's look down on community colleges? Forum

[DaRascal]

I am a student who inflated his GPA by going to community college then transferred to a very challenging academic school and I'm likely going to end up in the low 3 range.

Will T14's look down on this drop from a high 3 to a low 3 with disdain or will they only consider the LSDAS GPA?

[kaiser]

LSDAS is really all that matters

[DaRascal]

So it won't raise any red flags if my LSDAS is a 3.6 but my institutional GPA from this school is a 3.0?

[kaiser]

So it won't raise any red flags if my LSDAS is a 3.6 but my institutional GPA from this school is a 3.0?

I mean, they will obviously see that your GPA dropped. So maybe if you have the same LSDAS GPA as someone else who had a steady 3.3 (or whatever it averages out to), they might have the edge over you. But I seriously doubt they will take someone with a 3.2 over your 3.3 simply because you had a downward trend.

[DaRascal]

So it won't raise any red flags if my LSDAS is a 3.6 but my institutional GPA from this school is a 3.0?

I mean, they will obviously see that your GPA dropped. So maybe if you have the same LSDAS GPA as someone else who had a steady 3.3 (or whatever it averages out to), they might have the edge over you. But I seriously doubt they will take someone with a 3.2 over your 3.3 simply because you had a downward trend.

My biggest concern is how they'll view my GPA against an applicant with say a 3.4-3.5 who spent 4 years at a top UG.

[kaiser]

So it won't raise any red flags if my LSDAS is a 3.6 but my institutional GPA from this school is a 3.0?

I mean, they will obviously see that your GPA dropped. So maybe if you have the same LSDAS GPA as someone else who had a steady 3.3 (or whatever it averages out to), they might have the edge over you. But I seriously doubt they will take someone with a 3.2 over your 3.3 simply because you had a downward trend.

My biggest concern is how they'll view my GPA against an applicant with say a 3.4-3.5 who spent 4 years at a top UG.

Oh, I misread before. I thought you said your community college GPA was 3.6 and your other school gave you a 3.0, and I assumed your LSDAS was in between. So the difference is really something like 4.0 at community college, and then 3.0 at the new school. I honestly couldn't say how they would handle that in comparing to a 3.4-3.5 from a top school all along. Perhaps there are some kids who transferred undergrads on this forum who could chime in.

[DaRascal]

bump

[Samara]

It will probably impact your cycle in a negative way, but probably equal in magnitude to an upward trend. As in, it will only matter if you're on the bubble somewhere. Do you have good softs to balance it out? When you have a real LSAT score, start a thread in the What are my chances? forum for a more detailed response.

[r6_philly]

It depends on how much high your LSAT is. I don't think the make up of your GPA (4.0 + 3.0) is going to matter as much as 3.6 is low for T14. Having a lower GPA from your degree granting school is going to hurt you, but probably not really much more than the 3.6.

They don't look down on CC's otherwise.

[thelawyler]

I have no proof, but I have never heard of it impacting somebody's cycle very much. A .1 GPA difference or a 1 point LSAT difference will always matter more.

And yes, schools will always look more favorably upon the kid who got a 3.6 GPA at Stanford, but not considerably enough for you to worry too much. In fact, I'm pretty sure they'll prefer your GPA over his 3.3 almost every time. So don't worry so much. Just kill the LSAT.

[Glock]

Not a big deal. It is in their interest to not care.

[lovejopd]

It depends on how much high your LSAT is. I don't think the make up of your GPA (4.0 + 3.0) is going to matter as much as 3.6 is low for T14. Having a lower GPA from your degree granting school is going to hurt you, but probably not really much more than the 3.6.

They don't look down on CC's otherwise.

Wow, you are alive! How's your life as 1L? You like your school?

[Triveal]

They really should care, but unfortunately they don't.

(coming from a rigorous science major at a top3 university with a 3.5)

[r6_philly]

It depends on how much high your LSAT is. I don't think the make up of your GPA (4.0 + 3.0) is going to matter as much as 3.6 is low for T14. Having a lower GPA from your degree granting school is going to hurt you, but probably not really much more than the 3.6.

They don't look down on CC's otherwise.

Wow, you are alive! How's your life as 1L? You like your school?

Yup, having a great time! Being a law student is pretty awesome, being a lawyer is going to be even better. Not everyone will like it, but I don't think my expectations were off by much despite all the TLS scariness

[kwais]

They really should care, but unfortunately they don't.

(coming from a rigorous science major at a top3 university with a 3.5)

Unfortunately for kids who were able to get a top notch education in UG or unfair to the people who could not afford it? Entitled poster is entitled

[ahduth]

They really should care, but unfortunately they don't.

(coming from a rigorous science major at a top3 university with a 3.5)

Unfortunately for kids who were able to get a top notch education in UG or unfair to the people who could not afford it? Entitled poster is entitled

Lol top 3.

FWIW I heard that Penn was NYU's largest feeder school this class. Everyone please read something baseless but alarming into this.

[Triveal]

They really should care, but unfortunately they don't.

(coming from a rigorous science major at a top3 university with a 3.5)

Unfortunately for kids who were able to get a top notch education in UG or unfair to the people who could not afford it? Entitled poster is entitled

Sorry, maybe I misled you a bit. I go to a public school, and receive nearly all my tuition from grants/finaid. "Top" probably depends on what ranking you look at, but it's consistently top 1-3 in my field.

It is rare for more than 20% of any class to get an A, and almost everyone here guns, so I do tend to look down on CC transfer kiddies that majored in psychology or criminal justice and are proud of their 3.7s.

[r6_philly]

It is rare for more than 20% of any class to get an A, and almost everyone here guns, so I do tend to look down on CC transfer kiddies that majored in psychology or criminal justice and are proud of their 3.7s.

Who are you to "look down" on anyone? By your logic I am going to "look down" on you because you couldn't get a 4.0 in your major. (whatever it is, it's doable)

Also, based on your explanation, you are not even cracking top 25% in your class, far from a position where you could "look down" on people.

[Glock]

Going to community college and getting a higher LSDAS GPA as a result is like getting into the shorter checkout line at the grocery store. The people in the longer lines see it and complain, but it is fair game by the rules everybody knew going in. It isn't your fault that they valued other things more than their LSDAS GPA and chose to go to a harder school.

[icedflames]

Going to community college and getting a higher LSDAS GPA as a result is like getting into the shorter checkout line at the grocery store. The people in the longer lines see it and complain, but it is fair game by the rules everybody knew going in. It isn't your fault that they valued other things more than their LSDAS GPA and chose to go to a harder school.

+1

[r6_philly]

Going to community college and getting a higher LSDAS GPA as a result is like getting into the shorter checkout line at the grocery store. The people in the longer lines see it and complain, but it is fair game by the rules everybody knew going in. It isn't your fault that they valued other things more than their LSDAS GPA and chose to go to a harder school.

But I don't even feel that finishing your gen ed classes at CC and then transfer to a better school for your major really changes any educational quality. There isn't really even any real reason to look down on community colleges if one just take all the 100/200 level gen ed classes. As I did.

[Angrygeopolitically]

What if your grades are lower during CC?

[Glock]

But I don't even feel that finishing your gen ed classes at CC and then transfer to a better school for your major really changes any educational quality. There isn't really even any real reason to look down on community colleges if one just take all the 100/200 level gen ed classes. As I did.

Sure there is: grade inflation. You had an easier time getting a better GPA than the asshole that went to Princeton. There's no denying it is easier to get a better GPA from a craphole. Still, everybody knew or should have known the rules going in. Not your fault for gaming the imbalances in the system.

Educational quality? That is all bullshit anyway. You education anywhere is what you want it to be. Some super-motivated geniuses go to community college and learn tons, and some lazy assholes go to Princeton and slide right by. I guess you get better faculty and maybe more specialized classes at top schools, but it isn't the magic people make it out to be.

The only thing that really matters in this discussion is the difficulty of achieving a particular GPA. Typically (but not always) any particular GPA is harder to get at a top school than a community college or state school. There's no LSDAS reward for the extra effort and degree of difficulty, and that isn't exactly fair. It just doesn't matter because you were on notice, or should have been.

[Glock]

What if your grades are lower during CC?

It just doesn't matter in 99% of applications.

[ahduth]

Sure there is: grade inflation. You had an easier time getting a better GPA than the asshole that went to Princeton.

Eh, outside of Princeton, grade inflation is rampant at top shelf schools.