Raising UG GPA with community college courses Forum

[def1000]

I am still a sophomore UG, and only recently became interested in going to law school. I had no direction so college felt pointless (in the back of my mind i always knew this was a cop-out) and I have really effed around the past 3 semesters. my LSDAS GPA is currently a 2.95, the GPA on my transcript is a 2.845.

This semester I am doing well, however and expect at least a 3.5 GPA, which pushes me right around a 3.0-3.1. This means unless I get 4.0 GPA's for the rest of my college career I will not end up with a 3.5 GPA

I am already strongly considering adding a second major and staying a fifth year to help my GPA recover, but I am also considering taking classes at community college over winters and summers in order to boost it further. My main question is: will this help my chances or will law schools see through this and think i am a schemer? it would be great to take 4 or 5 classes at CC and get an entire semester's worth of A's in my gpa, but i don;t want it to reflect poorly if they see my GPA is being heavily influenced by getting A's at CC and b-'s at my alma mater (which i am changing).

Basically I am just trying to create the best situation possible for myself going forward. Can someone please give me some advice on overcoming my bad start?

[rinkrat19]

They'll see it and probably recognize what you're trying to do by taking summer CC classes, but they won't care a whole heck of a lot. They MOSTLY care about the LSDAS GPA that they have to report. You might lose a tiebreaker between someone with a similar GPA earned entirely at their regular UG in real classes, but it's not likely to make or break you. Having a higher GPA can only help.

[bne]

Law schools care about the numbers they report. Since you are a sophomore, you have plenty of time to raise your GPA to a somewhat decent level. Focus on one semester at a time and shoot for that 4.0. If you fall short, maybe consider taking a couple CC classes that could be relevant to your major or GE requirements (as a disguise). If you take a ton of CC classes, I'm sure they will catch on, but in the end, all that matters are your LSAT and LSDAS GPA numbers.

[Oklahoma2014]

CC classes aren't necessarily any easier than classes from a 4 year university. At least they shouldn't be, and were not from the cc and 4 year university I graduated from. But I don't think it will matter to your application either way, especially if the classes are relevant to the degree(s). Plus the cc classes are usually much cheaper.

I went from around a 2.0 on my first year of college to graduating with above a 3.5 LSAC gpa. Stay focused on straight A's. If you find a professor you enjoy, take as many classes as possible from that professor that are relevant to your degree. Over a 3 semester period i completed 21 hours in one professors classes, all A's. I knew what she would be looking for on assignments and tests so that worked well for me. Also, try making a spreadsheet, for motivation, of where your gpa can go if you make straight A's with maybe a couple of B's factored in.