Incredible situation lowered my GPA, need advice Forum

[dsosah]

Hello, so I just discovered that a pretty stupid thing happen to me that screwed my whole GPA and for that matter I'm afraid that my whole application to law school. I transferred from a CC about a year and a half ago with a nice 3.85 GPA which I was now working to bump to a 3.9 or something. I was a honors student at my CC and I was on the Dean's List every semester etc. I have a year and a half left to graduate and I am getting pretty good grades.
Well, about two weeks ago I discovered that my GPA from the CC had dropped to a 3.72 get this, because of a "wellness" class ( meaning aerobics, something that was required for me to get my Associates) that I did not complete. I transferred before I could finish the class thinking they would just give me a WP. Well it turns out they gave me an "incomplete" which defaulted into an E grade after one year and now I'm stuck with this shitty grade in my transcript. I did not know that this would happen otherwise off course I would have finished the class. Now my only option is to retake (I cannot believe I am actually saying this) the stupid aerobics class, and I'm living now in another state.
But the thing is, even if I retake and they take it out of my transcript, the LSAT GPA will still calculate that grade into my overall GPA (or so it says in the LSAT website), and It will screw me no matter what.
Furthermore, if I don't retake it, will T14 schools see that awful "E" grade in my transcript and look down on my application because of it? Will this stupid class ruin my chances of getting into T14?. Please any thoughts welcome. Thank you

[bk1]

You're not screwed, assuming your LSAT is sufficient.

[emciosn]

I think schools mostly look at your GPA not your individual class grades. All they care about when it comes to admission numbers is the average. Your GPA isn't that bad if you get a high enough LSAT. It does hurt your chances at the top 6-7 I would say but if your LSAT isn't good enough for those schools in the first place it doesn't matter.

It sucks but it is what it is, get a 170+ on the LSAT and you should not have too much trouble getting T14.

[WestOfTheRest]

Maybe go talk to the CC and see if they can do anything?

[dsosah]

[quote="emciosn"] It does hurt your chances at the top 6-7 I would say

This is was I was afraid off. When I said T14 I really meant that I want to get in the top 6-7. I cannot believe this is happening. I am working my a.. off to have a 3.9 GPA and to get 170+ in the LSAT, and the reason I'm not going to make it is because of an aerobics class?!?! FML
Does anybody know if there is anyway around this to get into the T6-7 schools? If the CC takes it out of my transcript does the LSAT GPA will still put it?
Please any advice, thoughts welcome.

PS: I did try to contact the school, they said I should talk to the teacher but the guy is never there. I have called him like a gazillion times. The thing is, I'm pretty sure he will not change my grade, I'm still trying to talk to him though.

[WestOfTheRest]

If the school removes it from your transcript, as in no record of the class, then it will not be counted towards your LSAC GPA. If you redo the class and "replace" the grade, it will still show up on your transcript and it will be counted.

[kwais]

wait? you have a 3.7x and a 17x? I think you are somewhat competitive at CCN, but this obviously depends on whether your LSAT is closer to 170 or 179. I wouldn't despair though. Put together a flawless app and you'll be attending a T14

[emciosn]

Yeah, retaking the class won't probably help too much and would just be a pain in the ass. Your best bet is to try to get it taken on your transcript. If that doesn't work, just buckle down and perform well on the LSAT. Don't let this situation affect how you perform on the LSAT. If you get a 170-172 I would say you are definitely still in play at CCN, maybe Harvard? 173+ and you are golden. Your GPA is about the 25 %ile for every school besides HYS, admissions to those three schools is kind of a crapshoot in the first place. Just get above 170 (I know easier said that done but you sound pretty dedicated to studying) and you should be in contention from Columbia down. You may have to ride a few waitlists and make sure you get your apps in as early as possible. Maybe think about ED somewhere in the T6 too? Up to you, I don't really like the idea of ED in the first place but it has helped a lot of people on these boards I know.

[Keeper1125]

WTF at the "don't worry just study" comments, a freaking community college aerobics class is sabotaging this dude's chances at the T6 and he's supposed to just let it go?

OP: It sounds to me like the CC doesn't really give a damn about getting the grade removed if you can get the teacher to sign off. Be tenacious. Go there in person, find the teacher, talk to the registrar. Be a (polite) hassle until they deal with it and don't accept anything less than the grade being removed. Ultimately you have a lot more at stake than they do, so if you explain the situation clearly and reduce things to their essence (e.g. "your stupid fucking aerobics class is going to cost me harvard law," minus the expletive I suppose) I think you should be ok.

Seriously though, don't just let this go. We're potentially talking about a significant difference in terms of your odds of acceptance, and you need to take every step possible to fix it.

[emciosn]

ok obviously OP should try as hard as possible to get the grade removed but if its not possible it just is not possible. Worrying about something you cannot fix will not help the situation and you don't want something like that to put you in a bad state of mind on LSAT test day. Do what you can to get it removed, beyond that just accept how things pan out and move on. The current GPA is still decent and it sounds like there is some time to improve. Spend more time worrying about continuing to improve your GPA and acing the LSAT, that is more important than worrying about some CC class.

[dsosah]

Thank you guys for your comments, is good to know I still have some hope. I cannot believe this is happening, WTF are exactly my feelings right now, I can't get over it . And yes, I'm getting ready to fight this, now I have to dedicate days of my studying to travel to another state and see if these people will actually work with me and let me change that grade.
But if nothing can be done, then I guess I will have to let it go and just study, although I don't event want to think about that possibility right now.
Anyways, is good to have your opinions, thank you sharing your thoughts, TLS is great!.

[MrAnon]

The idea that schools even look at the transcript is naive. Maybe they do but only in cases for tie breaker. The LSAC calculates the GPA for them for reason-- to put you in an auto ding or auto fail pile.

[bp shinners]

yes, I'm getting ready to fight this

Don't go in looking for a fight. These people are going to do you a favor (since you're the one who messed up and didn't withdraw from the class), so you should go in and be polite about it. Lots of please, thank you, and I'm sorry for failing to withdraw. Most people will be willing to work with you, especially when it has a good explanation (you transferred out of the school). But you're still going to have to eat crow and ask nicely, because it's not something you can appeal elsewhere if they refuse you, and yelling at someone isn't going to help your case.

[dsosah]

Yes the "I'm getting ready to fight this" was a figure of speech, I'm totally in their hands at this point.
What I meant is that I have to go there and talk to as many people as I have to, beg, explain, cry?! to see if they are willing to help me. However it is still ridiculous to me that they would default my grade into an E after one year of me having transferred without even notifying me about it, or at least giving me a warning. I had not idea this would happen otherwise I would have taken care of it. But yes, I'm not going to tell them that, I'm just venting here.

[TheZoid]

yea, I would agree with what bp said. Be nice, but definitely go in there and talk to them. I had a somewhat similar situation with an intro weightlifting class, and was able to petition to have it removed from my transcript, which it was. Especially since you have a good explanation of what happened, I have to imagine they will let you petition or something. But again, be cool with them, and just explain that it is going to have a very detrimental impact on your GPA if it remains on your transcript. Best of luck to you with this.

[Wade LeBosh]

Hello, so I just discovered that a pretty stupid thing happen to me that screwed my whole GPA and for that matter I'm afraid that my whole application to law school. I transferred from a CC about a year and a half ago with a nice 3.85 GPA which I was now working to bump to a 3.9 or something. I was a honors student at my CC and I was on the Dean's List every semester etc. I have a year and a half left to graduate and I am getting pretty good grades.
Well, about two weeks ago I discovered that my GPA from the CC had dropped to a 3.72 get this, because of a "wellness" class ( meaning aerobics, something that was required for me to get my Associates) that I did not complete. I transferred before I could finish the class thinking they would just give me a WP. Well it turns out they gave me an "incomplete" which defaulted into an E grade after one year and now I'm stuck with this shitty grade in my transcript. I did not know that this would happen otherwise off course I would have finished the class. Now my only option is to retake (I cannot believe I am actually saying this) the stupid aerobics class, and I'm living now in another state.
But the thing is, even if I retake and they take it out of my transcript, the LSAT GPA will still calculate that grade into my overall GPA (or so it says in the LSAT website), and It will screw me no matter what.
Furthermore, if I don't retake it, will T14 schools see that awful "E" grade in my transcript and look down on my application because of it? Will this stupid class ruin my chances of getting into T14?. Please any thoughts welcome. Thank you

Did you enroll in this class? How can they assign you a grade for a class you didn't take? I don't understand how the class got on your transcript if you never signed up for it.

[dsosah]

Did you enroll in this class? How can they assign you a grade for a class you didn't take? I don't understand how the class got on your transcript if you never signed up for it.

No I did enroll, I said that I enrolled because it was required to finish my associates, (why otherwise would I take an aerobics class in college?!), but before I could finish it I had to move because I transferred (at that point I wasn't interested in getting an associates anymore) and they gave me an "Incomplete" grade, which I thought was fine. I didn't even knew this class was graded as a regular class (It's a freaking aerobics class!) at least it should be credit/no credit or something. Anyways, I left it like that, since I thought it would stay as an Incomplete and I just wouldn't receive credit for it.
Well, it stayed like that for a year, after a year I was checking my transcripts because I was actually trying to transfer again, when I see that they game an E and my GPA just dropped from a 3.85 to a 3.72!!! So I call them and they tell me it just defaulted into an E because I didn't completed the class in a year. WTF I transfered! Anyways, they told me that to be able to change my grade I have to talk to the teacher and he has to say that "he made a mistake" which he didn't, so yeah! I don't see that happening. Anyways I'm going up there in a few week to see what I can do.
I hadn't thought about there being a possibility that they just remove it from my transcript, I don't even know if they do that. I'll see when I get there I guess, I will post whatever happens. Thank you for your suggestions and advice!

[MumofCad]

I am really sorry to hear this happened to you.

I wouldn't worry too much at this point. Get a strong LSAT score and then write an addendum explaining how this occurred, giving your GPA without that one class factored in. I can't imagine a reasonable person wouldn't commiserate.

Most importantly, keep your grades up as high as you can to make up for it and ace the LSAT.

ETA: It never hurts to contact a Dean and talk with them about your goals/how this could impact them. You never know what might be possible.

[Lord Randolph McDuff]

I am really sorry to hear this happened to you.

I wouldn't worry too much at this point. Get a strong LSAT score and then write an addendum explaining how this occurred, giving your GPA without that one class factored in. I can't imagine a reasonable person wouldn't commiserate.

Most importantly, keep your grades up as high as you can to make up for it and ace the LSAT.

ETA: It never hurts to contact a Dean and talk with them about your goals/how this could impact them. You never know what might be possible.

Except admissions is a numbers game and you are not going to get in over any candidates that are above both medians. This is HUGE because it is dropping you below the GPA median for your target schools. Please keep us informed--I'll pray for you!

[dsosah]

Thanks everybody! I'm going there next week. I'll post whatever happens, again thanks for your answers and support

[lajohn]

WTF at the "don't worry just study" comments, a freaking community college aerobics class is sabotaging this dude's chances at the T6 and he's supposed to just let it go?

OP: It sounds to me like the CC doesn't really give a damn about getting the grade removed if you can get the teacher to sign off. Be tenacious. Go there in person, find the teacher, talk to the registrar. Be a (polite) hassle until they deal with it and don't accept anything less than the grade being removed. Ultimately you have a lot more at stake than they do, so if you explain the situation clearly and reduce things to their essence (e.g. "your stupid fucking aerobics class is going to cost me harvard law," minus the expletive I suppose) I think you should be ok.

Seriously though, don't just let this go. We're potentially talking about a significant difference in terms of your odds of acceptance, and you need to take every step possible to fix it.

This is exactly what I would suggest. Explain the problem to the prof, treat him with respect that shows you understand the importance of his class and simply did not realize it was a requirement and see if you can retake the class and get the old grade corrected or ask him for assistance with this. Make him feel like it's a problem you are both facing and need to find the solution to. Make him relate.

[madvillain]

Hey, just wanted to say that I am in exactly the same boat over something perhaps even more trivial than an aerobics class....a class about Batman (yes, there were classes like that at my old college). So I can relate to what you're going through. My GPA was lowered by an amount slightly larger than yours, and I was absolutely furious. But unfortunately not only did I transfer to another college, I now live in another country. So going back to try and convince the admin to change the mark is pretty much impossible for me. Although I did try and call them, this was futile. I sincerely hope you have better luck. Still, though, just keep your head up if unfortunately things do not work out. I personally was blessed with a good LSAT; I hope you will soon have the same. It does seem to be the best way to improve your situation presently, so at least your fate is still in your hands. Best of luck, mate.

[vanwinkle]

I doubt they will "remove it from your transcript" like people are suggesting. What you can do, however, is ask them if they can change the grade from an "E" to a non-punitive withdrawal. You have to be really polite and contrite to make this work, though. They'll be helping you fix your own screw-up if they do anything for you, and your behavior needs to acknowledge that. You can't go in there all WTF, how dare you give me a grade for an aerobics class, it's just an aerobics class.

Instead, it needs to be more like, I misunderstood what would happen and thought it would just show Incomplete since I was leaving before I completed the class. I realize that I should've requested a proper withdrawal then, but since I can't go back in time and do that, is there any way I can get this fixed now?

[Glock]

Van Winkle is exactly right. You need to have a conversation with somebody who has the power to make it a non-putative withdraw. Be polite and respectful. Appeal to reason and explain how your situation complies with their policy on withdrawing. Appeal to emotions and equity and explain how much that mistake damages your law school dreams. You are the supplicant begging for something they do no have to give you. Remember it.

[AreJay711]

I think LSAC uses whatever measurements your school does so if retaking the class eliminates the old grade then that is what LSAC will do.