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Hello, I have a question about GPA. Up until about an hour ago, I assumed that my LSAC GPA would be 3.57 because that is what my UG GPA is listed at. I just read that Law Schools count all classes taken at all colleges. This is not good for me if it is accurate. My first year of community college produced 4 D's, 5 C's and 2 A's. Only a couple of those classes actually counted towards my UG degree. I joined the Military after that pathetic attempt at college. Fast forward 10 years and I went back to College, getting all A's and a couple B's over the course of 30+ classes. I also took tons of CLEP and DANTES tests while in the Military, some of which I failed and other I passed. I calculated my GPA (including classes that don't count towards my degree) using a LSAC online GPA calculator and it came out to a 2.96!! Will Law Schools count some of the D's I got that didn't even get considered for my UG degree? And if they do (please no!), do I have any chance at acceptance to a non-TTT school with a 2.96 GPA? Maybe with a decent LSAT score? Will any decent Law School consider that the bad grades were 13+ years ago and that the classes never counted towards anything in the future? Maybe I should mention that I was so drunk that I don't even remember that year of College? LOL j/k

Seriously though, my humor is a poor attempt to stop my stressing out. I am a cop and I was injured on the job and being forced to retire. I really want to go to Law School, and with my retirement money I will be able to afford to dedicate myself and focus on school with no distractions (besides my family who are supportive of this). For the last 4 months I have focused on gathering LOR's, studying for the LSAT and mentally preparing myself to apply to Law School. If this information about GPA's is true, my dreams may be squashed Thank you for you help.

All your college courses count, even ones from over ten years ago. Yes, you can get into a non-TTT with a 2.96. Check LSN. Look at Northwestern, Washington University, and University of Illinois.

It seems law schools are a little more forgiving of low GPAs when the low grades are older and you have a strong LSAT. Still, some schools may have a 3.0 floor for GPAs. Look around on Law School Numbers (http://lawschoolnumbers.com/) to see who got into schools you're interested in with a similar GPA. With a 165+ LSAT, you will still have a good shot at lower T50s.

As for which grades are included: all grades that appear on college transcripts granted before you received your first bachelor's degree. So, if you took college classes in high school, those count. If you got an F but retook the class and the F remains on the transcript, the F counts. If you got an F but retook the class and the F no longer shows up on your transcript, the F doesn't count. If you got a second degree or took classes after you received your first bachelor's degree, those don't count. (I promise it's not as complicated as I just made it seem... )

You'll also need to write a GPA addendum to be included with all your applications; it'll be pretty straightforward (young & foolish, later grades much higher, etc....maybe leave out the drunk part, haha). Look for threads on/by "splitters" to see how those with high LSAT scores / low GPAs fare.

Thanks for your service and rock the LSAT!

All of those community college grades will be counted in your LSAC GPA and law schools will only look at the LSAC GPA when they are considering you for acceptance. They may consider that the grades were from a long time ago, but in the end the LSAC GPA is what they have to report and therefore what they will look at.

A decent (and even better if it is HIGH) LSAT is the best way to overcome the GPA.

Thank you for the responses. I checked out LSN and it gave me some hope. I may yet be able to get into a decent school. I really was naive; dreams of attending UCLA, USC, Pepperdine or Loyola. I thought my 3.54 GPA was what counted. With my retirement check I will be financially set to attend Law School, and paying back school loans will not be as much of a hindrance. I wish I would have been more cognizant of my grades so many years ago. If I could cut that one year out, I would be OK. I would have a 3.54 GPA Undergrad, a 3.86 GPA in my MBA program which I’m almost half way through (I know that graduate school GPA doesn’t count), along with 5 years Military, and 6 years as a cop. I guess I will need to do a good job at convincing Schools that I have grown up in the last 13 years.

Thank you for your help!