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Advice for an engineer and aspiring 1L
Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 3:35 am
by iboughtyouaVCR
I have recently completed my freshman year at RPI with a 2.9 GPA. I have discovered that I am not as interested in engineering as I initially thought. I am capable of doing the work (this semester i had a 3.7, first semester i had a 2.1), I have aspirations of attending a HYS/CCN caliber law school, would adcomms view me negatively if I transferred to a state school and majored in economics, but, attained a higher GPA?
Thanks
Re: Advice for an engineer and aspiring 1L
Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 7:38 am
by BarCliff
I can't imagine it being an issue. If anything, I think it will help you immensely due to what would (likely) be a large GPA boost.
From someone who just finished getting an engineering degree: It's good that you've found out you dislike engineering early on, because otherwise the next three years would have been very painful.
Re: Advice for an engineer and aspiring 1L
Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 10:19 am
by merichard87
Take it from an engineer who hates engineering, change majors and schools! Adcomms will only care about the GPA.
Re: Advice for an engineer and aspiring 1L
Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 10:35 am
by d34d9823
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Re: Advice for an engineer and aspiring 1L
Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 11:31 am
by iboughtyouaVCR
Thanks a lot, guys. The school to which I will be transferring accepts the credit from RPI but does not calculate the letter grades, would they still be calculated into my LSAC GPA?
Re: Advice for an engineer and aspiring 1L
Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 11:33 am
by d34d9823
iboughtyouaVCR wrote:Thanks a lot, guys. The school to which I will be transferring accepts the credit from RPI but does not calculate the letter grades, would they still be calculated into my LSAC GPA?
Yes. LSAC does not care what your school thinks, they take your grades and calculate your GPA themselves.
On a side note, if you can manage any A+ grades, LSAC counts them as 4.33

Re: Advice for an engineer and aspiring 1L
Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 11:34 am
by 09042014
iboughtyouaVCR wrote:Thanks a lot, guys. The school to which I will be transferring accepts the credit from RPI but does not calculate the letter grades, would they still be calculated into my LSAC GPA?
Yes. You gotta kick your ass into gear from now on. 4.0 starting today if you want YHS.
Re: Advice for an engineer and aspiring 1L
Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 11:43 am
by stratocophic
TBF, engineering is the pipeline into Biglaw in patents. I hated engineering, but I'd much rather have what are supposedly better job prospects and what promises to be more interesting work than a better GPA. H[strike]YS[/strike]CC is a noble goal, but it's probably going to be tough without a 173+ LSAT if you wind up with a 3.5/3.6 LSAC GPA. The LSAT is your most important obstacle here. Chicago takes splitters with very good LSATs and Columbia goes as low as a 3.45 GPA for a 174-175, from what I've seen. IMO, Y and S basically aren't happening at this point unless you make 4.0s from here on out, score 180, or have URM status.
*The reason I say that the LSAT is your biggest foe is, speaking strictly from the percentages, less than 1% of all test takers hit the score you'll need. No reason that you can't, but then there are a lot of engineers at TTTs.