Is there anyone whose W grades were considered punitive? Forum

[tiffanyrussell10]

At my school, Ws are non factored and non punitive, but I just wanted to ask, Is there anyone on here that had W grades, that LSAC counted as Fs?

Does punitive mean that they don't count in your gpa OR can punitive mean other things?

[A. Nony Mouse]

At my school, Ws are non factored and non punitive, but I just wanted to ask, Is there anyone on here that had W grades, that LSAC counted as Fs?

Does punitive mean that they don't count in your gpa OR can punitive mean other things?

At some schools, if you have a failing average when you withdraw, you get a WF grade - it doesn't factor into your GPA for school purposes, but it obviously doesn't look good. I suspect that's what LSAC would consider a punitive W and would count as an F. (But I'm speculating, I don't know for certain.)

[Toby Ziegler]

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[mewalke1]

At my school, Ws are non factored and non punitive, but I just wanted to ask, Is there anyone on here that had W grades, that LSAC counted as Fs?

Does punitive mean that they don't count in your gpa OR can punitive mean other things?

In my first year I got a couple of "Y" which were withdraw while failing...I had to retake the classes so my school didnt count them against my gpa but LSAC counted them as F's and totally screwed my lsac gpa.

[arkgawilson]

LSAC is still calculating my GPA, or just about to receive my transcripts. So I don't have any proof per se that mine will count as F's. But that being said, when I was 18 (25 now) I took some classes at a CC and had some major family issues come up, and me and my infinite wisdom didn't realize that there was a process to formally withdrawing, so I simply stopped attending. My instructors gave me NC-W's which the CC deemed as non-punitive. However, I visited with LSAC on the phone and they said if the transcript indicated that credit was attempted (which is was) and not earned (which it wasn't) then it would be counted as 0.0. So barring some miracle with my GPA calculation these 4 W's will count as F's. Which sucks because I have a 3.95 GPA here at my current university, which will be brought down to ~ 3.45.

This all being said, most W's are non punitive and LSAC will not factor them in, I have never come across another institution giveing NC-W's before.

Here is LSAC's policy:

http://www.lsac.org/policies/transcript ... zation.asp

Read the section on failing grades.

I can't speak for what they'll do, but I can say that in my own experience with this, I had at least 3 W's on my undergrad transcripts and they didn't effect my LSAC GPA. Besides, isn't the definition of a W "that credit was attempted (which is was) and not earned (which it wasn't)"?

[yot11]

A non-punitive "W" is not "attempted but not earned". Generally these non-punitive "W" grades are awarded if you withdraw from the class in good standing (thus not "attempting" to earn the credit), just past the deadline where you can withdraw without it appearing on your transcript.

I had a class like that where I withdrew past the two-week deadline at the beginning of the semester so it's just a record that I signed up for the class, didn't drop in time, then dropped. It did NOT factor into my GPA.

[Toby Ziegler]

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[tiffanyrussell10]

Have a question about attempted hrs but not earned regarding Ws....

At my school (Kent State University) they assign just a W when you withdraw, and they don't indicate when the date which you received the W, and the W doesn't effect your gpa. On the transcript key they say W=not computed and on LSAC Interpretive Guide (on LSAC resources) they say W is omitted from my school.

However, when they say we define failure as credit attempted but not earned. The Ws didn't factor in the gpa, but under transcript totals it has credit attempted.

Doesn't credit attempted but not earned, pertain to NC grades? Not Ws?

[tiffanyrussell10]

http://www.lsac.org/members/transcriptk ... earch.aspx

[Toby Ziegler]

Have a question about attempted hrs but not earned regarding Ws....

At my school (Kent State University) they assign just a W when you withdraw, and they don't indicate when the date which you received the W, and the W doesn't effect your gpa. On the transcript key they say W=not computed and on LSAC Interpretive Guide (on LSAC resources) they say W is omitted from my school.

However, when they say we define failure as credit attempted but not earned. The Ws didn't factor in the gpa, but under transcript totals it has credit attempted.

Doesn't credit attempted but not earned, pertain to NC grades? Not Ws?

In short yes. 9 times out of 10 your W is not going to count against your LSAC GPA. If you're worried about it do what I did, just send in your transcripts to LSAC now and see how they compute it. Then add your most recent transcripts when you are going to apply.

[tiffanyrussell10]

Thanks for all the help. Here is the last question/scenario I have before I submit my transcript in Oct.

What if your Ws were all from one semester of all Withdrawals, and on the transcript key it states Ws are not computed and they don't hurt the gpa, but the semester of Ws are worded like this:


U.S. Lit: W
Geog of War and Pce W
History of Civ W

Attempted hours: 9, Passed hours: 0, Earned hrs: 0, GPA hours: 0, Qlty Pts: 0, Gpa: 0.00

Okay, they have to state semester gpa: 0.00 since nothing is applicable. So based on how this is worded, will this be a cue for them to make it punitive, or do they just go by the key and not how its worded each semester?

[WokeUpInACar]

My transcript was worded the same way and my W's were not punitive.

[WokeUpInACar]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 2&t=214804