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Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 3:25 am
by sighsigh
Lol I don't think so.
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 3:30 am
by pbutta123
Youre serious?
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 3:31 am
by alexb
Really? You want to retake a class so you can increase your GPA .02? You know what, sure, go ahead, waste your time and money doing something marginally unethical for little gain.
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 3:32 am
by jeremysen
do it and please tell us how it goes..

lol
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 3:38 am
by artichoke
This makes no sense. The only way it would work is if the person reviewing your application didn't believe that anyone would be so dumb as to retake a 4.0 for a .02 grade boost.
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 3:41 am
by sighsigh
So the answer is...it would be looked at fairly negatively.
Ok thanks...I was just curious. (And btw, I absolutely believe a 0.02 increase makes a diff.).
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 3:45 am
by pbutta123
wait i see what happened here: OP is from canada. its okay everyone I got this.
OP, whatcha think 'boot. B'y this is a bad idea ya beaver!
(thats my best Canadanese)
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 3:46 am
by alexb
pbutta123 wrote:wait i see what happened here: OP is from canada. its okay everyone I got this.
OP, whatcha think 'boot. B'y this is a bad idea ya beaver!
(thats my best Canadanese)
No. Don't be racist.
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 3:47 am
by pbutta123
alexb wrote:pbutta123 wrote:wait i see what happened here: OP is from canada. its okay everyone I got this.
OP, whatcha think 'boot. B'y this is a bad idea ya beaver!
(thats my best Canadanese)
No. Don't be racist.
So Canada IS its own race. I knew it.
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 3:57 am
by alexb
pbutta123 wrote:alexb wrote:pbutta123 wrote:wait i see what happened here: OP is from canada. its okay everyone I got this.
OP, whatcha think 'boot. B'y this is a bad idea ya beaver!
(thats my best Canadanese)
No. Don't be racist.
So Canada IS its own race. I knew it.
Yeah, you're right it's technically not racism. Let me rephrase. Don't be a douche and stereotype an entire country's citizenry.
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 3:59 am
by sighsigh
He forget the 'eh,' but that is pretty much how we talk.
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 4:06 am
by pbutta123
alexb wrote:pbutta123 wrote:alexb wrote:pbutta123 wrote:wait i see what happened here: OP is from canada. its okay everyone I got this.
OP, whatcha think 'boot. B'y this is a bad idea ya beaver!
(thats my best Canadanese)
No. Don't be racist.
So Canada IS its own race. I knew it.
Yeah, you're right it's technically not racism. Let me rephrase. Don't be a douche and stereotype an entire country's citizenry.
You remind of the insecure white person in the room who becomes overly offended at the minority joke...
Thanks for the compliment OP. I looked up the beaver thing on the internet. Pretty funny.
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 11:01 am
by Keeper1125
I admire the creativity (if not the ethics), but how about you just bust your ass to get an A+ in a new course instead of looking for a small edge with a high-risk/low-reward proposition?
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 11:16 am
by minnbills
What happens if the OP doesn't get an A+?
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 11:23 am
by smittytron3k
law schools won't see your transcript, only the LSDAS report.
anyways, this is a dumb idea. not unethical, just dumb.
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 11:27 am
by Always Credited
This isn't gaming the system. This is the system gaming you.
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 11:30 am
by paulinaporizkova
Always Credited wrote:This isn't gaming the system. This is the system gaming you.
Credited, unsurprisingly.
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 11:31 am
by Moxie
sighsigh wrote:So the answer is...it would be looked at fairly negatively.
Ok thanks...I was just curious. (And btw, I absolutely believe a 0.02 increase makes a diff.).
Yea, this doesn't seem like a particularly good idea. Just take a different course and dominate it. Any GPA increase can make a difference, but I think the negative in retaking an A+ course would equal or outweigh it.
Best of luck

Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 11:33 am
by TheTopBloke
Always game the system. There is nothing unethical about the scenario you describe.
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 11:34 am
by TheTopBloke
Always Credited wrote:This isn't gaming the system. This is the system gaming you.
+1
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 2:30 pm
by neonx
Not gonna lie. Kind of a brilliant idea. 3.87 vs. 3.89 may push you over median for HY.
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 5:20 pm
by StickyIcky
Everyone here saying that this is either unethical or unproductive is dumb/jealous.
If you can get an easy .002 bump in your GPA, why not? That could be the tipping point in an admissions decision. While that's not likely, the impact of if it does happen is so dramatic that it makes this a no brainer. Considering you got an A+ in the original course, I'm guessing another A+ won't be hard at all, and even if you "only" get an A, that's still a boost from your current GPA.
Seriously, this is a good idea. Do it. The criteria by which law schools pick their applicants have all sorts of unethical attributes; don't feel bad because you took some class twice.
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 5:25 pm
by Veyron
sighsigh wrote:So apparently, if you retake a course both the original course mark and the retaken course mark are included in your LSDAS GPA.
Usually, my UG only allows students to retake courses if they have failed them or gotten a low mark (C's/D's). However, they also allow you to retake exactly 1.0 course no matter what your original mark is.
Should I retake a course I know I will get A+ in because I got A+ in it in my original attempt? This would raise my GPA since LSDAS would count both A+'s, not only one. The mark goes on my transcript with the words "extra" next to it. However, I'm worried about how LS admissions (I only care about HLS and CCN actually) would view this. It's obviously pretty unusual to retake a course that you aced, and I'm afraid they might realise I did it only for the purposes of LS admission.
Summary: is a 0.02 increase in your LSDAS GPA worth this negative stigma?
Thanks.
EDIT: I could always submit an addenum which lies bends the truth about why I took the course.
LSAC won't double count. Focus on your LSAT, with the amount of work that it takes to take a class you could at least add 1 point to your score. That matters more than a marginal GPA boost.
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 5:34 pm
by mst
dont you have like... some FUN class you could take and get an a? like acting or screenwriting or something? people are so eager to sell their lives away these days.
Re: Should I game the system?
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 5:47 pm
by 1234543523
smittytron3k wrote:law schools won't see your transcript, only the LSDAS report.
anyways, this is a dumb idea. not unethical, just dumb.
Um, they get a copy of the front of your transcript with the LSDAS report, champ.