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I graduated from high school in 2008 and went to UT Austin my freshman year. My first semester of classes, consisting of biology, calculus, chemistry and economics coupled with being away from my girlfriend of three years for the first time left me with a whopping 2.56 GPA. UT would only let me claim 12 hours from my high school coursework, which is low. All of these things led me to transferfor my sophomore year where I was able to claim 42 hours of credit at my new school. This, in addition to the cheaper tuition, was reason enough to transfer. Transferring allowed me to graduate in only three years total while maintaining a GPA of 3.5 at my new school (3.32 overall). I am now a 20 year old with a psychology degree. Yay.

I have determined that it would only take me 36 hours to earn a degree in Government from UT. Going back and doing this, while cultivating healthy relationships with professors for LORs and trying to find some internships could be good or bad. It could be helpful because the new grades would show up on my transcripts, proving to adcoms that I was/am capable of attaining good grades at UT and that I just had a bad experience. On the other hand, it could be bad because law schools/employers might think that I am delaying having to enter the "real world" by pursuing more undergraduate schooling, even if it is just one year. It could also be bad because I'd be getting two liberal arts degrees. I would only be 21 (or 22 at the oldest) upon re-graduating with the second degree and have a total of 4 years in school (plus maybe one semester), which seems about normal.

I can see how this won't necessarily help me too much, but I am just wondering if it could possibly hurt me. Part of me thinks that this is ridiculous to consider, but another part thinks that it wouldn't be so bad. Thanks for the help.

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schooner wrote:
I say good idea if your 2nd degree can bring up your GPA and you have the dough. (Confirm with LSAC.)

Unfortunately, his LSAC GPA (the one that law schools actually care about) was set once his first bachelor's degree was awarded

Bildungsroman wrote:

schooner wrote:
I say good idea if your 2nd degree can bring up your GPA and you have the dough. (Confirm with LSAC.)

Unfortunately, his LSAC GPA (the one that law schools actually care about) was set once his first bachelor's degree was awarded

You sure that the 2nd bachelor's doesn't count into the LSAC GPA?

OP, I don't see any harm in getting a solid GPA from UT to counterbalance your freshman performance there.

glewz wrote:

Bildungsroman wrote:

schooner wrote:
I say good idea if your 2nd degree can bring up your GPA and you have the dough. (Confirm with LSAC.)

Unfortunately, his LSAC GPA (the one that law schools actually care about) was set once his first bachelor's degree was awarded

You sure that the 2nd bachelor's doesn't count into the LSAC GPA?

100% certain. Any classes taken after being awarded the 1st bachelors will still be summarized by LSAc but will not factor into their GPA assigned.

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Bildungsroman wrote:

glewz wrote:

Bildungsroman wrote:

schooner wrote:
I say good idea if your 2nd degree can bring up your GPA and you have the dough. (Confirm with LSAC.)

Unfortunately, his LSAC GPA (the one that law schools actually care about) was set once his first bachelor's degree was awarded

You sure that the 2nd bachelor's doesn't count into the LSAC GPA?

100% certain. Any classes taken after being awarded the 1st bachelors will still be summarized by LSAc but will not factor into their GPA assigned.

Crazy business

schooner wrote:In a nutshell, you have an undergrad degree in psychology and want to go back to your school to get another undergrad degree in government. Question: good or bad for law school admissions?

I say good idea if your 2nd degree can bring up your GPA and you have the dough. (Confirm with LSAC.) Sure, people (including adcoms) will question your judgment in returning to undergrad to spend $$ on a 2nd liberal arts undergrad degree, but probably not enough to negate the boost of a higher GPA and all the other things you want to do when you're back. 22 years old is still very young to adcoms.

Is being young to adcoms a negative thing? I'll only be 21 when I graduate (double major) because I came into undergrad with a ton of credits, but I'd rather not take a year off from school if it's not going to be a big deal.

http://www.lsac.org/policies/transcript ... zation.asp states "Grades Excluded From Conversion: Those awarded after the first undergraduate degree was received."

My GPA is set at 3.32, which is fine. It would be simply be to counterbalance the original GPA, proving that the original low GPA was a one-time thing and to give me a degree in something I'd probably be happier with if law school didn't work out.

Thanks for the help so far!

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Bildungsroman wrote:

schooner wrote:
I say good idea if your 2nd degree can bring up your GPA and you have the dough. (Confirm with LSAC.)

Unfortunately, his LSAC GPA (the one that law schools actually care about) was set once his first bachelor's degree was awarded

TCR. There's nothing you can do to raise it now.