International GPA Forum

[Nulli Secundus]

Currently trying to get in a Law School for a J.D. as a Turkish guy atm, and I have a question: My GPA is a-ok, but I have no idea what it will be after LSAC processes it, but according to the conversion table on their site it might get lower quite a bit. My school used 100 point grade system at the time I graduated, my CGPA was 85.65 / 100 and then my school, like 3 years ago, switched to 4 point grade system, and the official transcript they gave me & sent to LSAC says the equivalent CGPA is 3.55.

1 - ) LSAC's conversion table says 83 - 86 equals to 3.00. (OUCH). Will this what my CGPA end up being after being processed?
2 - ) The reason my CGPA sucked was my first year, since I always wanted to be an engineer but due to Turkey's awesome student placement system I found myself studying Business Administration. (!!) But after 2nd year, my grades shot up to 90 - 100s, which according to same chart is like 4.00 - 4.33. So my second question is, will schools take positive trends in consideration?
3 - ) My last question is, will schools care about international institution GPAs as much as they do about US UG CGPAs, UNDER THE CONDITION THAT, as a non-native speaker, I happen to ace LSAT. (think +176)

Thanks in advance.

[Fred_McGriff]

85/100 is a B which is a 3.0

It might work out differently, but it looks like a 3.0

[Luis Gomez]

3.0 it is. Also they will see what type of school u came from. They have crazy list that ranks international schools in 4 categories.

[cr073137]

3.0 it is. Also they will see what type of school u came from. They have crazy list that ranks international schools in 4 categories.

Law schools dont really look at international GPAs.... It is hard for them to give a general idea of what that actually means. Here, they have ranks and known curves allows them to see how well you actually did in a difficult/or not class setting.

For instance, my sister graduated from a 100 point scale university back home with i think a 86.5, that is a "B". but when you take into account that the valedictorian had like an 88, then that 86 looks much better. They give honors to people graduating with 80+. Because law adm com know this could be the case, they dont put that much weight on your GPA. Also, int'l GPAs (so i heard) are not counted towards USNWR rankings, so more reason for then not to care.

This is might not hold as much if you come from a well-known school where they might get a lot of applicants from. Since they are better able to know what a 3.5 means coming from a school like McGill, U of Toronto, Oxfbrige, etc.

[09042014]

Your GPA won't count against the schools GPA average, so they won't care very much.

You may have problems at YHS. Though since you have no official GPA, you won't get into any school where you aren't at least at their median LSAT.

[Nulli Secundus]

That not being counted in their official averages bit is good to know at least And I do not worry too much about LSAT, everything is going a-ok on that front; as a non-native speaker I should have probs with RC, but I always have extra 6-7 minutes at the end of that section in all PTs So we will see, I will keep TLS updated! :p

[Luis Gomez]

3.0 it is. Also they will see what type of school u came from. They have crazy list that ranks international schools in 4 categories.

Law schools dont really look at international GPAs.... It is hard for them to give a general idea of what that actually means. Here, they have ranks and known curves allows them to see how well you actually did in a difficult/or not class setting.

For instance, my sister graduated from a 100 point scale university back home with i think a 86.5, that is a "B". but when you take into account that the valedictorian had like an 88, then that 86 looks much better. They give honors to people graduating with 80+. Because law adm com know this could be the case, they dont put that much weight on your GPA. Also, int'l GPAs (so i heard) are not counted towards USNWR rankings, so more reason for then not to care.

This is might not hold as much if you come from a well-known school where they might get a lot of applicants from. Since they are better able to know what a 3.5 means coming from a school like McGill, U of Toronto, Oxfbrige, etc.

If you were in a similar situation with a low GPA but a good class rank, have your University give you a letter with your class rank and include that info on your resume.