How do schools consider outliers on a transcript?

[Memphis91]

Hi,

Sorry if this has been addressed already. It's pretty tough to keep up with everything on this website.

So, I have a 3.6ish currently, but if 3 classes are left out when you calculate my gpa, it will shoot up about .15 points. I know that every little bit counts, and in this case, these classes were from an unfortunate experiment with being an architecture major my freshman year (don't let anyone you know or love be an architecture major...). My question is whether or not a law school will be considerate about something like that, or if they take a more holistic approach to the entire undergraduate experience?

Thanks for your help!

[NoodleyOne]

With a convincing addendum, it can mitigate the damage somewhat. Beyond that, though, they couldn't care less. If you remove one F from my freshman year, my GPA shoots up .11 points. Doesn't change a thing.

[Bildungsroman]

With a convincing addendum, it can mitigate the damage somewhat. Beyond that, though, they couldn't care less. If you remove one F from my freshman year, my GPA shoots up .11 points. Doesn't change a thing.

It won't mitigate anything because "if you got rid of my bad grades my grades would be less bad" is true for everyone. Unless there's a good reason for the difference (and no, changing majors doesn't count), nobody is going to care.

[NoodleyOne]

With a convincing addendum, it can mitigate the damage somewhat. Beyond that, though, they couldn't care less. If you remove one F from my freshman year, my GPA shoots up .11 points. Doesn't change a thing.

It won't mitigate anything because "if you got rid of my bad grades my grades would be less bad" is true for everyone. Unless there's a good reason for the difference (and no, changing majors doesn't count), nobody is going to care.

Hence the convincing addendum part?

[Memphis91]

With a convincing addendum, it can mitigate the damage somewhat. Beyond that, though, they couldn't care less. If you remove one F from my freshman year, my GPA shoots up .11 points. Doesn't change a thing.

It won't mitigate anything because "if you got rid of my bad grades my grades would be less bad" is true for everyone. Unless there's a good reason for the difference (and no, changing majors doesn't count), nobody is going to care.

Simmer down there, condescending Archer. This isn't a virtual courtroom. It was just a question. Thanks for your input. Y'all are quick on the response draw.

[patrickd139]

I know of at least one (former) admissions officer who didn't even look at transcripts other than to confirm GPA veracity. Bils is right on this one: unless you have a compelling reason, an addendum will likely not help.

[Memphis91]

I know of at least one (former) admissions officer who didn't even look at transcripts other than to confirm GPA veracity. Bils is right on this one: unless you have a compelling reason, an addendum will likely not help.

Thanks. From everything I've heard, it's a very numbers-based process. So, it doesn't surprise me about that admissions officer. My situation isn't really life or death. Just puts the top 20 firmly in reach, as opposed to a good probability of acceptance. It's nice to know what to expect, though. So, thanks again.

[dingbat]

Hi,

Sorry if this has been addressed already. It's pretty tough to keep up with everything on this website.

So, I have a 3.6ish currently, but if 3 classes are left out when you calculate my gpa, it will shoot up about .15 points. I know that every little bit counts, and in this case, these classes were from an unfortunate experiment with being an architecture major my freshman year (don't let anyone you know or love be an architecture major...). My question is whether or not a law school will be considerate about something like that, or if they take a more holistic approach to the entire undergraduate experience?

Thanks for your help!

That's not an good enough excuse to make any difference whatsoever. If you had a more legit reason, like having trouble adapting to college life during your first year, it might serve as a tie-breaker, if you're lucky.

[Big Dog]

If you had a more legit reason, like having trouble adapting to college life....

Snooze. Such students total in the (tens of) thousands. A truly "legit" excuse is the death of a parent during the school term, or working full time to send money back home to help parents avoid foreclosure, or being hospitalized for 10+ days -- through no fault of your own -- and missing mandatory lab time, which cannot be made up, for example.

[Memphis91]

Snooze. Such students total in the (tens of) thousands. A truly "legit" excuse is the death of a parent during the school term, or working full time to send money back home to help parents avoid foreclosure, or being hospitalized for 10+ days -- through no fault of your own -- and missing mandatory lab time, which cannot be made up, for example.

I was about to say the same thing. I can't imagine "failure to adapt" being much more successful than "I started in the wrong major and it wrecked my GPA." Regardless, I think the addendum method is worth a shot, in my opinion, only because if by some chance it does make a difference, then it will be an important one.

[reyals]

hey TLS.

I have a similar circumstance. I took classes at a community college starting my junior year of high school. Gathered about 18 credits there. Taking classes like Calculus when I was 17, my GPA from that school is less than stellar, around a 2.8. This drags my overall GPA down almost .2 points.

I'm planning on writing a short addenda in case the schools don't workout that the semesters are listed as starting in '08 when I didn't graduate high school until '09, but can I even plan for them to care at all?

[patrickd139]

hey TLS.

I have a similar circumstance. I took classes at a community college starting my junior year of high school. Gathered about 18 credits there. Taking classes like Calculus when I was 17, my GPA from that school is less than stellar, around a 2.8. This drags my overall GPA down almost .2 points.

I'm planning on writing a short addenda in case the schools don't workout that the semesters are listed as starting in '08 when I didn't graduate high school until '09, but can I even plan for them to care at all?

Unlikely they will care at all, but why not send it?