horrible first semester grades--do I still have a chance? Forum

[ontherun20]

Background: I go to a top 5 liberal arts college and have pretty good softs (student council, etc). My first semester of college I had some issues with adjustment and eventually needed to be put on anti-anxiety meds. This prevented me from doing my best work to begin with, and then right after Thanksgiving break I got mono and missed the rest of the semester. I was able to finish 3 out of my 4 classes--I got one permanent incomplete, which would have been a withdraw, but I was sick when grades had to be submitted so the registrar just submitted everything as "incomplete" and couldn't change it back later--but my other three grades were A, B+ and C, giving me about a 3.1 GPA.

I'm now a junior and the rest of college has gone really well. I haven't received a grade below A-; almost all A's. My GPA is now a 3.75 and I expect it to go up more. If I continue to perform the way I have been, I should be able to get it in the 3.85-3.9 range by senior year. I've been taking LSAT practice tests and expect to do pretty well (practice scores have been 170+ and I'm not taking the real thing until June. I also generally do very well on standardized tests; was 1 question away from a perfect score on the SAT in high school).

So my question is: do I still have a shot at HYS, or are my first semester grades going to be too much of an anchor? For argument's sake, let's say I can get a 175 on my LSATs.

I'm freaking out about the C and the PI mainly...

[pany1985]

They'll look at your overall GPA

[traehekat]

I think you have a fairly legitimate reason for your first semester grades, and even without that if you keep your GPA up and hit a big score on the LSAT, like 175, you have a good shot at HS, Y is a little bit harder to predict. I think you really need an extremely well rounded application - numbers alone will probably not guarantee you admission. Just keep studying for the LSAT, don't burn out, and reap the rewards.

[BenJ]

You're worried about your GPA with a likely 3.85+? No, the C will not matter. When you actually apply, you can attach an brief addendum mentioning the mono, which is always a legitimate reason for lower grades one semester (make sure you have medical documentation). But you might look silly writing an addendum about a 3.85. As long as you get a strong LSAT score, you definitely have a good shot at HYS. A 175/3.85 is pretty much a lock at Harvard and Stanford as long as you have decent softs, although Yale is too unpredictable.

I'm not totally sure how the PI will be counted on your LSAC GPA, though. Just a warning: It might come out as an F, which will lower your GPA somewhat, although not nearly as much as it sounds. You still wouldn't be screwed; even a 175/3.75 stands a solid shot at H and S and a random shot at Y.

[reasonable_man]

You have no shot at a top 3; even with a 180. Cs are for TTTs like NYU or Northwestern. Honestly, I'd stop taking the anxiety pills and whatever other special snowflake like meds/counseling you utilize and retreat into a cave.

[Kohinoor]

C = autoding at HYSCCN down

[im_blue]

If you end up with a 3.85+/175, I'd say quit your bitchin' and enjoy Harvard.

[ontherun20]

I'm aware that a 3.85 is a fine GPA; my concern is that a 3.85 with a C and a PI would be looked at as far inferior to a 3.85 composed of steady A's and A-'s...because I'm pretty sure it would have been in the UG application process.

Hopefully they will just focus on my LSAC GPA though, and I'll be able to explain it with an addendum...

[joshikousei]

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[capitalacq]

I'd be more worried about student council being your "pretty good soft"

[ontherun20]

I'd be more worried about student council being your "pretty good soft"

lol, I was purposely super vague because if I posted more it'd be too obvious who I was...my school is small and I know people post here...

[njskatchmo]

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