Do law schools often ask to see final semester grades? Forum

[SeaDove28]

Supposing we apply during the Fall semester of UG (Fall '12 for me), has there been cases where a law school has held off on an application, requesting the applicant to send in their final grades as soon as they're available (i.e. mid December), to make a more informed decision (i.e. to see if the applicant's GPA will be higher)?

[kapital98]

Supposing we apply duringthe Fall semester of UG (Fall '12 for me), has there been cases where a law school has held off on an application, requesting the applicant to send in their final grades as soon as they're available (i.e. mid December), to make a more informed decision (i.e. to see if the applicant's GPA will be higher)?

No. After you send in your application you no longer need to send in grade reports. However, if you have not yet been accepted, and did well your fall semester, you should send your grades into the LSAC.

[rinkrat19]

Don't most schools want your final transcript even after you've been accepted?

I haven't heard about any holding off on making a decision and requesting your final grades, although I have heard of a good final transcript getting someone off the waitlist.

[erikjc]

Supposing we apply duringthe Fall semester of UG (Fall '12 for me), has there been cases where a law school has held off on an application, requesting the applicant to send in their final grades as soon as they're available (i.e. mid December), to make a more informed decision (i.e. to see if the applicant's GPA will be higher)?

No. After you send in your application you no longer need to send in grade reports. However, if you have not yet been accepted, and did well your fall semester, you should send your grades into the LSAC.

Do you know how likely this is to have an impact? I'm expecting to be waiting a long time from the top schools, so I'm hoping that by the time they give my app a second or third look my GPA will be updated.

[Hawkeye Pierce]

Don't most schools want your final transcript even after you've been accepted?

I haven't heard about any holding off on making a decision and requesting your final grades, although I have heard of a good final transcript getting someone off the waitlist.

I think all do. They have to verify that you actually graduated. But that's really the only reason they do it.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

Don't most schools want your final transcript even after you've been accepted?

I haven't heard about any holding off on making a decision and requesting your final grades, although I have heard of a good final transcript getting someone off the waitlist.

Plessy wouldn't. *rimshot*

...too soon?

To be more on point: schools actually may be incentivized not to request your final transcript (at least not until you're about to start 1L year), so they can report the higher GPA for ranking purposes. Not sure if the plessy scandal will change how usnews and schools approach this situation though.

[Hawkeye Pierce]

Don't most schools want your final transcript even after you've been accepted?

I haven't heard about any holding off on making a decision and requesting your final grades, although I have heard of a good final transcript getting someone off the waitlist.

Plessy wouldn't. *rimshot*

...too soon?

To be more on point: schools actually may be incentivized not to request your final transcript, so they can report the higher GPA for ranking purposes. Not sure if the plessy scandal will change how usnews and schools approach this situation though.

No. You send the transcript directly to the school, not to LSAC. So, they don't have to report it to LSAC either way.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

Don't most schools want your final transcript even after you've been accepted?

I haven't heard about any holding off on making a decision and requesting your final grades, although I have heard of a good final transcript getting someone off the waitlist.

Plessy wouldn't. *rimshot*

...too soon?

To be more on point: schools actually may be incentivized not to request your final transcript, so they can report the higher GPA for ranking purposes. Not sure if the plessy scandal will change how usnews and schools approach this situation though.

No. You send the transcript directly to the school, not to LSAC. So, they don't have to report it to LSAC either way.

I think the plessy scandal raised an interesting question of whether schools should take into account the final semester of undergrad grades when they report their #'s to usnews. I assumed they all did, but plessy's emails seemed to suggest that if you get them late enough, you don't have to report the change.