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[R123nav]

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[malleus discentium]

This is a little too cryptic for us to give you meaningful advice.

[Capitol_Idea]

This is a little too cryptic for us to give you meaningful advice.

NVM, see below.

[Clearly]

He's talking about undergrad.

Clearly a semester of withdrawals are better than bad grades. No one will care about withdrawals, esp if you have a good reason.

[swampman]

Find out if your school counts withdrawals as punitive, if so LSAC will consider them Fs.
If they're considered non-punitive then withdraw.

[malleus discentium]

He's talking about undergrad.

Clearly a semester of withdrawals are better than bad grades. No one will care about withdrawals, esp if you have a good reason.

Did he just dick around this semester? Does he have a medical reason for these grades? Did he pick really hard classes? Can he still get nonpunitive withdrawals? What kind of grades are we talking? The answer to each of these questions changes how he should proceed and how big a deal it will be. You're right that, in the abstract, a transcript with a semester of withdrawals is better than one with a semester of Fs. But that observation doesn't help him, because no kidding.

[Clearly]

He's talking about undergrad.

Clearly a semester of withdrawals are better than bad grades. No one will care about withdrawals, esp if you have a good reason.

Did he just dick around this semester? Does he have a medical reason for these grades? Did he pick really hard classes? Can he still get nonpunitive withdrawals? What kind of grades are we talking? The answer to each of these questions changes how he should proceed and how big a deal it will be. You're right that, in the abstract, a transcript with a semester of withdrawals is better than one with a semester of Fs. But that observation doesn't help him, because no kidding.

A semester of non-punitive Ws is better under any circumstances than a semester of bad grades, and I happen to know his school does non-punitive Ws. It seems like no kidding to us, but we don't know what he knows.

[R123nav]

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[Rigo]

Why would your situation be any better in the future though? Just how poorly are you on track to do this semester?

[Broncos15]

Sorry guys, it's my last semester of undergrad and I need to leave school to help my parents failing business. It's the last thing I want to do, but I know if I stay and try to work at the business there is no way I'll be able to get decent grades in all classes. It will delay my graduation one semester. Other than that my cumulative GPA is a 3.81.

A 3.81 is excellent....I say graduate since it is almost the end of the semester as is.

Even in an absolute worst case it dropped to lets say a 3.75 ....every school with the exception of Yale and possibly Stanford would be open to you

[k5220]

Sorry guys, it's my last semester of undergrad and I need to leave school to help my parents failing business. It's the last thing I want to do, but I know if I stay and try to work at the business there is no way I'll be able to get decent grades in all classes. It will delay my graduation one semester. Other than that my cumulative GPA is a 3.81.

A 3.81 is excellent....I say graduate since it is almost the end of the semester as is.

Even in an absolute worst case it dropped to lets say a 3.75 ....every school with the exception of Yale and possibly Stanford would be open to you

I think you should protect your GPA. The difference between a 3.8 and a 3.75 is significant at the top schools, and could make a difference in scholarship offers too. (And a 3.75 cumulative GPA after 8 semesters would require you to get like a 3.5 in your last semester, which still seems a bit ambitious). You only get one shot to get your GPA right.

[VPlaw]

Sorry guys, it's my last semester of undergrad and I need to leave school to help my parents failing business. It's the last thing I want to do, but I know if I stay and try to work at the business there is no way I'll be able to get decent grades in all classes. It will delay my graduation one semester. Other than that my cumulative GPA is a 3.81.

A 3.81 is excellent....I say graduate since it is almost the end of the semester as is.

Even in an absolute worst case it dropped to lets say a 3.75 ....every school with the exception of Yale and possibly Stanford would be open to you

I think you should protect your GPA. The difference between a 3.8 and a 3.75 is significant at the top schools, and could make a difference in scholarship offers too. (And a 3.75 cumulative GPA after 8 semesters would require you to get like a 3.5 in your last semester, which still seems a bit ambitious). You only get one shot to get your GPA right.

''
Will the business possibly fail whether your drop out of school or not? Just a question to ponder. I am so sorry for your parents. You seem like a nice person to try and help. Good luck to you and I hope you eventually get into the law school of your dreams.

[BasilHallward]

I think OP needs to define what bad grades are before we proceed. There is usually a lot more transparency in undergrad with respect to grades, so he or she should know their placement at this point in the game. And who is to say that this semester off does not turn into 2-3 semesters off? What are your grade expectations for this semester, should you ride the semester out?

[R123nav]

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[Rigo]

I would honestly just finish out the semester to the best of your ability. Explain the situation to your professors and I'm sure they'll be accommodating.

[Clearly]

What's your major?

[starry eyed]

there is no way in hell i'd sit out a cycle to protect my gpa by .05 points-that's ridiculous.

especially since lsat takers increased in december and feb so this is the best cycle to apply anyway-next year will be harder

[Clearly]

there is no way in hell i'd sit out a cycle to protect my gpa by .05 points-that's ridiculous.

especially since lsat takers increased in december and feb so this is the best cycle to apply anyway-next year will be harder

This is a stretch...

[Rigo]

there is no way in hell i'd sit out a cycle to protect my gpa by .05 points-that's ridiculous.

especially since lsat takers increased in december and feb so this is the best cycle to apply anyway-next year will be harder

[R123nav]

.

[starry eyed]

there is no way in hell i'd sit out a cycle to protect my gpa by .05 points-that's ridiculous.

especially since lsat takers increased in december and feb so this is the best cycle to apply anyway-next year will be harder

if you are disputing that next year will be tougher, what other metric are we supposed to use?

this site is all about numbers; why does it decide to ignore them at times?

[Rigo]

there is no way in hell i'd sit out a cycle to protect my gpa by .05 points-that's ridiculous.

especially since lsat takers increased in december and feb so this is the best cycle to apply anyway-next year will be harder

if you are disputing that next year will be tougher, what other metric are we supposed to use?

this site is all about numbers; why does it decide to ignore them at times?

You're making faulty assumptions.
And the first part I crossed out because OP isn't sitting out the cycle either way, as he stated.

[AreJay711]

Take the semester off. Take a year off. Take two years off.

I assume you don't have a job after undergrad lined up yet? Cool. Take time off to help with the business, and profit from the interesting thing to talk about in job interviews. You'll also get a second chance to apply for interesting jobs, again with that on your resume.

No employer or school is going to say this: "Well, we otherwise think he's a great fit, but he took a year off college in which he attempted to make a business solvent (successfully, or unsuccessfully) so we just can't take him." Some law schools might say this: "Wow, that's cool he took a year off college in which he struggled to make a company solvent. We just can't take a hit to our medians."

[k5220]

there is no way in hell i'd sit out a cycle to protect my gpa by .05 points-that's ridiculous.

especially since lsat takers increased in december and feb so this is the best cycle to apply anyway-next year will be harder

OP said their GPA is likely to be a 3.0. Seven semesters of 3.81 and one semester of 3.0 = more like a 3.7. The differences in admissions chances between a 3.8/172 and a 3.7/172 are real, and the scholarship offers will be different too. Withdrawing from one semester to prevent that 3.0 is pretty worth it, especially with a great reason to explain the withdrawals (which school likely won't care about anyway since they only need to report numbers to USNWR).

[Rigo]

OP said 3.0 is the absolute floor, but will probably pull a few A's.
Try to form a game plan for the next few weeks and finish strong.

How far do you live from your school?
Classes that have final papers can be managed, and maybe you can arrange to take your finals on a separate day with dean supervision.

I think if you want to make it work, you can.