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Resolved.

brndnjng wrote:Ok here is my situation. Beginning college I received 24 credits from my AP courses. I have 110 credits total now so I'm set on graduating a year early, but I only have 87 completed courses with letter grades. After this current semester and 12 credits of classes during summer school I will have enough credits to earn my degree.I already applied to some 2nd to 4th tier schools (did not apply to top law schools) and have median gpas for them but high LSAT scores.

I was wondering if Law schools will understand that I have 110 credits (not 87) and interpret my application that I will be graduating. Or will they just disregard my application because 24 of my credits are AP credits and seeing that I'm only my fourth year? I'm really worried about this.

Surely you won't be the first LS applicant in this situation.... I would think adcomms would be aware....

Edit: Why not wait a year anyway and apply to T1 schools??? Especially if you have a high enough LSAT? That +WE should get you into some better schools...

1) define "high LSAT" as that could mean anything above 155 to some people.

2) They don't care. You won't be the first. Or even in the first hundred applicants like this they have seen. They will see that you are getting a BA, and have AP credits. Then they will look at your GPA.

3) GPA + LSAT + non-crappy PS + no felonies you can't make into an awesome PS in the last 5 years = the only things 90% of law schools care about.

4) If you have a moderately good GPA and a "high" LSAT, why the hell didn't you apply to T1 schools? I mean, T14 is probably out of your range, but T30 might not be, depending on the answer to number 1.

By high I mean high for the schools I am applying to. So it won't be a big deal I'm graduating early and only have 90 credits of actual grades? The actual GPA is what matter most?

I'm personally graduating a year early this year... they will understand. Maybe mention it in your PS if you are unsure about it. It could be a good selling point. I came in with 19 hours from high school, have a very high LSDAS GPA and a somewhat low LSAT (161) because I take a heavy course load to get the extra hours to graduate early, and I got into some pretty good T2 schools with good scholarships, Ohio State, and wait-listed at three top 30s. Admissions committees are used to it and will understand.

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brndnjng wrote:By high I mean high for the schools I am applying to. So it won't be a big deal I'm graduating early and only have 90 credits of actual grades? The actual GPA is what matter most?

I see from your incrediblly low post count that you aren't actually aware of the realities of law school admissions. So I'll say it again, only even more concisely:

GPA + LSAT + confirmed recipient of a bachelors degree are pretty much the only things that 90+% of law schools care about. Seriously. They don't care about anything else, really.

I didn't believe this at first. I do now. I have seen it play out in my admissions cycle, and in countless others. While a shitty PS or felonies or actually good softs do make differences... most of the time the only thing that matters is your #s.


Also, dude/dudette, you are on an internet forum where no one knows your name. Literally thousands upon thousands of people apply to LS every year. If you tell us your numbers... we still won't have any idea who you are. Nor will your schools provided you delete those numbers tomorrow evening and you ask us not to quote.

On that note, if you actually gave them to us, we could reliably determine if you need to apply to T20-50 schools next year instead of going this year.


PS: also, did you get scholly money? since you are new, I'll provide you with the wisdom distilled from nearly a year on this forum: go to the best school you can for the least amount of debt you will graduate with.

brndnjng wrote:did you mention it in your application? My only concern is that I marked 8/2011 in my applications as the graduation date because I'll be taking a couple courses during the summer. I will still receive my degree though before starting school but several of these begin in at the end of august. Will setting this 8/2011 graduation date affect their perspective of my application?

Most schools require proof of a BA/BS/BFA/BEd/etc. by July. You may not be allowed to matriculate... Call schools and ask.

Yeah. I mentioned it briefly in my PS. You could do that or add an addendum to your app easily. Or if still concerned call and ask them about it. I assume it's fairly common. I'm graduating in May, but it seems as long as you have your degree before school starts in the fall you will be fine.

brndnjng wrote:did you mention it in your application? My only concern is that I marked 8/2011 in my applications as the graduation date because I'll be taking a couple courses during the summer. I will still receive my degree though before starting school but several of these begin in at the end of august. Will setting this 8/2011 graduation date affect their perspective of my application?

legallyb wrote:Yeah. I mentioned it briefly in my PS. You could do that or add an addendum to your app easily. Or if still concerned call and ask them about it. I assume it's fairly common. I'm graduating in May, but it seems as long as you have your degree before school starts in the fall you will be fine.

All my acceptances (20 or so) stated I needed to send them an official transcript noting when I received my BA by July 1st (or right around there). You might be able to get them to make an exception... but IMO you'll need to call them and check and make sure.

Resolved.

brndnjng wrote:Oh really? That makes me worry. Do they ever grant those kind of exceptions? I see that my degree must be received prior to "matriculation" does that generally mean prior to school starting and prior to registration?

You really need to call them.

My pessimistic viewpoint is that provided you are willing to hand them all the loan money you receive they will be happy to make a special exemption for you. On the other hand, this might be something they have to show the accrediting body or something before classes start. So, seriously, call them tomorrow.

Also, did you apply kind of late? Because I notice you aren't mentioning acceptances yet. If so, seriously consider waiting a year. Some work experience, a chance to up your GPA and LSAT before the application, and an early application could make a world of difference. Often if you apply after January all their scholarship money is already spoken for, and they can't offer more. And a good scholarship can make a world of difference for literally how the rest of your life goes. Debt sucks.

How is your GPA ?

I graduate a year early and applied to law school, I just attached an addendum explaining the situation and I called all the schools to confirm. The vast vast majority were all fine with it. Only Northeastern was like no.

If money's not important, just go back to school an extra year. Pad that GPA as much as possible.

zozin wrote:If money's not important, just go back to school an extra year. Pad that GPA as much as possible.

Didn't read through the whole thread, but this is a sound advice. Do something interesting like study abroad, take random classes, and socialize.

zozin wrote:If money's not important, just go back to school an extra year. Pad that GPA as much as possible.

Not going to matter if he already has his first degree.

I graduated a semester early from school, and I doubt it really helped or hurt me very much. But, did save me about 5k in loans. Although 5k seems like nothing in terms of law school loans, its still nice to save 5k. If you can save money and help make law school more affordable, it's probably a good idea. Just don't expect a huge bump or ding in terms of admission process.

RPK34 wrote:

zozin wrote:If money's not important, just go back to school an extra year. Pad that GPA as much as possible.

Not going to matter if he already has his first degree.

I graduated a semester early from school, and I doubt it really helped or hurt me very much. But, did save me about 5k in loans. Although 5k seems like nothing in terms of law school loans, its still nice to save 5k. If you can save money and help make law school more affordable, it's probably a good idea. Just don't expect a huge bump or ding in terms of admission process.

IF you had bothered to read the OP you would see that OP hasn't graduated yet. And GPA is on the low end.

I graduated early with a 3.05 and I definitely think that if I could have afforded it, it would have been beneficial for me to take softball classes for an extra semester and raise it. I was waitlisted at several places that accepted students with the same lsat and a gpa about .2 higher than mine.

tea_drinker wrote:

zozin wrote:If money's not important, just go back to school an extra year. Pad that GPA as much as possible.

Didn't read through the whole thread, but this is a sound advice. Do something interesting like study abroad, take random classes, and socialize.

Sorry for the double post, but my study abroad year didn't count in my LSAC gpa because my undergrad didn't count it. (Even though other UG's count it into GPA and then LSAC counts it too.) So I'd be very careful determining that before going abroad to try and raise your GPA.