Top Law Schools

i am aware that the difference between a 3.55 and a ~3.7 is huge in law school applications. my dilemma is i currently hold the former. i have the option to take an 8 week class and the max amount of hours at a community college this summer between my junior year and my senior year to fill out my elective credits and also raise my gpa to (if i get the grades i am expecting this semester) 3.69.

A couple of questions
1) will this be looked down on by ad comms because i took the electives required (plus some) at a CC?

2) do my first semester senior year grades factor into my admission decision(i plan to apply day 1 of the fall 2012 cycle)

3) i know harvard is a long, long shot, but assuming i am willing to risk my eight some odd dolalrs, what lsat score would i realistically need (assuming i applied day one) to even get a second glance with a 3.69 gpa? (im non urm)

thank you so much for your time!

and yes, i am aware that some of you will say dont waste my time trying harvard, but ""you miss 100 percent of the shots you never take"-wayne gretzky"-michael scott"

mooseman2216 wrote: 3) i know harvard is a long, long shot, but assuming i am willing to risk my eight some odd dolalrs, what lsat score would i realistically need (assuming i applied day one) to even get a second glance with a 3.69 gpa? (im non urm)

According to LSP:
174 puts you at "weak consider"
176 "consider"
179 "strong consider"

take the classes and boost the GPA. They wont care, they just look at your LSAC GPA, which included CC classes.

FWIW I took a course at cc during summer school one year and dont think it hurt my cycle

They have a soft floor at 3.7 so probably no LSAT score is going to get you over the hump.

I'm planning on doing the same thing, so hopefully it works. I know some undergrad institutions don't take community college grades/credits once you are a full time student at the 4 year institution. You may want to double check with your academic advisor.

I don't think it hurt me one bit. Two years CA CC, cause it's damn cheap; my Spanish requirement, because it was more of a Latin cuisine sampling class than work at the CC; and a regular swim class, cause it was a cheap way to stay in shape and get cred for an A at the same time.

Edit: And as far as I know, it doesn't matter whether or not your UG college accepts the credits. The LSAC factors everything in individually, which is why most LSAC GPA's are different than your UG GPA.

WmHooper wrote:I know some undergrad institutions don't take community college grades/credits once you are a full time student at the 4 year institution. You may want to double check with your academic advisor.

That doesn't matter, LSAC takes them.

kalvano wrote:

WmHooper wrote:I know some undergrad institutions don't take community college grades/credits once you are a full time student at the 4 year institution. You may want to double check with your academic advisor.

That doesn't matter, LSAC takes them.

It will matter if OP's UG doesn't take his elective credits and thus does not let him graduate.

trudat15 wrote:take the classes and boost the GPA. They wont care, they just look at your LSAC GPA, which included CC classes.

FWIW I took a course at cc during summer school one year and dont think it hurt my cycle

TITCR

dc1s wrote:

kalvano wrote:

WmHooper wrote:I know some undergrad institutions don't take community college grades/credits once you are a full time student at the 4 year institution. You may want to double check with your academic advisor.

That doesn't matter, LSAC takes them.

It will matter if OP's UG doesn't take his elective credits and thus does not let him graduate.

Then he can take more classes and further boost his GPA. Win.

kalvano wrote:

dc1s wrote:

kalvano wrote:

WmHooper wrote:I know some undergrad institutions don't take community college grades/credits once you are a full time student at the 4 year institution. You may want to double check with your academic advisor.

That doesn't matter, LSAC takes them.

It will matter if OP's UG doesn't take his elective credits and thus does not let him graduate.

Then he can take more classes and further boost his GPA. Win.

Winning!

Duh. Winning.

kalvano wrote:Then he can take more classes and further boost his GPA. Win.

It seems like he already planned to do this and thus accounted for those extra classes in his GPA calculation, otherwise it would be pointless taking those summer classes. I just want OP to be sure he graduates and doesn't take required electives at CC, only to find out they don't count towards his degree plan.

dc1s wrote: It will matter if OP's UG doesn't take his elective credits and thus does not let him graduate.

Twice the basket weaving for elective credit, twice the A's, twice the fun? Bi-Winning!

dc1s wrote:

kalvano wrote:Then he can take more classes and further boost his GPA. Win.

It seems like he already planned to do this and thus accounted for those extra classes in his GPA calculation, otherwise it would be pointless taking those summer classes. I just want OP to be sure he graduates and doesn't take required electives at CC, only to find out they don't count towards his degree plan.

he should stay in college for 3 more years taking CC classes to get his GPA up to 4.3!

fatduck wrote:

dc1s wrote:

kalvano wrote:Then he can take more classes and further boost his GPA. Win.

It seems like he already planned to do this and thus accounted for those extra classes in his GPA calculation, otherwise it would be pointless taking those summer classes. I just want OP to be sure he graduates and doesn't take required electives at CC, only to find out they don't count towards his degree plan.

he should stay in college for 3 more years taking CC classes to get his GPA up to 4.3!

So much winning in this thread.

^^^ We had to make it fun.

DukeCornell wrote:^^^ We had to make it fun.

Fair enough.

dc1s wrote:

kalvano wrote:Then he can take more classes and further boost his GPA. Win.

It seems like he already planned to do this and thus accounted for those extra classes in his GPA calculation, otherwise it would be pointless taking those summer classes. I just want OP to be sure he graduates and doesn't take required electives at CC, only to find out they don't count towards his degree plan.

But even if they don't count towards his degree plan, they would count towards his LSAC GPA. Therefore, if he has to take other classes for his degree plan, that would simply further boost his GPA.

Thus filling him with tiger blood and Adonis DNA.

kalvano wrote:

dc1s wrote:

kalvano wrote:Then he can take more classes and further boost his GPA. Win.

It seems like he already planned to do this and thus accounted for those extra classes in his GPA calculation, otherwise it would be pointless taking those summer classes. I just want OP to be sure he graduates and doesn't take required electives at CC, only to find out they don't count towards his degree plan.

But even if they don't count towards his degree plan, they would count towards his LSAC GPA. Therefore, if he has to take other classes for his degree plan, that would simply further boost his GPA.

Thus filling him with tiger blood and Adonis DNA.

Veyron wrote:They have a soft floor at 3.7 so probably no LSAT score is going to get you over the hump.

^This. I just glanced over LSN for last cycle and the only acceptances below a 3.7 were URMs, a guy from HYP with a 3.69/176, and this person: http://lawschoolnumbers.com/KuroiTsuki

176+ is the range you should shoot for though if you want to try and defy the odds.

174 won't be enough for Harvard (for non-URM you'd need that 3.9 with a 174 >50% chance at Harvard), and you should definitely take a practice test before you start thinking about Harvard to avoid getting discouraged all together, and just for your own general sanity.

I think shooting for all A's to get up to that 3.69 is a realistic goal in your control, and TCR.

Personally, I'm an advocate of only setting goals that you can control (i.e. the A's, a 180, etc.), and not goals that are up to some person's subjective opinion who you'll never meet. There is no such thing as safely into Harvard so I'd just focus on what you can control or you risk going insane.

I'm pretty much in the same boat. I have a 3.55 and have 3 required classes left to graduate. I could fill my fall schedule with all easy classes and get to around a 3.67, then take my 3 required classes next spring. Any input here?

gator89 wrote:I'm pretty much in the same boat. I have a 3.55 and have 3 required classes left to graduate. I could fill my fall schedule with all easy classes and get to around a 3.67, then take my 3 required classes next spring. Any input here?

Do that and take summer school classes (even if its at CC). The more A's that you can add the better. Even if the CC classes dont count towards your degree.