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I got all my credits to grad after 3 years, but I'm still currently enrolled for the fall (and this summer). My gpa could use a little boost, which I figured I could use in case I don't get in where I want this round, however my financial situation is getting worse and worse and there are no jobs in my UG city (a small college town with a huge university... the mall usually has more job seekers than customers). I have to decide whether or not to graduate by the end of June. Is it worth it to stick around in the jobless city for a .1 gpa boost max (and some scholarship money coming back hopefully, but still not compared to what I could make at a job in my home city)?

For reference - current GPA is 3.54 (3.50 LSDAS). If current trends continue can max it out to about 3.65 (3.60) by the end of two more semesters. Although I'm shooting for T14, so I know it'll largely come down to my LSAT anyway...

Most people on TLS will tell you that time can be better spent by studying for the LSAT.

Disagree. If I had understood just how important GPA was to law school acceptance, I could have gone similar to you. Instead, I thought my LSAT and my lineage would carry me into law school. Although I had a good cycle, I realized that even a single .1 boost to the GPA would have made me eligible for schools that no LSAT does (according to LSP). LSAT=three months of study prep, and you get three chances. GPA= Permanent.

Raise the GPA. Once you graduate, you cannot change this number.

How much would you be paying in tuition for that extra year? If you're laying out 20-30k for .1 on your GPA, well...

If you are applying next September your GPA boost won't even count.

If you are spending any kind of real money (and yes that includes loans), graduate. 3.52 to 3.62 will really only change your odds at Chicago and Columbia, and even then only if you get a really good LSAT anyway.

That said, if mom and pa are funding this, and they can afford it, take that sweet sweet year of undergrad and run.

.

..

vexion wrote:How much would you be paying in tuition for that extra year? If you're laying out 20-30k for .1 on your GPA, well...

This is credited. If you have scholarships, why not use them? You earned them. You can use the year to take philosophy, sociology, English, and art classes, practice your bullshit, and even study for the LSAT. Drink a lot. Just one more year between you and the 2008-2010 legal market clusterfuck.

think of the cost + opportunity cost (minus expenses you may be able to save something for LS). then you can focus rest of your efforts on LSAT w/o distractions of Undergrad.

3.5/172+/10k+ savings >>>>>>>>>>> 3.6/(anything less then what you could get w/o intensive studies)/debt

Conclusion: graduate and say good by to frat basement beerpong

gwuorbust wrote:think of the cost + opportunity cost (minus expenses you may be able to save something for LS). then you can focus rest of your efforts on LSAT w/o distractions of Undergrad.

3.5/172+/10k+ savings >>>>>>>>>>> 3.6/(anything less then what you could get w/o intensive studies)/debt

Conclusion: graduate and say good by to frat basement beerpong

You speak of frat basement beerpong as though it's a bad thing?

I disagree with that, and the rest of your post. There's no way to gauge what score this guy is going to get on his LSAT if he takes a year off, much less predict a 172+. You're assuming intensive studies as a result of no school? He very well could spend close to, give or take, the same amount of time on school work as he would his job - leaving the same amount of available time to study for the LSAT. I see your point concerning undergrad "distractions", but if the OP can't get over distractions at school, he very well could face just as many distractions at home. It's not hard to find distractions at any locale if you look.

To the OP, I say take the additional year of school. I was in a similar situation, albeit less room to gain points in GPA, and could have graduated early. However, after considering a variety of things: the added personal benefit of another major, not feeling quite ready to leave undergrad for law school, more time to study for the LSAT, spread out my additional credit hours over a larger time frame for lighter semesters, putting another 12 months in between the present treacherous legal market and the potentially less bleak future(?), and so on, I opted to tack on the extra year. I haven't looked back since.

Thanks everyone for the useful input. It seems like the obvious solution is to stay in school then, because I do actually have excess scholarships, so more school = more money in my pocket.

rman1201 wrote:I got all my credits to grad after 3 years, but I'm still currently enrolled for the fall (and this summer). My gpa could use a little boost, which I figured I could use in case I don't get in where I want this round, however my financial situation is getting worse and worse and there are no jobs in my UG city (a small college town with a huge university... the mall usually has more job seekers than customers). I have to decide whether or not to graduate by the end of June. Is it worth it to stick around in the jobless city for a .1 gpa boost max (and some scholarship money coming back hopefully, but still not compared to what I could make at a job in my home city)?

For reference - current GPA is 3.54 (3.50 LSDAS). If current trends continue can max it out to about 3.65 (3.60) by the end of two more semesters. Although I'm shooting for T14, so I know it'll largely come down to my LSAT anyway...

You might also want to consider if you have strong letter writers. It won't influence your application nearly as much as your GPA and LSAT, but every little bit helps. I ended up staying a fourth year when I could have graduated in three for this reason, among others. Worked out well for me too.

I took a no-stress extra year of college to polish up some statistics skills, be vice prez of my fraternity, enjoy life, and work on my LSAT/law app stuff.

Seriously, college should not be getting in the way of studying for the LSAT if you have the ability to graduate right now. If you can afford it without difficulty, go for the extra year and have some fun.