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Non credit math course and LSDAS
Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 12:40 am
by Idaho_guy
I took an non credit elementary algebra class my freshman year, as I'm not very good at math. It was a satisfactory/unsatisfactory course, and I got a U. I was swamped my freshman year, and I thought it wouldn't matter if i slacked off since it doesn't count against my GPA. I need to know if this will be counted in my LSDAS GPA. On my transcript the grade is given no credits, and as I said, isn't weighed as part of my ungergrad GPA.
Can anyone offer any insight into the matter?
Re: Non credit math course and LSDAS
Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 12:42 am
by Bildungsroman
http://www.lsac.org/Policies/transcript ... zation.asp
LSAC wrote:Failing Grades
Any grade notation that signifies failure (such as No Credit, No Credit/Fail, Not Passing, Incomplete/Fail, Withdraw/Fail, Unsatisfactory, Fail, etc.) is converted to zero on the 4.0 scale and is included in the calculation of the GPA, even if the issuing school considers the grade to be nonpunitive. Failure is defined as credit attempted but not earned. If a transcript is not clear about credit attempted, LSAC staff will contact the registrar at the issuing school to confirm whether course credit was attempted. Incomplete and Withdraw grades considered punitive by the issuing school will be included in the conversion. The only exception to this policy is for No Credit, Withdraw/Fail, repeated courses, and incomplete grades specifically explained in Grades Excluded From Conversion.
However,
LSAC wrote:
Grades Excluded From Conversion
...
Those given for remedial courses only if the transcript clearly indicates they are remedial.
So, if it was a genuine remedial course, and your transcript denotes it as such, it doesn't look like it should be factored into your GPA. Basically, you won't know until you ask LSAC or they generate your academic summary for you.
Re: Non credit math course and LSDAS
Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 12:44 am
by UnitarySpace
Even so, if the class was not taken for credit, then it shouldn't affect his gpa.
Re: Non credit math course and LSDAS
Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 12:45 am
by romothesavior
Bildungsroman wrote:http://www.lsac.org/Policies/transcript ... zation.asp
LSAC wrote:Failing Grades
Any grade notation that signifies failure (such as No Credit, No Credit/Fail, Not Passing, Incomplete/Fail, Withdraw/Fail, Unsatisfactory, Fail, etc.) is converted to zero on the 4.0 scale and is included in the calculation of the GPA, even if the issuing school considers the grade to be nonpunitive. Failure is defined as credit attempted but not earned. If a transcript is not clear about credit attempted, LSAC staff will contact the registrar at the issuing school to confirm whether course credit was attempted. Incomplete and Withdraw grades considered punitive by the issuing school will be included in the conversion. The only exception to this policy is for No Credit, Withdraw/Fail, repeated courses, and incomplete grades specifically explained in Grades Excluded From Conversion.
Not sure how that portion would be handled though. My gut says it will probably be counted as a 0.
Re: Non credit math course and LSDAS
Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 12:47 am
by Bildungsroman
Oh, I missed the part where OP said it was non-credit (didn't realize that colleges had those in the form of math classes). If it really was a course that was not for credit (and not just ungraded), then LSAC shouldn't factor it in.
Re: Non credit math course and LSDAS
Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 12:55 am
by Idaho_guy
It was an 025 algebra class meant to prepare students for the credited math classes. I was thinking that it wouldn't count, but the rules seem ambiguous. In any case, I'm going to act like it will hurt me just in case. I'm going into my third year, still as a sophomore creditwise. I'm sitting in a solid 3.5 GPA right now, but I'm going to try and raise that considerably. So if it does end up hurting me, I'll have compensated a bit. If it doesn't, I'll be in a better position for admission.
Re: Non credit math course and LSDAS
Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 1:06 am
by Idaho_guy
Thanks for the input:D
Re: Non credit math course and LSDAS
Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 2:22 am
by 5ky
There's literally no way for LSAC to calculate this into your GPA because it was an attempt of zero credits. You received zero out of an attempted zero: 0/0.
For LSAC to add this in a punitive way, they would basically have to make up an arbitrary number of credits that they "think" the class was worth, ie 0/1, 0/2, 0/3 etc. It doesn't really seem fair for them to make up the number of credits, so I can't imagine they could find any way to have this in your LSAC GPA.
Re: Non credit math course and LSDAS
Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 2:35 am
by Na_Swatch
5ky wrote:There's literally no way for LSAC to calculate this into your GPA because it was an attempt of zero credits. You received zero out of an attempted zero: 0/0.
For LSAC to add this in a punitive way, they would basically have to make up an arbitrary number of credits that they "think" the class was worth, ie 0/1, 0/2, 0/3 etc. It doesn't really seem fair for them to make up the number of credits, so I can't imagine they could find any way to have this in your LSAC GPA.
this is the right answer... if u had no credit hours theres no way the grade can hurt you.