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ok guys, here is my situation I go to U of T and my first year was a disaster (1.45) gpa and was put on academic probation. Then I took a year off and and got a 2.96 in my second year back, 3.02 third year and currently have a 3.38 in my fourth year with 2 courses left in order to graduate. My cumulative gpa my last three years is a 3.11. My first year consisted of 6 courses (3 full year credits, 3 half year credits). My question is: Should I take additional undergrad courses (say 6 to make up for my first year) after my required 20 credits for graduation? How do law schools look at additional courses? Or should I graduate and just study for the LSAT? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Law schools won't really care how long it took you to graduate, or anything like that -- they'll just look at all your grades going towards your first bachelor's degree (including that first year). Unfortunately I don't think you can really raise your GPA a significant amount at this point, although you'd have to do the math on that.

That said, if you're set on law school, study like crazy for the LSAT. If you can score in the 170s, you'd probably get into at least a few good schools -- especially if you apply really early in next year's cycle.

a ~2.7 isn't going to take you very far unless you have a stellar LSAT. I'd probably take a full year's worth of easy credits if I were you (summer+fall). You can study for the LSAT 1 day per week or something of the sort!
Fellow UofTer here! Don't you hate how we're on a C+ curve?

Anything you can do to boost your overall GPA will help. Keep in mind though that they only consider your grades up until you received your first bachelor's degree, so taking additional classes will mean delaying your graduation date.

That said, a 170+ LSAT can save you and help you get into T25 schools despite the abysmal GPA, so you need to focus on LSAT studying and prep. You can also help yourself by gaining a year or two of WE after graduating.

Take your time, don't freak out, you can do this. People have gotten into even T14 schools with an abysmally low GPA; they just needed the right combination of factors (high LSAT, at least 1 year WE, and applying ED to the right school). Don't be in a rush to go to law school, when time is on your side, and the more time you take to prepare the better off you'll be when you apply.

vanwinkle wrote:Anything you can do to boost your overall GPA will help. Keep in mind though that they only consider your grades up until you received your first bachelor's degree, so taking additional classes will mean delaying your graduation date.

That said, a 170+ LSAT can save you and help you get into T25 schools despite the abysmal GPA, so you need to focus on LSAT studying and prep. You can also help yourself by gaining a year or two of WE after graduating.

Take your time, don't freak out, you can do this. People have gotten into even T14 schools with an abysmally low GPA; they just needed the right combination of factors (high LSAT, at least 1 year WE, and applying ED to the right school). Don't be in a rush to go to law school, when time is on your side, and the more time you take to prepare the better off you'll be when you apply.

Wow, it doesn't sound like he has studied or even taken the LSAT into consideration, and you're encouraging him to make a top 2% score on it? I wish him the best but also need to let him know that's not necessarily realistic for most folks.

interestedbyestander wrote:Wow, it doesn't sound like he has studied or even taken the LSAT into consideration, and you're encouraging him to make a top 2% score on it? I wish him the best but also need to let him know that's not necessarily realistic for most folks.

It's more realistic than boosting his GPA by .7 or more, which is what he'd need to do to make his GPA worth considering. I'm also encouraging him to try to boost his LSAT and to gain valuable WE while he studies, and the longer someone takes to study the better the chance they have of a top score.

He wants to know what to do, this is his best shot.

thanks for the input guys .... also do schools look at your last two years of study? do they take off your worst marks? my gpa with my top half of my marks is a 3.48 ... but schools dont look at it that way do they ?

singh wrote:thanks for the input guys .... also do schools look at your last two years of study? do they take off your worst marks? my gpa with my top half of my marks is a 3.48 ... but schools dont look at it that way do they ?

no, they don't. LSAC is extremely unforgiving when looking at GPAs--they even count failing grades for classes that were eventually retaken and passed.

singh wrote:thanks for the input guys .... also do schools look at your last two years of study? do they take off your worst marks? my gpa with my top half of my marks is a 3.48 ... but schools dont look at it that way do they ?

It's all about your LSAC GPA. Adcoms may consider an increasing grade trend in some cases, but it's really all about your cumulative GPA unfortunately. At this point, there's not much you can do to raise your GPA anyway, so just study like crazy for the LSAT. A 170+ will work wonders at T25 schools, even with your GPA, but it's far from a given. A few years away from school to separate yourself from the GPA can also make a difference.

what are my chances of getting into the university of windsor/university of detriot mercy program??

whats a adcom?

I don't know how this works... but take a ton of community college classes.

The Detroit Mercy/ U. of Windsor program is actually relatively easy to get into. Now, when you say U of T, do you mean Toronto? If so, that would be be your best shot (at admittance) out of Canadian programs, since the admissions standards for the LLB/JD program are determined by UMD. In fact, a lot of people who don't get into Windsor by itself get into the joint program. The only downside is that you'll rack up more debt - about 30k tuition/year total between the two schools. Now, UMD is more generous with need-based aid than Windsor, so it might not be quite that bad. I think it's a cool program, and if my LSAT and GPA were lower, I'd look at it (instead of, say, the Colorado/Alberta 4-year program, the Ottawa/American/Mich.St. program or the NYU/Toronto program). If you finish with a 2.8 or so, I'd guess you'd need a 154 to get into the program. A 154 on the LSAT is probably doable - download the free practice test from LSAC and time yourself strictly and see where you stand and how much you need to study.

For you, the problem with Canadian programs will be their heavy emphasis on GPA. Most schools are more lenient than their prestige-counterparts here in the US when it comes to LSAT standards, but are arguably harsher regarding class rank and GPA. If you scored a 160 or above on the LSAT, you might look at a couple of other schools, but Mercy-Windsor might be the most realistic with you GPA.

Hey ,,, yea im currently completing my undergrad at University of Toronto .... my first year is really holding me back .. does uni of windsor/ university of detriot mercy look at your last two years of study??

fellow u of t herrre

Unfortunately, both Windsor & Detroit look at your CGPA. I completely understand your situation. I myself had a rough first year and not so impressive 2nd year. I'm sure if you study for LSAT and aim for 160, you should be a shoe-in for the Windsor/Detroit program. And 160 shouldn't be a problem as long as you study smart and long enough. I'm actually considering this as well depending on how I do this yr & next yr.

I wish you good luck although I don't think you need it

My high school level math tells me you are getting a different GPA than LSAC is going to get.

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