MAcc and Law School Forum

[jeff_lebowski]

I'll be graduating next semester with a ~3.73 GPA in accounting. My question is this: Would spending one year getting a Master of Accounting degree (and, presumably, a 4.0 GPA) make up for my lackluster undergraduate GPA? My ballpark LSAT is 165-170 (not taken yet, obv). Ideally, I'd like to attend a T14 school and there is a good chance my LSAT will increase with real study (I've taken two *timed* cold tests with the 165-170 range); will a high grad school GPA and a graduate degree make me more attractive to the extent that it is worth the extra year and coin? Non-URM male, btw.

[MrAnon]

I'll be graduating next semester with a ~3.73 GPA in accounting. My question is this: Would spending one year getting a Master of Accounting degree (and, presumably, a 4.0 GPA) make up for my lackluster undergraduate degree? My ballpark LSAT is 165-170 (not taken yet, obv). Ideally, I'd like to attend a T14 school and there is a good chance my LSAT will increase with real study (I've taken two *timed* cold tests with the 165-170 range); will a high grad school GPA and a graduate degree make me more attractive to the extent that it is worth the extra year and coin? Non-URM male, btw.

you could earn 10 graduate degrees and the law schools wouldn't care. the only thing that matters is LSAT and GPA from undergrad.

[taxguy]

My son had a mediocre undergrad GPA in accounting( about a 3.1) but graduated valedictorian ( over 3.95) from a masters program in tax and financial planning. The graduate grades made absolutely no difference to any of the 12 schools he applied to.

For what its worth, he did reasonably well in his first semester of law school and can now transfer to every school that rejected him. So much for the predictability of the LSAT>

[bp shinners]

I'll be graduating next semester with a ~3.73 GPA in accounting. My question is this: Would spending one year getting a Master of Accounting degree (and, presumably, a 4.0 GPA) make up for my lackluster undergraduate GPA? My ballpark LSAT is 165-170 (not taken yet, obv). Ideally, I'd like to attend a T14 school and there is a good chance my LSAT will increase with real study (I've taken two *timed* cold tests with the 165-170 range); will a high grad school GPA and a graduate degree make me more attractive to the extent that it is worth the extra year and coin? Non-URM male, btw.

I'd recommend trying to get your CPA rather than the MAcc. The MAcc (and the GPA associated with it) will be a very small soft factor; the CPA will be a small soft factor. The CPA will also make you significantly more attractive to employers, as the JD/CPA isn't that common and is in fairly high demand.

But in short, no, the MAcc would not be worth it just to help with admissions.

Also, a 3.73 might not get you into HYS, but it's still a pretty solid GPA that qualifies you for a number of T14s with the right LSAT.

[caputlupinum]

I'll be graduating next semester with a ~3.73 GPA in accounting. My question is this: Would spending one year getting a Master of Accounting degree (and, presumably, a 4.0 GPA) make up for my lackluster undergraduate GPA? My ballpark LSAT is 165-170 (not taken yet, obv). Ideally, I'd like to attend a T14 school and there is a good chance my LSAT will increase with real study (I've taken two *timed* cold tests with the 165-170 range); will a high grad school GPA and a graduate degree make me more attractive to the extent that it is worth the extra year and coin? Non-URM male, btw.

I'd recommend trying to get your CPA rather than the MAcc. The MAcc (and the GPA associated with it) will be a very small soft factor; the CPA will be a small soft factor. The CPA will also make you significantly more attractive to employers, as the JD/CPA isn't that common and is in fairly high demand.

But in short, no, the MAcc would not be worth it just to help with admissions.

Also, a 3.73 might not get you into HYS, but it's still a pretty solid GPA that qualifies you for a number of T14s with the right LSAT.

A MAcc gives you the hours needed to get a CPA after the new credited hour requirements it. You can do this in undergrad by extending a year. Top MAcc programs are feeders for big four.... Also you can get into certain MAcc programs without being an accounting major.

[hoos89]

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[jeff_lebowski]

Thanks for the replies. If I were to pursue a second major in finance (again, roughly a year extension to when I would graduate with only my accounting degree), how would LSAC calculate my GPA then? Would there be some kind of asterisk because it is a second major, or would it raise my GPA as if I was taking any undergraduate course?

[Tiago Splitter]

Thanks for the replies. If I were to pursue a second major in finance (again, roughly a year extension to when I would graduate with only my accounting degree), how would LSAC calculate my GPA then? Would there be some kind of asterisk because it is a second major, or would it raise my GPA as if I was taking any undergraduate course?

Any college credits you take before receiving your first bachelor's degree count towards your LSAC GPA. If you want to stay in school and earn accounting credit hours anyway you might as well push off graduating for another year and continue to improve your GPA.

[chem]

Thanks for the replies. If I were to pursue a second major in finance (again, roughly a year extension to when I would graduate with only my accounting degree), how would LSAC calculate my GPA then? Would there be some kind of asterisk because it is a second major, or would it raise my GPA as if I was taking any undergraduate course?

If you get your accounting degree, and then tack on another year to get your finance degree, it would not count. If you get the degrees/majors simultaneously, the extra year would count GPA wise

[hoos89]

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[20130312]

TCR is that LSAC only counts up until you receive your first bachelor's degree toward your GPA. So any additional degree is irrelevant to this discussion except in terms of what kind of soft it would provide. Honestly, a finance degree on top of an accounting degree wouldn't give your application any boost at all.

[hoos89]

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[jeff_lebowski]

I didn't mean to be a dick with the lackluster comment. As is often the case I spent some time getting my head right in college and it's taken two years of 4.0s to get me to a 3.73, so I feel for the lower-than-3.73-GPA crowd.