Graduate School GPA? Forum

[mt1042]

Hey everyone,

I am 5+ years out of undergrad where I earned a GPA of 3.18 because I really majored in ultimate frisbee and dating girls with lots of emotional baggage. However, I am finishing up a Masters degree at a fairly well respected private university and have earned a 4.0. How much will my Graduate GPA help me? Will it offset the transgressions of my youth?

Thanks for the help!

[Na_Swatch]

Sorry, Law Schools don't consider Graduate GPA as much more than a soft... it'll ameliorate your UG GPA slightly, but thats the main GPA thats going to count.

Focus on your LSAT, thats the main way people overcome low GPAs

[maine08080]

Hey everyone,

I am 5+ years out of undergrad where I earned a GPA of 3.18 because I really majored in ultimate frisbee and dating girls with lots of emotional baggage. However, I am finishing up a Masters degree at a fairly well respected private university and have earned a 4.0. How much will my Graduate GPA help me? Will it offset the transgressions of my youth?

Thanks for the help!

Bolded for great brutal honesty.

Back to business though- your grad degree will be a soft factor, so it's not a gamechanger.

[dogmatic slumber]

Sorry, Law Schools don't consider Graduate GPA as much more than a soft... it'll ameliorate your UG GPA slightly, but thats the main GPA thats going to count.

I'd go further and say it's a soft at best. I had a 3.6 as an undergrad and a 3.8 as a grad (humanities master's program at an ivy), and my cycle seemed pretty average for a non-URM with a 3.6/169. Basically it gave me something to talk about in my personal statement, and that's about it as far as I can tell.

No, wait: actually I was randomly waitlisted at a T6 even though my numbers made me a marginal candidate for T14, so there's an anomalous result for you. If I end up getting in then maybe that degree was useful after all.

[r6_philly]

Sorry, Law Schools don't consider Graduate GPA as much more than a soft... it'll ameliorate your UG GPA slightly, but thats the main GPA thats going to count.

I'd go further and say it's a soft at best. I had a 3.6 as an undergrad and a 3.8 as a grad (humanities master's program at an ivy), and my cycle seemed pretty average for a non-URM with a 3.6/169. Basically it gave me something to talk about in my personal statement, and that's about it as far as I can tell.

No, wait: actually I was randomly waitlisted at a T6 even though my numbers made me a marginal candidate for T14, so there's an anomalous result for you. If I end up getting in then maybe that degree was useful after all.

Did you apply to your graduate institution's law school? Would that give you even just a small amount of boost... even if not a boost, at least be taken seriously? I think it does more for some whose background is questionable, and less for people with good UG credentials.

[dogmatic slumber]

Sorry, Law Schools don't consider Graduate GPA as much more than a soft... it'll ameliorate your UG GPA slightly, but thats the main GPA thats going to count.

I'd go further and say it's a soft at best. I had a 3.6 as an undergrad and a 3.8 as a grad (humanities master's program at an ivy), and my cycle seemed pretty average for a non-URM with a 3.6/169. Basically it gave me something to talk about in my personal statement, and that's about it as far as I can tell.

No, wait: actually I was randomly waitlisted at a T6 even though my numbers made me a marginal candidate for T14, so there's an anomalous result for you. If I end up getting in then maybe that degree was useful after all.

Did you apply to your graduate institution's law school? Would that give you even just a small amount of boost... even if not a boost, at least be taken seriously? I think it does more for some whose background is questionable, and less for people with good UG credentials.

Yep, I applied. Graduate institution's law school doesn't look so kindly on non-URMs with sub-175 lsats and sub-3.8 gpas.

Edit: This doesn't disprove your theory. I had a decent GPA from a top UG, so my background wasn't "questionable"...it just wasn't sufficiently stellar. Also I think there is the (likely fair) perception that humanities master's programs tend to inflate grades.

[mt1042]

Thanks for all the input friends. It sucks that the 18-22 year old version of myself will shine through than the current version. Hopefully I can blow the doors off the LSAT. Thanks again!