Is cumulative all that really matters? Forum

[ctxmike]

If an applicant takes an equal number of credits at a community college and a top university, having a 4.0 at the former and a 3.6 at the latter, would this not be considered a 3.8? Would adcoms really place more weight on the 3.6? The only reason I ask this is because a fairly well-informed member of another forum seemed to contest this in one of his/her posts, claiming that LSDAS reports the GPA from both institutions and that these would be taken heavily into account. I've always thought that the consensus was that law schools care little to nothing about institution's GPAs and everything about what one's cumulative GPA is. Any thoughts?

[Adjudicator]

Your calculated LSDAS GPA is what matters for the super-important rankings, and that would include grades from any school you attended before receiving your original Bachelors, but adcomms absolutely, definitely 100% notice any sort of downward trend in grades. They will have questions and they will want answers.

[Kilpatrick]

Yes, cumulative is all that matters. Other person in the other forum is dead wrong. Only trust TLS when it comes to law school advice

[ctxmike]

Your calculated LSDAS GPA is what matters for the super-important rankings, and that would include grades from any school you attended before receiving your original Bachelors, but adcomms absolutely, definitely 100% notice any sort of downward trend in grades. They will have questions and they will want answers.

To what extent, though? I can understand a 4.0 to a 3.0. But what about the example I cited?

[gens1tb]

I presume that since it's a numbers game... the easiest metric works. A higher cumulative GPA means you've done better overall. You're the "better" student. It's not the adcomms won't look at the specifics, they're there to be seen, but at face value the higher cumulative GPA is the higher GPA. Obviously improvement or some bad performance your first semester (or while dual enrolled) happens, and it's better than mediocre performance your entire college career. If it comes down to specific consideration of your application those things will matter, and an upward trend is preferable.

Also in your scenario the student did well at a community college (taking Freshmen/Sophomore level classes) then did worse at his university (taking Junior/Senior classes). That's not a good sign.

[StillHerexxx]

I would assume the CAS report has your transcripts in it, but if they compile your gpa in the CAS report, it has to be for a reason. I got a 3.6 my first semester freshman year and then transferred and graduated with a 3.91, but the resulting 3.85 is what I have now. You shouldn't feel too down on having a combined gpa of 3.8... its not bad at all and well over basically any schools 75th percentile. I sent out a new transcripts hoping to get a couple more.01 with my last semester grade, but thats because my LSAT isn't too hot. If that is not an issue for you, I wouldn't worry about it too much.