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Hawkeye Pierce

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Post by Hawkeye Pierce » Sun Jan 16, 2011 2:05 am

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Last edited by Hawkeye Pierce on Wed Dec 14, 2011 4:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Helmholtz

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Re: Pass/Fail Course, UG

Post by Helmholtz » Sun Jan 16, 2011 2:08 am

Shawh wrote:Hey, I made a poor decision and selected a really uninteresting 400 level political science course. I feel like I won't be able to get myself motivated enough to get a 3.9-4.0 in the course, and was wondering if I should change it to pass/fail. I still have 5 weeks to decide.

My GPA right now is 3.89, and I am almost a senior. This would be my only pass/fail. Do y'all recommend it?

Some friends told me that if you change a course to pass/fail (my school sets it as Satisfactory/Not Satisfactory), then law schools will count it as the lowest grade possible (2.0 to pass, e.g.). But, a quick search on the forums leads me to believe this is wrong.
They are wrong. I would change to P/F if I were you.

TheTallOne0602

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Re: Pass/Fail Course, UG

Post by TheTallOne0602 » Sun Jan 16, 2011 2:22 am

Shawh wrote:Hey, I made a poor decision and selected a really uninteresting 400 level political science course. I feel like I won't be able to get myself motivated enough to get a 3.9-4.0 in the course, and was wondering if I should change it to pass/fail. I still have 5 weeks to decide.

My GPA right now is 3.89, and I am almost a senior. This would be my only pass/fail. Do y'all recommend it?

Some friends told me that if you change a course to pass/fail (my school sets it as Satisfactory/Not Satisfactory), then law schools will count it as the lowest grade possible (2.0 to pass, e.g.). But, a quick search on the forums leads me to believe this is wrong.
This is a strange, prevailing rumor that is not true anywhere. Med schools don't look at it like this, law schools don't look at it like this; as far as I know, nobody looks at it like this.

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dextermorgan

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Re: Pass/Fail Course, UG

Post by dextermorgan » Sun Jan 16, 2011 2:24 am

As someone who has a P/F class on their transcript, I assure you that it has no effect on your LSDAS GPA (unless you fail).

hijodehombre

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Re: Pass/Fail Course, UG

Post by hijodehombre » Sun Jan 16, 2011 2:25 am

Shawh wrote: Some friends told me that if you change a course to pass/fail (my school sets it as Satisfactory/Not Satisfactory), then law schools will count it as the lowest grade possible (2.0 to pass, e.g.).
Take the class pass/fail then find new friends.

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Hawkeye Pierce

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Re: Pass/Fail Course, UG

Post by Hawkeye Pierce » Sun Jan 16, 2011 2:26 am

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Last edited by Hawkeye Pierce on Wed Dec 14, 2011 4:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

etown989

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Re: Pass/Fail Course, UG

Post by etown989 » Sun Jan 16, 2011 3:18 am

Shawh wrote:Hahaha, okay. Thanks for the input. Just wanted to make sure that one P/F course wouldn't affect my chances at the t14 schools.
early prediction of.... GUNNER

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T6Hopeful

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Re: Pass/Fail Course, UG

Post by T6Hopeful » Sun Jan 16, 2011 3:23 am

hijodehombre wrote:
Shawh wrote: Some friends told me that if you change a course to pass/fail (my school sets it as Satisfactory/Not Satisfactory), then law schools will count it as the lowest grade possible (2.0 to pass, e.g.).
Take the class pass/fail then find new friends.
This. Although at my school the teacher still usually gives you your final grade informally, so you'll kick yourself if you got an A :roll: I took a really cool one-credit special topics course though and took it pass/no credit just so I wouldn't have to worry about the A. Definitely took the stress off of having to do "well" when I clearly was taking it for fun/to learn.

I don't know if you actually mean pass/fail as in a D or an F is still a failing grade, but at my school it's Pass/No Credit. A no credit (D or below) might look suspicious, but it's not punitive in any way. Just interested on my end to see how other schools work - found out today that one of my friends at another college in my state has to take a physical education class to graduate, whereas I don't.

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OnlyLivingBoyinNY

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Re: Pass/Fail Course, UG

Post by OnlyLivingBoyinNY » Sun Jan 16, 2011 6:15 pm

Shawh wrote:Hey, I made a poor decision and selected a really uninteresting 400 level political science course. I feel like I won't be able to get myself motivated enough to get a 3.9-4.0 in the course, and was wondering if I should change it to pass/fail. I still have 5 weeks to decide.

My GPA right now is 3.89, and I am almost a senior. This would be my only pass/fail. Do y'all recommend it?

Some friends told me that if you change a course to pass/fail (my school sets it as Satisfactory/Not Satisfactory), then law schools will count it as the lowest grade possible (2.0 to pass, e.g.). But, a quick search on the forums leads me to believe this is wrong.
No, I don't recommend it. That is just being lazy for the sake of being lazy. Why don't you just do the work and get an A? Poli Sci is not something you will have to put that many study hours into.

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foxtrottortxof

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Re: Pass/Fail Course, UG

Post by foxtrottortxof » Sun Jan 16, 2011 6:21 pm

I took almost the maximum number of courses pass/fail that I could take and still graduate. I did it for any course I wasn't confident I could get an A in. Made it into T6 minus Yale.

HowdyYall

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Re: Pass/Fail Course, UG

Post by HowdyYall » Sun Jan 16, 2011 6:36 pm

have taken 4 courses pass/fail and my entire junior year (which I studied abroad) only counted pass/fail. Made it into two of the T6 so far and I am below most of their medians

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Sentry

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Re: Pass/Fail Course, UG

Post by Sentry » Sun Jan 16, 2011 7:26 pm

I had a few P/F's and a few W's and made it into a T6.

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arism87

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Re: Pass/Fail Course, UG

Post by arism87 » Sun Jan 16, 2011 7:30 pm

OnlyLivingBoyinNY wrote:
Shawh wrote:Hey, I made a poor decision and selected a really uninteresting 400 level political science course. I feel like I won't be able to get myself motivated enough to get a 3.9-4.0 in the course, and was wondering if I should change it to pass/fail. I still have 5 weeks to decide.

My GPA right now is 3.89, and I am almost a senior. This would be my only pass/fail. Do y'all recommend it?

Some friends told me that if you change a course to pass/fail (my school sets it as Satisfactory/Not Satisfactory), then law schools will count it as the lowest grade possible (2.0 to pass, e.g.). But, a quick search on the forums leads me to believe this is wrong.
No, I don't recommend it. That is just being lazy for the sake of being lazy. Why don't you just do the work and get an A? Poli Sci is not something you will have to put that many study hours into.
I'm all for laziness when it won't hurt you. Plus I studied a lot for my poli sci classes.. in retrospect I wish I'd dropped that major and kept the other 2.. GPA would be considerably higher. Silly law school.

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Helmholtz

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Re: Pass/Fail Course, UG

Post by Helmholtz » Sun Jan 16, 2011 7:52 pm

arism87 wrote:
OnlyLivingBoyinNY wrote:
Shawh wrote:Hey, I made a poor decision and selected a really uninteresting 400 level political science course. I feel like I won't be able to get myself motivated enough to get a 3.9-4.0 in the course, and was wondering if I should change it to pass/fail. I still have 5 weeks to decide.

My GPA right now is 3.89, and I am almost a senior. This would be my only pass/fail. Do y'all recommend it?

Some friends told me that if you change a course to pass/fail (my school sets it as Satisfactory/Not Satisfactory), then law schools will count it as the lowest grade possible (2.0 to pass, e.g.). But, a quick search on the forums leads me to believe this is wrong.
No, I don't recommend it. That is just being lazy for the sake of being lazy. Why don't you just do the work and get an A? Poli Sci is not something you will have to put that many study hours into.
I'm all for laziness when it won't hurt you.
Especially before law school. It might be a long, long time before you can genuinely be lazy again without having it seriously bite you in the ass.

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swfangirl

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Re: Pass/Fail Course, UG

Post by swfangirl » Sun Jan 16, 2011 8:18 pm

Sentry wrote:I had a few P/F's and a few W's and made it into a T6.

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Hawkeye Pierce

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Re: Pass/Fail Course, UG

Post by Hawkeye Pierce » Mon Jan 17, 2011 8:58 pm

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Last edited by Hawkeye Pierce on Wed Dec 14, 2011 4:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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OnlyLivingBoyinNY

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Re: Pass/Fail Course, UG

Post by OnlyLivingBoyinNY » Fri Jan 28, 2011 1:52 pm

Shawh wrote:
arism87 wrote: I'm all for laziness when it won't hurt you. Plus I studied a lot for my poli sci classes.. in retrospect I wish I'd dropped that major and kept the other 2.. GPA would be considerably higher. Silly law school.
This is what I'm thinking. I've put a decent amount of effort into the rest of my courses as an undergrad, as my GPA reflects. So, slacking off on one class that I just don't find interesting doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me.

Just wanted to get it confirmed--and it looks like it has been overwhelmingly! Thanks!

I just looked at this for the first time since I wrote that, and I think I came across as a little pompous. So, I'd like to apologize, and I think you are making a good decision.

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prezidentv8

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Re: Pass/Fail Course, UG

Post by prezidentv8 » Fri Jan 28, 2011 1:54 pm

T6Hopeful wrote:Definitely took the stress off of having to do "well" when I clearly was taking it for fun/to learn.
I always hated how those things don't normally seem to line up quite so perfectly.

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clintonius

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Re: Pass/Fail Course, UG

Post by clintonius » Fri Jan 28, 2011 1:59 pm

T6Hopeful wrote:
hijodehombre wrote:
Shawh wrote: Some friends told me that if you change a course to pass/fail (my school sets it as Satisfactory/Not Satisfactory), then law schools will count it as the lowest grade possible (2.0 to pass, e.g.).
Take the class pass/fail then find new friends.
This. Although at my school the teacher still usually gives you your final grade informally, so you'll kick yourself if you got an A :roll: I took a really cool one-credit special topics course though and took it pass/no credit just so I wouldn't have to worry about the A. Definitely took the stress off of having to do "well" when I clearly was taking it for fun/to learn.

I don't know if you actually mean pass/fail as in a D or an F is still a failing grade, but at my school it's Pass/No Credit. A no credit (D or below) might look suspicious, but it's not punitive in any way. Just interested on my end to see how other schools work - found out today that one of my friends at another college in my state has to take a physical education class to graduate, whereas I don't.
Just to clarify, I'm pretty sure the bolded is incorrect and that a no credit will have the same effect as an F on your LSAC transcript.

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glitched

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Re: Pass/Fail Course, UG

Post by glitched » Fri Jan 28, 2011 3:38 pm

swfangirl wrote:
Sentry wrote:I had a few P/F's and a few W's and made it into a T6.
+1. I had an entire summer session be p/f. And the previous semester before that I think 25+% of my units were p/f. But I was going through some personal stuff and wrote an addendum (but I don't think I needed it).

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