Degree GPA vs. Cumulative GPA? Forum

[ryan1234]

Hello all,

I was just wondering what GPA is used in the rankings and is reported in the medians from LSAC and such, the GPA from the degree school or the cumulative GPA?

Thanks.

[JustDude]

Cumulative

[vasiok]

Cumulative GPA as calculated by LSAC.

They don't give a crap about degree GPA

[sherman]

Cumulative GPA as calculated by LSAC.

They don't give a crap about degree GPA

i think the only classes that count are the ones that had field trips....everything else is bunk

[ryan1234]

So it's safe to say that when I'm putting my GPA in all these admisisons calculators and stuff, it should be my cumulative, correct? I hope so, but cumulative is .04 higher than my degree, which I know isn't much, but I'll take what I can get!

[sherman]

my calculator is solar and it won't work

all the california fires and no sun in sight

[waywedo]

To post a serious reply, I'm pretty sure that if the difference between cumulative and degree GPA is very big (.5+), it will make some difference in borderline situations.

For example, a law school might be evaluating two candidates with 3.3 cumulative GPAs, but if one has a Degree GPA of 3.8 and the other one 3.3, they'll probably go with the 3.3/3.8 person, all else being equal.

[ryan1234]

Thanks for the serious response! Any information is helpful.

[doctorgonzo]

Yes, degree GPA, upward trends, and so forth will make a difference if you are on the bubble. However, your cumulative GPA as calculated by LSAC is what matters first and foremost as it is the GPA that is reported. That is the base, a Christmas tree if you will, upon which you can hang the delightful goodies such as higher degree GPAs and upward trends.

[pamplona]

Yes, degree GPA, upward trends, and so forth will make a difference if you are on the bubble. However, your cumulative GPA as calculated by LSAC is what matters first and foremost as it is the GPA that is reported. That is the base, a Christmas tree if you will, upon which you can hang the delightful goodies such as higher degree GPAs and upward trends.

This made me laugh really hard

[sherman]

Yes, degree GPA, upward trends, and so forth will make a difference if you are on the bubble. However, your cumulative GPA as calculated by LSAC is what matters first and foremost as it is the GPA that is reported. That is the base, a Christmas tree if you will, upon which you can hang the delightful goodies such as higher degree GPAs and upward trends.

This made me laugh really hard

It may sound like a strange analogy, but the best I have heard so far. If the term bubble means that a person is barely making it into a school, then the softs can make all the difference.

[pamplona]

Yes, degree GPA, upward trends, and so forth will make a difference if you are on the bubble. However, your cumulative GPA as calculated by LSAC is what matters first and foremost as it is the GPA that is reported. That is the base, a Christmas tree if you will, upon which you can hang the delightful goodies such as higher degree GPAs and upward trends.

This made me laugh really hard

It may sound like a strange analogy, but the best I have heard so far. If the term bubble means that a person is barely making it into a school, then the softs can make all the difference.

Sorry, I should clarify. I wasn't laughing because it sounded weird, just because it made me smile for some reason. I think it had something to do with the 'delightful goodies' part hehe

[sherman]

Yes, degree GPA, upward trends, and so forth will make a difference if you are on the bubble. However, your cumulative GPA as calculated by LSAC is what matters first and foremost as it is the GPA that is reported. That is the base, a Christmas tree if you will, upon which you can hang the delightful goodies such as higher degree GPAs and upward trends.

This made me laugh really hard

It may sound like a strange analogy, but the best I have heard so far. If the term bubble means that a person is barely making it into a school, then the softs can make all the difference.

Sorry, I should clarify. I wasn't laughing because it sounded weird, just because it made me smile for some reason. I think it had something to do with the 'delightful goodies' part hehe

In a perfect world, it would be great if we could all have delightful goodies such as a graduate degree. On a Christmas tree I suppose, a graduate degree would actually be a piece of paper from Sallie Mae saying you owe them fifty grand.

[pamplona]

Oh no, I think it would definitely be one of those awesome 'interest capitalization notices'! Those are the best! I always tell myself that the money is listed in lira... that's how I keep from having a heart attack

[sherman]

Oh no, I think it would definitely be one of those awesome 'interest capitalization notices'! Those are the best! I always tell myself that the money is listed in lira... that's how I keep from having a heart attack

The great thing about a three hundred year payoff plan is that they can't get your money after you are dead, and debt prisons are now outlawed.

[dudeman101]

Thank you, Solon the Lawgiver (although i guess that was debt selling-your-ass-into-slavery not debt prison... but also bad, and also no longer an issue)

in a (somewhat) return to the OP

my major (degree) GPA is much higher than my cumulative (3.89 vs 3.71) - will this really help as a tie breaker? more or less than the quality of my UG?

[RVP11]

Major GPA doesn't matter too much. I'd say much less than UG (which I don't think matters a great deal, either).

I can see an upward trend being a factor before UG, though. If a school really wants to look at your current capabilities, they really should be looking at recent GPA and LSAT score. So that seems to make sense, but it's impossible for anyone on here to tell you if schools really do it.

[waywedo]

Keep in mind there is probably a difference between major GPA (courses taken in one specific discipline) and degree GPA (all courses taken at degree granting school).

To return to my example above, a person with a 3.3 cumulative but a 3.8 degree has earned 3.8 in all their courses at the degree granting school (at least those courses which count towards GPA). The 3.3 might be do to poor performance before transferring, courses taken in the summer or at community college, etc.

A person with a 3.8 major GPA and a 3.3 degree gpa just did really well in their major classes, and not as well with the other aspects of their education.

In evaluating these two candidates (all other things about equal), I would personally lean towards the person with the higher degree GPA, as they have shown a sustained, recent level of excellence in all subject areas, not just interest/success in a limited discipline.

[hous]

Yes, degree GPA, upward trends, and so forth will make a difference if you are on the bubble. However, your cumulative GPA as calculated by LSAC is what matters first and foremost as it is the GPA that is reported. That is the base, a Christmas tree if you will, upon which you can hang the delightful goodies such as higher degree GPAs and upward trends.

So if my GPA for my AA was a 3.3, my junior year of college is a 3.9 (3.5 cumulative gpa), is my gpa 3.5 (degree 3.9)?

Also if my gpa is 3.5057, any chance they would round that to 3.51? I doubt it, but cant blame me for trying!

I really wish I would have taken school seriously freshman and sophmore year.

[playhero]

I hate this and 99% of other gpa questions. This is asked every day, cant you people put any effort into law school research. If you can't then you really shouldn't be going to law school due to the current financial risk.

[hous]

I hate this and 99% of other gpa questions. This is asked every day, cant you people put any effort into law school research. If you can't then you really shouldn't be going to law school due to the current financial risk.

Couldn't this be a form of unofficial research???

I hate seeing these questions too, but cant fault them.

[playhero]

I hate this and 99% of other gpa questions. This is asked every day, cant you people put any effort into law school research. If you can't then you really shouldn't be going to law school due to the current financial risk.

Couldn't this be a form of unofficial research???

I hate seeing these questions too, but cant fault them.

Lets look at some realities here. Op is posting about the most abundant question asked. If op can not answer this question, by some form of search what hope dose op have navigating the stormy waters of top-law-schools.com? Surely op can not ask every question he has in the form of a thread topic. Nor can all the other people who make such threads. Given the realistic complexity of safely navigating law school, if op can not answer this question without a thread topic and can/dose not post a topic on every question he has; then what realistic shot dose op have at coming out of law school in a good position.

It's true that perhaps op is a lock at Yale, Black/180 lsat/4.0 GPA/Cured Cancer in spare time once he got home from single-handedly building Chinas economy/ Is Yale ug and his father is Supreme Court Justice Thomas. If it was the case that op is a lock at a t-14, I do not find it likely he would be asking such a question. If op is not a t-14 lock then he needs to make sure he navigates those waters correctly.

I would hope that this site encourages people in a way that makes them succeed better at law school. Giving people supper basic information and then turning them away dose not seem the best way to achieve that goal.

[sherman]

I hate this and 99% of other gpa questions. This is asked every day, cant you people put any effort into law school research. If you can't then you really shouldn't be going to law school due to the current financial risk.

Couldn't this be a form of unofficial research???

I hate seeing these questions too, but cant fault them.

Lets look at some realities here. Op is posting about the most abundant question asked. If op can not answer this question, by some form of search what hope dose op have navigating the stormy waters of top-law-schools.com? Surely op can not ask every question he has in the form of a thread topic. Nor can all the other people who make such threads. Given the realistic complexity of safely navigating law school, if op can not answer this question without a thread topic and can/dose not post a topic on every question he has; then what realistic shot dose op have at coming out of law school in a good position.

It's true that perhaps op is a lock at Yale, Black/180 lsat/4.0 GPA/Cured Cancer in spare time once he got home from single-handedly building Chinas economy/ Is Yale ug and his father is Supreme Court Justice Thomas. If it was the case that op is a lock at a t-14, I do not find it likely he would be asking such a question. If op is not a t-14 lock then he needs to make sure he navigates those waters correctly.

I would hope that this site encourages people in a way that makes them succeed better at law school. Giving people supper basic information and then turning them away dose not seem the best way to achieve that goal.

I like law nerds.com and looking at past bars online and working out the IRAC method. This site is mostly gossip and hearsay and many personalities just poking fun at each other. I feel sorry for anybody who wants to come here as a primary source of information regarding anything about the law.

We are just a slightly better version of xoxo, and if taken in the correct context, like a Howard Stern show, this site is really hilarious.

[zeezoo]

there is a lot of good information if you have a keen eye for spotting BS

if you wondered in here clueless after buying a laptop at Walmart that came with 6months free of AOL, then you might be in some trouble.

[meg]

To post a serious reply, I'm pretty sure that if the difference between cumulative and degree GPA is very big (.5+), it will make some difference in borderline situations.

For example, a law school might be evaluating two candidates with 3.3 cumulative GPAs, but if one has a Degree GPA of 3.8 and the other one 3.3, they'll probably go with the 3.3/3.8 person, all else being equal.

Just to further add onto this, not that I think it will help the OP but I do think in some cases if the difference is great enough they will take it into account. I attend a Canadian university and the difference between an A and a B can be as little as 1%. Thus according to LSAC calculations as I understand it, the difference between a 79 and an 80 in a class can be the difference of 3.0 or a 4.0. My first year marks were definitely subpar for many reasons including personal issues I was going through at the time. Thus, I took two years off to live abroad and work full time before transferring schools and programs (I think I mentioned this is another thread but oh well). So I expect my first year marks to bring down my gpa to about a 3.6 but my degree granting institution gpa will hopefully be a 4.0. So I will write an addendum explaining all this. In addition, and correct me if I'm wrong, Canadian GPA's don't get factored into the rankings? Regardless, a big difference like that, with a decent length of time in between, in addition to a change of schools and majors will hopefully be weighed differently than a difference of LSAC gpa of 3.6 and a UGPA of 3.7 I also think it depends on the school and the admissions process. Some admissions sites I've seen say they look over everything related to a gpa including a strong upward trend, diversity of classes taken, difficulty of classes taken, etc. Others seem to not really care.