GPA Question Forum

[rlperez]

So here is the deal, I really want to know how much my CC GPA will effect my chances at a t10 school and if I should wait till after I graduate as a UG before I apply...

I transfered to Uuniversity of Hawaii at Manoa last year as a sophmore from Portland community college

I had approx 40 credits once you account for the conversion from quarter to semester credits.

My GPA was a 3.2, at the time I felt that this was fine because it had been a long time since HS, 6+ years, and I had little direction with what to do after school.

My GPA at UH Manoa is currently 3.85, will be 3.9 by the time I was planning on applying to school. I am taking the LSAT in June, my first diagnostic was 162, I am

hoping with 5.5 months to study that I can bring my LSAT score up to 170+.

Anyway, other factors include URM status (half mexican-american, half white), last name is Perez (speaks for itself haha), and I am an older student. Will be 28 when I graduate next year.

I have managed to get Honors every semester at UH Manoa and will continue to keep a 4.0 until I graduate, bringing my overall UH GPA to 3.95

Major is sociology, Minor is Poli Sci, and I will have completed a certificate program in "Law and Society", offered by the sociology and poli sci department at my school.

On top of that I will have 2-3+ stellar letters of recommendation from top department professors (both poli sci and soc)

This coming spring semester I am one of 6 students in the sociology department given the opportunity to teach an introductory sociology class,

and coming this fall I am hoping to get a legislative internship through my sociology department as well.

So given this, I have a couple questions,

How much will my CC GPA hurt me in the long run? and should I hold off on applying this fall, and wait until after I finish my undergrad in order to have more time to bring up my UG GPA?

I am hesitant to wait longer because of my age. I am expecting to graduate Spring 2012

Just as a reference here is where I am hoping to apply:

top choices:

Stanford (my #1)
Harvard
NYU
Columbia
UC Berkeley

Second Tier

Duke
U Penn
Georgetown
UCLA (My step mom is UCLA UG alum, and knows some folks in the law school)
USC

Safety schools (just in case LSAT falls through)

Lewis & Clark
University of Hawaii (Richardson)


Anyway, thanks for reading.

[Knock]

So here is the deal, I really want to know how much my CC GPA will effect my chances at a t10 school and if I should wait till after I graduate as a UG before I apply...

I transfered to Uuniversity of Hawaii at Manoa last year as a sophmore from Portland community college

I had approx 40 credits once you account for the conversion from quarter to semester credits.

My GPA was a 3.2, at the time I felt that this was fine because it had been a long time since HS, 6+ years, and I had little direction with what to do after school.

My GPA at UH Manoa is currently 3.85, will be 3.9 by the time I was planning on applying to school. I am taking the LSAT in June, my first diagnostic was 162, I am

hoping with 5.5 months to study that I can bring my LSAT score up to 170+.

Anyway, other factors include URM status (half mexican-american, half white), last name is XXX (speaks for itself haha), and I am an older student. Will be 28 when I graduate next year.

I have managed to get Honors every semester at UH Manoa and will continue to keep a 4.0 until I graduate, bringing my overall UH GPA to 3.95

Major is sociology, Minor is Poli Sci, and I will have completed a certificate program in "Law and Society", offered by the sociology and poli sci department at my school.

On top of that I will have 2-3+ stellar letters of recommendation from top department professors (both poli sci and soc)

This coming spring semester I am one of 6 students in the sociology department given the opportunity to teach an introductory sociology class,

and coming this fall I am hoping to get a legislative internship through my sociology department as well.

So given this, I have a couple questions,

How much will my CC GPA hurt me in the long run? and should I hold off on applying this fall, and wait until after I finish my undergrad in order to have more time to bring up my UG GPA?

I am hesitant to wait longer because of my age. I am expecting to graduate Spring 2012

Just as a reference here is where I am hoping to apply:

top choices:

Stanford (my #1)
Harvard
NYU
Columbia
UC Berkeley

Second Tier

Duke
U Penn
Georgetown
UCLA (My step mom is UCLA UG alum, and knows some folks in the law school)
USC

Safety schools (just in case LSAT falls through)

Lewis & Clark
University of Hawaii (Richardson)


Anyway, thanks for reading.

I'd edit out your real last name, just to be safe. Your CC GPA will be included in the calculation of your LSDAS GPA (the only GPA that matters), and so will bring down your overall GPA a little. But the fact you took CC classes in of itself will not hurt you. Being half-Mexican will definitely provide a boost for your application. See the "Underrepresented Student Forum" for more information. If you're really set on SLS, i'd wait to bring up your GPA, since you basically need a 3.8+ to get in. Personally, I would wait until you get a LSDAS GPA (you can calculate it yourself if you have all your grades, just google the calculator) and a real LSAT score, and then make the decision whether to take another year off after you graduate.

Hope this helped, feel free to pm me anytime, ask any more questions, or request clarification. Best of luck to you.

ETA: Just noticed your username includes your real last name; i'd private message an admin (people with red names) and request a name change. Always good to maintain your anonymity.

[rlperez]

Well, that is about what I expected, I have done a fair amount of research on this stuff already, but for whatever reason it totally skipped my mind that I would have to factor in my CC GPA until today, then the freak out began, haha. Anyway thanx for taking the time to respond, I am fairly confident I can do well on the lsat. While it is a frustrating test, I am not one for test anxiety and I have developed good study habits that should help me prepare. I would say the only chance I have for SLS is that my school does offer A+, so I may be able to boost my GPA up before I graduate. If I only I had this drive and determination for SLS back when I was in CC (It honestly never crossed my mind that something like that was possible, as I BARELY graduated high school and that was with bare minimum requirments), I was just happy to be in College and doing relatively well, while working a full time job. Now school is my full time job, and with age I have learned to develop good study habits and not procrastinate. I will keep working and hope for the best and I appreciate all the advice.

P.S. I gave up my online anonymity a LONG time ago, haha, but I appreciate the concern.