Low first semester GPA? Forum

[wannabehippie]

Hi there,

A friend of mine is interested in applying to law school. He is a rising sophomore and has a 3.72 second semester GPA, and a 2.9 first semester GPA. He transferred after his first semester, thats why I list them separately.
Are these first semester grades going to kill him for a T14 school?

He says he's interested in Stanford, Berkeley, NYU as first choices.

Thanks.

[sknight323]

It completely depends on how his GPA ends up when he begins to apply to law school. A law school really isn't going to care that much about a low first semester GPA if he keeps a general upward trend and ends up with like a 3.8 or something. All they see is a 3.8. They couldn't care less about a low first semester G.P.A. if he has a good LSAT score and very high G.P.A. Additionally, if his GPA is not high enough to apply to the t-14 after his junior year, he can always wait until after his senior year, and of course, not file the intent to graduate form and take classes past the requirements to continue raising his G.P.A.

Basically, everything depends on where the G.P.A. ends up and you can't say for sure whether that will keep him out of the t-14. In and of itself, it does not.

Cal's median G.P.A. is 3.72. So if he is interested in that school, he's going to have to work hard to get his G.P.A. above that. It's definitely possible.

[MURPH]

His numbers are all that they will look at. Tell him to take the easy A classes or better yet the easy A plus classes. Spend his free time practicing the LSAT for 3 years and he should be fine - lower T14.

[Paraflam]

lol @ the "I'm asking for my friend" routine.

[FantasticMrFox]

lol @ the "I'm asking for my friend" routine.

[bp shinners]

lol @ the "I'm asking for my friend" routine.

MrFox's quote looks like a text bubble coming out of his avatar's mouth.

But, on topic, just concentrate on raising the GPA. A semester of bad grades won't kill you if you raise your overall GPA to a high enough level (and you can even address it slightly in an addendum where you(r friend) talk about the reasons for the transfer, as little help as that might be).

[Paraflam]

FWIW, I got a 3.0 first semester of freshman year, and every semester after that a 3.8-4.0. My cumulative after sophomore year is a 3.75. One shitty semester doesn't matter too much.
I'm curious though, why are you so interested in your friend's situation to the point of seeking out a forum pertaining to his future career path, creating an account and providing such detailed information about his interests and background? Is it simply a coincidence that you've started another thread asking if your numbers are good enough to get into one of the schools you list in this thread as ones that your "friend" is interested in?

[Corwin]

Common sense is the answer to this question. No, it will not, but hard work will be necessary. Depending on how your friend does over the next two years, he'll get anything between a 3.5 anda 3.75 at the end of his junior year. If he wants Berkley, he'll need to hit that 3.75 and get a 174+ on the LSAT. A combination of easy classes, summer school, and taking a lot of hours will help hit that GPA mark.