2 Pass/Fails in One Quarter = Bad? Forum

[Hawkeye Pierce]

I have a REALLY hectic quarter. I will be taking the LSATs this June (the 6th), and I will be at a conference in New York, missing a week of classes. Moreover, the classes I signed up for -- unfortunately -- seem like a lot more work than I expected.

Of course I will try my hardest to accommodate all these things, but because my GPA is already very high (3.88), I feel like I should be dedicating this time more towards LSAT studying.

I have no pass/fails thus far, and I know that one or two doesn't affect your chances in gaining admissions. I do, however, want to know whether 2 in one quarter would look bad. Obviously, I wouldn't be leaning on this as a crutch, but I would just like to know whether I have this available in my back pocket. I would, presumably, pass/fail any class in which I felt I could not receive at least an A- (i.e., 3.67 LSAC GPA translation).

For the record, I am taking three courses (15 credits) this quarter, i.e., the standard.

Many thanks.

[sundance95]

Don't fail them and you'll be cool. Are you sure your university will let you do this?

[Hawkeye Pierce]

I am quite certain that my university will allow this. I will investigate further, however.

Yup, I think failing them would actually take effort on my part. I need only a 2.0 to receive credit.

[sundance95]

Interesting. At GW I was only allowed to take one P/F per semester, and it had to be out of my major. And I think you could only have two total? Can't remember but make sure you know for sure.

[Hawkeye Pierce]

All I can find is the following: "A student may count a maximum of 25 UW credits earned on the S/NS grading option toward the 180 credits required for an undergraduate degree."

There doesn't appear to be any literature I can do more than one in a quarter.

Perhaps I should speak to an adviser.

But if it is possible, you are certain that 2 in one quarter would not look bad? I just want to be able to dedicate more time to the LSAT and I'm not willing to take a grade under an A-.

[sundance95]

I'm of the mind that if it doesn't hurt your LSAC GPA, then it doesn't hurt. Better than a drop in GPA that's for sure.

[99.9luft]

2 Pass/Fails in One Quarter = Bad?

Not at all.

[chihuahua12]

Interesting. At GW I was only allowed to take one P/F per semester, and it had to be out of my major. And I think you could only have two total? Can't remember but make sure you know for sure.

I go to GW and I was wondering about this. LOL thanks for answering my question.

[Hawkeye Pierce]

I just got an email back from my major adviser and she said that I can pass/fail as many courses as I woul like in one quarter.

Im still a little surprised that law schools wouldn't care! My gut feeling would just impel me to believe that two in one quarter might look slightly bizarre.

[sundance95]

Interesting. At GW I was only allowed to take one P/F per semester, and it had to be out of my major. And I think you could only have two total? Can't remember but make sure you know for sure.

I go to GW and I was wondering about this. LOL thanks for answering my question.

Definitely double check that. This was a few years ago, so the rules might have changed or my memory might be wrong.

[Tdawg7669]

Isnt an A- converted to 3.7 not 3.67 by LSAC?

[Hawkeye Pierce]

Isnt an A- converted to 3.7 not 3.67 by LSAC?

Nope, A- is a 3.67.

You can go here to see what the entire LSDAS GPA recalculations are (and calculate what your GPA will be):

http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com/wp-co ... ulator.htm

[SehMeSerrious]

Shoot, I wish I had seen this earlier. I'm in the same position (busy schedule with major and work) and two of my nonmajor GEs turned out to be a ridiculous amount of time-consuming work, and I've been prepping to do an independent study and research paper for my major that I'll turn in next quarter.

I'm looking at a heart-breaking B+, possibly a B, and I have a GPA (3.83) that would be hurt by anything less than an A right now.

I'm going to check and see if I can petition to change these courses to a P/NP. I was incorrectly advised by my counselor midway through the quarter to not do a P/NP; she claimed that law schools look at Ps as an assumed C. Horrible.

If I can, does anyone have any advice on if this will hurt me? I know that in this class, an A is out already; the max I can get is an A-, which would still will bring down my GPA since it's pretty high. And a B+/B is more likely since I probably won't get 100% on everything else.

Can someone confirm that a P is better than a B+ or B that brings down my 3.8+ GPA to a 3.79- GPA? I just want that psychological comfort and confidence in my decision for when I go and try to appeal for a late P/NP change on the grounds that I was incorrectly advised to not take it and that a P/NP will not be worse than a B or even a B+, and that it's not looked at as a C by law schools.

[20130312]

Shoot, I wish I had seen this earlier. I'm in the same position (busy schedule with major and work) and two of my nonmajor GEs turned out to be a ridiculous amount of time-consuming work, and I've been prepping to do an independent study and research paper for my major that I'll turn in next quarter.

I'm looking at a heart-breaking B+, possibly a B, and I have a GPA (3.83) that would be hurt by anything less than an A right now.

I'm going to check and see if I can petition to change these courses to a P/NP. I was incorrectly advised by my counselor midway through the quarter to not do a P/NP; she claimed that law schools look at Ps as an assumed C. Horrible.

If I can, does anyone have any advice on if this will hurt me? I know that in this class, an A is out already; the max I can get is an A-, which would still will bring down my GPA since it's pretty high. And a B+/B is more likely since I probably won't get 100% on everything else.

Can someone confirm that a P is better than a B+ or B that brings down my 3.8+ GPA to a 3.79- GPA? I just want that psychological comfort and confidence in my decision for when I go and try to appeal for a late P/NP change on the grounds that I was incorrectly advised to not take it and that a P/NP will not be worse than a B or even a B+, and that it's not looked at as a C by law schools.

I have a few classes that were P/F on my transcript. They weren't taken into account at all when calculating my LSDAS GPA. I passed all of them. I'm guessing if you fail, it would hurt, but otherwise it won't do anything.

[thederangedwang]

p/f dont count towards lsac gpa..but use them sparingly..all the adcomms that visited my school said the same thing, one or two scattered throughout 4 yrs is fine, but more than that, it will impact ur admissions decision.

[SehMeSerrious]

Crap, so it does sort of matter... I'm shooting for T14; do they look down on senior year Ps? The only other thing like that on my transcript is a Withdraw Passing for a class I just didn't have time for in my sophomore year. Will a P be worse than a GPA-dropping B this quarter?

[89vision]

That's awesome that you can P/F multiple classes in a semester. My school limits it to one a semester.

[20130312]

Crap, so it does sort of matter... I'm shooting for T14; do they look down on senior year Ps? The only other thing like that on my transcript is a Withdraw Passing for a class I just didn't have time for in my sophomore year. Will a P be worse than a GPA-dropping B this quarter?

Pretty sure I just answered this above, but to reiterate: A pass will have no effect on your LSDAS GPA. So yes, it is better than a B.

[SehMeSerrious]

I'm riding the fence between an A and a B so hard in this class that it's painful. But I think I'll get the paperwork ready just in case. The TA told me that people have done it right up to the date of the finals but that he thought I still have a solid chance at an A and not an A-. I might get it ready to sign and decide at the last minute.

[bp shinners]

I had multiple P/F classes within my major in one semester, and it didn't hurt me in the application process. So I wouldn't worry about it.

[SehMeSerrious]

I had multiple P/F classes within my major in one semester, and it didn't hurt me in the application process. So I wouldn't worry about it.

Not everyone got a 180

[SehMeSerrious]

Ok, I was able to change it to P/NP, but it turns out that since I did it late, it will be marked on my transcript as changing from a letter grade to a p/np in 10th week, right before finals. It's a nonmajor GE. Do you think that I should explain it in any future addendum or just not draw attention to it?

[clarified_butter]

Why do people stress over P/F's? They are no big deal. They only become a problem if you have a ton of them...and if you actually fail them.