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Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 11:48 pm
by happywarmgun
Hey guys! Long time lurker, first time poster--

I'm confused about something... and I'm hoping you guys might help.

I graduated from a community college and I currently attend a four year university. Between these two schools, I attended a different UG institution for two semesters. I bombed the 1st (2.7 gpa, because of a serious medical problem) and withdrew from the second semester for the same medical reasons.

When I applied to my current school, I didn't include any of this info, and only sent transcripts from my community college. I'm nervous now, though, as I read LS application instructions, because as I'm sure you know, they expressly ask for "full disclosure" on just about everything...

My question is this:

Do I have to include transcripts from these two lousy semesters?
If I don't, will they find out?
And if I do, how forgiving will they be about it, considering my medical condition at the time??

Thanks in advance!

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 11:54 pm
by kalvano
How can you be a "long-time lurker" and not know the answer to this?
happywarmgun wrote:Do I have to include transcripts from these two lousy semesters?
If I don't, will they find out?
And if I do, how forgiving will they be about it, considering my medical condition at the time??
Yes.
Yes.
Your LSAC GPA will be crushing. It happened to me, it's happened to lots of people. Life sucks.

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 11:56 pm
by 094320
..

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:00 am
by cartercl
happywarmgun wrote:Hey guys! Long time lurker, first time poster--

I'm confused about something... and I'm hoping you guys might help.

I graduated from a community college and I currently attend a four year university. Between these two schools, I attended a different UG institution for two semesters. I bombed the 1st (2.7 gpa, because of a serious medical problem) and withdrew from the second semester for the same medical reasons.

When I applied to my current school, I didn't include any of this info, and only sent transcripts from my community college. I'm nervous now, though, as I read LS application instructions, because as I'm sure you know, they expressly ask for "full disclosure" on just about everything...

My question is this:

Do I have to include transcripts from these two lousy semesters?
If I don't, will they find out?
And if I do, how forgiving will they be about it, considering my medical condition at the time??

Thanks in advance!
Who knows. Probably depends on the severity and length of the condition.

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:02 am
by happywarmgun
Thanks for the replies.

So I'm guessing I should just suck it up, write an addendum to explain and hope for mercy, huh?

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:08 am
by kalvano
happywarmgun wrote:Thanks for the replies.

So I'm guessing I should just suck it up, write an addendum to explain and hope for mercy, huh?

All you can do.

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:08 am
by happywarmgun
cartercl wrote:
happywarmgun wrote:Hey guys! Long time lurker, first time poster--

I'm confused about something... and I'm hoping you guys might help.

I graduated from a community college and I currently attend a four year university. Between these two schools, I attended a different UG institution for two semesters. I bombed the 1st (2.7 gpa, because of a serious medical problem) and withdrew from the second semester for the same medical reasons.

When I applied to my current school, I didn't include any of this info, and only sent transcripts from my community college. I'm nervous now, though, as I read LS application instructions, because as I'm sure you know, they expressly ask for "full disclosure" on just about everything...

My question is this:

Do I have to include transcripts from these two lousy semesters?
If I don't, will they find out?
And if I do, how forgiving will they be about it, considering my medical condition at the time??

Thanks in advance!
Who knows. Probably depends on the severity and length of the condition.
unexplained weightloss, constant fevers, body pain, general yuckiness... I had undiagnosed lyme's for the first semester, and was being treated during the 2nd semester... It was severe enough to have my doctor basically insist I drop my classes--

Does this matter though? I'm worried they're going to look at my application, see the GPA and ding me immediately.

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:10 am
by 3ThrowAway99
I don't know about the 'screwed' part on the C & F, but it sounds like something you may need to address in that process...

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:14 am
by kalvano
Lawquacious wrote:I don't know about the 'screwed' part on the C & F, but it sounds like something you may need to address in that process...

(S)He would be screwed on C&F if (s)he did not disclose a school attended and intentionally withheld transcripts.

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:20 am
by 3ThrowAway99
Yes, if the issue isn't addressed appropriately now I imagine that is quite possible.. based on current status regarding prior omission I strongly doubt it will be a major character and fitness problem after law school..

... but actually I just noticed that the 'screwed' part AcrosstheLake mentioned was conditional upon current omission of some of the UG info (to LSAC; the omission could be discovered in C & F process for Bar, and in that case would probably be a big problem because LSAC makes it clear that all UG info needs to be submitted even though the school OP previously transferred to may not have).

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:23 am
by Thomas Jefferson
kalvano wrote:(S)He would be screwed on C&F if (s)he did not disclose a school attended and intentionally withheld transcripts.
happywarmgun wrote:When I applied to my current school, I didn't include any of this info
Although maybe that's different? Idk enough about C&F issues to comment intelligently, it just sounds iffy to me.

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:29 am
by happywarmgun
Wait, are you guys saying that I might face C&F issues because I didn't disclose the 2 questionable semesters to my current UG school??

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:31 am
by Thomas Jefferson
happywarmgun wrote:Wait, are you guys saying that I might face C&F issues because I didn't disclose the 2 questionable semesters to my current UG school??
Yes. Were you supposed to? I've always thought undergrad transfer students had to provide transcripts of all college-level work.

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:33 am
by 3ThrowAway99
I think more what is being said is that if you don't disclose the info to LSAC then it could be a big problem (as they explicitly require it), and your law applications of which LSAC is a central part can be (and I think typically is) part of the Bar application C & F review. If you are dishonest on your law school applications (or in process) that can be a big prob.

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:37 am
by cartercl
happywarmgun wrote:
cartercl wrote:
happywarmgun wrote:Hey guys! Long time lurker, first time poster--

I'm confused about something... and I'm hoping you guys might help.

I graduated from a community college and I currently attend a four year university. Between these two schools, I attended a different UG institution for two semesters. I bombed the 1st (2.7 gpa, because of a serious medical problem) and withdrew from the second semester for the same medical reasons.

When I applied to my current school, I didn't include any of this info, and only sent transcripts from my community college. I'm nervous now, though, as I read LS application instructions, because as I'm sure you know, they expressly ask for "full disclosure" on just about everything...

My question is this:

Do I have to include transcripts from these two lousy semesters?
If I don't, will they find out?
And if I do, how forgiving will they be about it, considering my medical condition at the time??

Thanks in advance!
Who knows. Probably depends on the severity and length of the condition.
unexplained weightloss, constant fevers, body pain, general yuckiness... I had undiagnosed lyme's for the first semester, and was being treated during the 2nd semester... It was severe enough to have my doctor basically insist I drop my classes--

Does this matter though? I'm worried they're going to look at my application, see the GPA and ding me immediately.
Well why didn't you drop the classes? And did your doctor insist upon this in writing? I would think it would make somewhat of a difference if he/she did.

Also, you're not gonna get dinged because of a 2.7 semester. As long as your overall UGPA is good for the schools you're applying to you should be fine. If it is good, save yourself the time with the addendum.

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:38 am
by kalvano
happywarmgun wrote:Wait, are you guys saying that I might face C&F issues because I didn't disclose the 2 questionable semesters to my current UG school??

No. But you are specifically required to disclose to LSAC every school attended and provide transcripts, so not doing so would cause issues.

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:38 am
by happywarmgun
Thomas Jefferson wrote:
happywarmgun wrote:Wait, are you guys saying that I might face C&F issues because I didn't disclose the 2 questionable semesters to my current UG school??
Yes. Were you supposed to? I've always thought undergrad transfer students had to provide transcripts of all college-level work.
I applied online, and I never saw anything requiring it (& I'm a pretty careful reader). I've also mentioned it to my acedemic advisor and she said that it was my choice to have those credits tranferred or not... so I'm inclined to believe that they didn't demand disclosure. At any rate, if my school does, it's certainly not as evident as the LSAC's demand, which is in bold on every damn page...

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:42 am
by cartercl
happywarmgun wrote:
Thomas Jefferson wrote:
happywarmgun wrote:Wait, are you guys saying that I might face C&F issues because I didn't disclose the 2 questionable semesters to my current UG school??
Yes. Were you supposed to? I've always thought undergrad transfer students had to provide transcripts of all college-level work.
I applied online, and I never saw anything requiring it (& I'm a pretty careful reader). I've also mentioned it to my acedemic advisor and she said that it was my choice to have those credits tranferred or not... so I'm inclined to believe that they didn't demand disclosure. At any rate, if my school does, it's certainly not as evident as the LSAC's demand, which is in bold on every damn page...
I'd have to guess that if you're UG institution didn't block your registration until they received your transcripts then they didn't care and/or it wasn't a strict requirement for admission. Really sounds like a non-issue to me. I think you're fine.

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:43 am
by happywarmgun
cartercl wrote:
happywarmgun wrote:
cartercl wrote:
happywarmgun wrote:Hey guys! Long time lurker, first time poster--

I'm confused about something... and I'm hoping you guys might help.

I graduated from a community college and I currently attend a four year university. Between these two schools, I attended a different UG institution for two semesters. I bombed the 1st (2.7 gpa, because of a serious medical problem) and withdrew from the second semester for the same medical reasons.

When I applied to my current school, I didn't include any of this info, and only sent transcripts from my community college. I'm nervous now, though, as I read LS application instructions, because as I'm sure you know, they expressly ask for "full disclosure" on just about everything...

My question is this:

Do I have to include transcripts from these two lousy semesters?
If I don't, will they find out?
And if I do, how forgiving will they be about it, considering my medical condition at the time??

Thanks in advance!
Who knows. Probably depends on the severity and length of the condition.
unexplained weightloss, constant fevers, body pain, general yuckiness... I had undiagnosed lyme's for the first semester, and was being treated during the 2nd semester... It was severe enough to have my doctor basically insist I drop my classes--

Does this matter though? I'm worried they're going to look at my application, see the GPA and ding me immediately.
Well why didn't you drop the classes? And did your doctor insist upon this in writing? I would think it would make somewhat of a difference if he/she did.

Also, you're not gonna get dinged because of a 2.7 semester. As long as your overall UGPA is good for the schools you're applying to you should be fine. If it is good, save yourself the time with the addendum.
My doctor did provide several notes to teachers and the registrar, and when I withdrew, he signed all of my paperwork, because I could only be financially excused at that point in the semester for a medical reason... so the illness is actually very well documented.
My gpa otherwise is stellar (3.96), I really only have this one blemish on my transcripts.

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:47 am
by cartercl
cartercl wrote:
happywarmgun wrote:
Well why didn't you drop the classes? And did your doctor insist upon this in writing? I would think it would make somewhat of a difference if he/she did.

Also, you're not gonna get dinged because of a 2.7 semester. As long as your overall UGPA is good for the schools you're applying to you should be fine. If it is good, save yourself the time with the addendum.
My doctor did provide several notes to teachers and the registrar, and when I withdrew, he signed all of my paperwork, because I could only be financially excused at that point in the semester for a medical reason... so the illness is actually very well documented.
My gpa otherwise is stellar (3.96), I really only have this one blemish on my transcripts.
I think you're fine. People on here send in addenda to explain bad semesters because of "lack of maturity," "excessive partying" and things like that. Those are bad reasons for a low semster GPA. You have a good reason. Don't worry about it. You can explain it just to be on the safe side, but I honestly think you're okay.

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:52 am
by kalvano
cartercl wrote:I think you're fine. People on here send in addenda to explain bad semesters because of "lack of maturity," "excessive partying" and things like that. Those are bad reasons for a low semster GPA. You have a good reason. Don't worry about it. You can explain it just to be on the safe side, but I honestly think you're okay.
It's still going to negatively impact the cumulative GPA. There is no getting around that.

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 12:56 am
by cartercl
kalvano wrote:
cartercl wrote:I think you're fine. People on here send in addenda to explain bad semesters because of "lack of maturity," "excessive partying" and things like that. Those are bad reasons for a low semster GPA. You have a good reason. Don't worry about it. You can explain it just to be on the safe side, but I honestly think you're okay.
It's still going to negatively impact the cumulative GPA. There is no getting around that.
Well, yeah, I understand that. That's why I said earlier if it is a good UGPA for the schools OP is applying to (with the 2.7 GPA factored in) then he/she is gonna be fine. And even if it is, writing an addendum wouldn't hurt.

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 1:01 am
by happywarmgun
cartercl wrote:
kalvano wrote:
cartercl wrote:I think you're fine. People on here send in addenda to explain bad semesters because of "lack of maturity," "excessive partying" and things like that. Those are bad reasons for a low semster GPA. You have a good reason. Don't worry about it. You can explain it just to be on the safe side, but I honestly think you're okay.
It's still going to negatively impact the cumulative GPA. There is no getting around that.
Well, yeah, I understand that. That's why I said earlier if it is a good UGPA for the schools OP is applying to (with the 2.7 GPA factored in) then he/she is gonna be fine. And even if it is, writing an addendum wouldn't hurt.
It's still going to negatively impact the cumulative GPA. There is no getting around that.[/quote]

lol, some people just gotta drive home the negative reality :P

c'est la vie. Can't win 'em all. Hopefully, it wont be too big of a drop... and I always have my LORs, softs, a small URM boost (latina) and a good resume to help boost me back up.
Thanks for helping me clear this up a bit, folks.

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 4:37 am
by im_blue
happywarmgun wrote:Hopefully, it wont be too big of a drop... and I always have my LORs, softs, a small URM boost (latina) and a good resume to help boost me back up.
Thanks for helping me clear this up a bit, folks.
I assume you're a rising senior, so you'll be applying with 6 semesters of 3.96 and 1 semester of 2.7 for an overall GPA of roughly 3.8.

Re: Transcripts, disclosure, and panic.

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 4:59 am
by TCScrutinizer
1) Yes
2) Yes
3) Depends on the school and how well you compose your GPA addendum.