Applicant with degrees from overseas

[Blougram]

Hello,

I have a couple of questions about applications from prospective students with degrees from overseas (i.e. yours truly). Feel free to chime in if you know something about this, or are in a similar situation to mine.

1) LSAC just finished evaluating my BA (Sweden) and MA (UK) transcripts, and my grades were deemed "superior" in both cases. The legend explains that this is the equivalent of "A level work." However, they did not translate my grades into actual GPAs. Does anyone know if law schools tend to do their own translations, or if I will end up in a completely different bucket -- and if so, if the "superior" designation will have any bearing at all? If not, I assume that my LSAT score will be the be-all and end-all of my application.

2) As my degrees are from overseas (and as I am not, technically speaking, a native speaker) I believe that I need to submit a recent IELTS/TOEFL score. Can I make a case -- either to LSAC or to the individual law schools I apply to -- for having this requirement waived? I took the IELTS 10 years ago and scored a perfect 9.0/9.0. Since then I have lived in England and the US, worked as a staff writer (English) for different media outlets in the US, scored in the 99th percentile on the GRE Verbal & GRE Lit, etc. Retaking it wouldn't be the end of the world, but there is a fee, I would have to take time off work, and so on.

3) Generally speaking, is there a difference between US citizens and permanent residents when it comes to scholarship eligibility? I understand that this is up to the individual schools to decide, but, generally speaking. My N-400 application (citizenship) is currently pending but I will probably have to wait 6 months or more before the USCIS schedule my interview.

Cheers,
Blougram

[makingthemove]

Hello,

I have a couple of questions about applications from prospective students with degrees from overseas (i.e. yours truly). Feel free to chime in if you know something about this, or are in a similar situation to mine.

1) LSAC just finished evaluating my BA (Sweden) and MA (UK) transcripts, and my grades were deemed "superior" in both cases. The legend explains that this is the equivalent of "A level work." However, they did not translate my grades into actual GPAs. Does anyone know if law schools tend to do their own translations, or if I will end up in a completely different bucket -- and if so, if the "superior" designation will have any bearing at all? If not, I assume that my LSAT score will be the be-all and end-all of my application.

Having a superior is a good thing - it's the highest LSAC rating. I don't know what schools will do individually with the foreign transcripts or the CAS report. The popular wisdom here is that it's not a relevant for the numbers game, since schools don't report foreign undergrad GPAs to ABA/USNews. You're probably in a good place. But the LSAT is going to do all the numbers work for you.

2) As my degrees are from overseas (and as I am not, technically speaking, a native speaker) I believe that I need to submit a recent IELTS/TOEFL score. Can I make a case -- either to LSAC or to the individual law schools I apply to -- for having this requirement waived? I took the IELTS 10 years ago and scored a perfect 9.0/9.0. Since then I have lived in England and the US, worked as a staff writer (English) for different media outlets in the US, scored in the 99th percentile on the GRE Verbal & GRE Lit, etc. Retaking it wouldn't be the end of the world, but there is a fee, I would have to take time off work, and so on.

Read the applications. I haven't seen TOEFL as a requirement except for Duke so far. Most just state it would be helpful to have a TOEFL, so I think the way to go about is that these schools are only going to seek a TOEFL if your application leaves any question in their mind that you're not fluent in English. But please don't run with my advice, I'm just a guy on the internet. You should probably e-mail schools if you want to be 100% sure.

3) Generally speaking, is there a difference between US citizens and permanent residents when it comes to scholarship eligibility? I understand that this is up to the individual schools to decide, but, generally speaking. My N-400 application (citizenship) is currently pending but I will probably have to wait 6 months or more before the USCIS schedule my interview.

So far I only saw one scholarship that is restricted to citizens. Green card holders are eligible to all federal monies (including subsidized loans) so for the most part, it's all the same.