Terrible year as a transfer..what to do?? Forum

[a.kane]

Hello I have a question concerning my transcript. I recently transferred to a large public institution from a smaller university that I had a free ride in. I cannot begin to explain the problems I had adjusting. Suffice it to say i did terrible and received academic dismissal. I had elected to return by taking numerous summer courses but things haven't panned out as my mother who was helping pay for school lost her job. I now have the option of returning to my old school and plan on applying to law school upon graduation. The first application I looked at asked for information regarding academic dismissal. I'm very concerned as to whether I should include my disastrous year as it is my assumption that the my gpa from both institutions will be averaged? I currently have a 3.4 gpa at my old school, I'am an URM(AA) and tested 172 for my practice tests however if included those grades would destroy me. . Am looking for any insight on what I should do or anyone who has been in this situation.

Thanks in advance

[MrKappus]

Hello I have a question concerning my transcript. I recently transferred to a large public institution from a smaller university that I had a free ride in. I cannot begin to explain the problems I had adjusting. Suffice it to say i did terrible and received academic dismissal. I had elected to return by taking numerous summer courses but things haven't panned out as my mother who was helping pay for school lost her job. I now have the option of returning to my old school and plan on applying to law school upon graduation. The first application I looked at asked for information regarding academic dismissal. I'm very concerned as to whether I should include my disastrous year as it is my assumption that the my gpa from both institutions will be averaged? I currently have a 3.4 gpa at my old school, I'am an URM(AA) and tested 172 for my practice tests however if included those grades would destroy me. . Am looking for any insight on what I should do or anyone who has been in this situation.

Thanks in advance

I am sorry for your troubles, but you must disclose every school at which you took post-secondary courses. If you fail to do this, you will probably fail the C&F portion of your bar exam. Although this profession gets a bad rap sometimes, it's built on ethics. Ethics mean you follow the rules, even if there's a 99% chance you could get away with it. Good luck as you continue your studies.

[ArchRoark]

Include them... or you risk going through three years of law school and then being unable to pass the C&F portion of the bar, if you even make it that far.

Write an addendum if you feel you have a strong reason that the grades were not indicative of your true potential. Yes they will be averaged. Yes you need to report them.

Study long and hard for the LSAT... knock it out of the park and do the best with the given circumstances. Good luck with everything.

[rundoxierun]

Hello I have a question concerning my transcript. I recently transferred to a large public institution from a smaller university that I had a free ride in. I cannot begin to explain the problems I had adjusting. Suffice it to say i did terrible and received academic dismissal. I had elected to return by taking numerous summer courses but things haven't panned out as my mother who was helping pay for school lost her job. I now have the option of returning to my old school and plan on applying to law school upon graduation. The first application I looked at asked for information regarding academic dismissal. I'm very concerned as to whether I should include my disastrous year as it is my assumption that the my gpa from both institutions will be averaged? I currently have a 3.4 gpa at my old school, I'am an URM(AA) and tested 172 for my practice tests however if included those grades would destroy me. . Am looking for any insight on what I should do or anyone who has been in this situation.

Thanks in advance

I have the opposite problem.. transferred from a small institution(~2500), where i had about a 2.7 freshman year and hated my life, to a larger institution(~20000), where I have four consecutive 4.0+ semesters. Luckily my bad year was freshman year so its kind of discounted anyway but when it comes to your LSDAS report all grades are counted. I've been told to leave it alone unless you have specific, extreme circumstances that led to poor performance(I dont think problems adjusting is enough).

[pkpop]

Well you're right about the grades. The LSAC, which takes care of all law school application business, will take into account both of your UG transcripts. There's no way to get around the fact that you had a terrible year, and the only way you may be able to help yourself when it comes to applying to law school is by writing an addendum explaining why you had a poor time adjusting to a new school.

Assuming you have at LEAST 1 more year of UG, and that an academic dismissal means your GPA was <2.0, I'm going to say you're probably (hopefully) in the 2.5 range. With a solid year in finishing up you might be able to pull back closer to 2.6 - 2.9...depending on how much time you have left - a 3.0. This is all speculation and you know your own realistic limits. Plan accordingly.

Addendum and high LSAT (167+) could potentially put you in a T25 range. Focus on increasing that GPA as much as you can, put yourself in the best position to apply with a solid application, and do well on the LSAT. Not all hope is lost.

HTH.

[a.kane]

When I said problems adjusting I wasn't really being specific but it was largely family problems attributed to the fact that my dad a prof at my old school didnt like my mom paying for my new school...it got really stressful. So then with these grades averaged in am I to assume I can pretty much kiss law school or a good law school goodbye? I was aiming for the Fordham range

[rundoxierun]

When I said problems adjusting I wasn't really being specific but it was largely family problems attributed to the fact that my dad a prof at my old school didnt like my mom paying for my new school...it got really stressful. So then with these grades averaged in am I to assume I can pretty much kiss law school or a good law school goodbye? I was aiming for the Fordham range

WTF?!?!?! dude... stop whining, take the grades.. problems adjusting means something like: you were poor and the first kid in your family to go to college so it was stressful for you to be around a bunch of ppl yelling at their parents about not having 2000 dollars in their bank account while you were struggling to pay for books or that you came from a low performing school and it was initially intimidating for you to speak openly to professors.

[a.kane]

I just did the calculation using the lawpad calculator currently my gpa is now 2.34 that terrible. I used the law school predicator and it doesnt really look as bad but I highly doubt its accurate. According to the Lawschoolpredictor with a 2.85 gpa and a 172 gpa coupled with URM status I would be a "strong consider" at Fordham...I cant believe that to be accurate

[ArchRoark]

I just did the calculation using the lawpad calculator currently my gpa is now 2.34 that terrible. I used the law school predicator and it doesnt really look as bad but I highly doubt its accurate. According to the Lawschoolpredictor with a 2.85 gpa and a 172 gpa coupled with URM status I would be a "strong consider" at Fordham...I cant believe that to be accurate

URM get a significant boost and AA URM tend to be the most predictable. I have less then a 2.85 but a higher LSAT and I am shooting for T20 with my dream school being UT.

It is what it is... Quit agonizing over the past and work to do the best with the given circumstances. /my advice

[berkeleykel06]

I just did the calculation using the lawpad calculator currently my gpa is now 2.34 that terrible. I used the law school predicator and it doesnt really look as bad but I highly doubt its accurate. According to the Lawschoolpredictor with a 2.85 gpa and a 172 gpa coupled with URM status I would be a "strong consider" at Fordham...I cant believe that to be accurate

If you are serious about wanting to go to a top law school, it can still happen for you. Are you familiar with LSN (lawschoolnumbers.com)? There are only a couple of data points there in your range, but the URM's with a 170+ LSAT and a GPA in the 2.8 range were able to get into several T30 schools and even some T14 schools as well. If you can pull off a 2.85 and a 172 and submit your (polished) applications early, you should be able to get into several schools you wuld be happy attending.

[a.kane]

First of all Tiva and Berkeley let me say thank for the advice

@Tiva good luck with you apps I'd like to know how that turns out for you.

I have two more questions:
1. Will the schools that I apply to have my transcripts separately so that maybe then can see how I preformed at the different schools?
2. Secondly my Father is an alum of NYU undergrad and grad school. Would the legacy factor albeit not from the Law school coupled with an ED app improve my chances at NYU or is it out of the question?

[berkeleykel06]

First of all Tiva and Berkeley let me say thank for the advice

@Tiva good luck with you apps I'd like to know how that turns out for you.

I have two more questions:
1. Will the schools that I apply to have my transcripts separately so that maybe then can see how I preformed at the different schools?
2. Secondly my Father is an alum of NYU undergrad and grad school. Would the legacy factor albeit not from the Law school coupled with an ED app improve my chances at NYU or is it out of the question?

LSAC will send each school an academic summary report that breaks down your GPA by each year and college, so they wll be able to see the difference in your performance between schools. I don't know much about the legacy issue, but my guess would be that it wouldn't be a factor.

[03121202698008]

I just did the calculation using the lawpad calculator currently my gpa is now 2.34 that terrible. I used the law school predicator and it doesnt really look as bad but I highly doubt its accurate. According to the Lawschoolpredictor with a 2.85 gpa and a 172 gpa coupled with URM status I would be a "strong consider" at Fordham...I cant believe that to be accurate

Just take an extra year or two of undergrad clases. As long as you don't graduate with a BA, it will all count for LS admissions.

[WestOfTheRest]

I just did the calculation using the lawpad calculator currently my gpa is now 2.34 that terrible. I used the law school predicator and it doesnt really look as bad but I highly doubt its accurate. According to the Lawschoolpredictor with a 2.85 gpa and a 172 gpa coupled with URM status I would be a "strong consider" at Fordham...I cant believe that to be accurate

Just take an extra year or two of undergrad clases. As long as you don't graduate with a BA, it will all count for LS admissions.

This is the best advice I've seen. With a 170+ and a 3.0+ you will be in at a T14. Stop bitching and start working.