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Hi,
I'm a senior at a top public school. My GPA is 3.66, which a 3.8/3.9/3.9 the last three semesters. This semester is rough for me, as I'm taking 13 credits, but my advanced arabic class is conducted in the language, and I'm concerned it will take a lot of studying and practice to be able to get an A in the class, which I need. In addition to that, I'm a new RA and am now the President of my 50+ member organization with a new faculty advisor, so it has been an extremely busy start of the year.

I'm concerned about arabic, as the grade is uncertain and even an A- would lower my GPA. One of my 1-credit classes is automatically pass/fail, and I'm taking a 2 credit class on Legislation (I'm an international relations major). Would it look bad if I also take the Legislation class pass/fail, so 3/13 credits is Pass/Fail? I can't take my language pass fail due to my major. I'm concerned that if I take 3 credits P/F and still do below normal in the language it would look extremely unstable.

I plan to take a gap year or two before applying to law school, if that changes anything. I wish I didn't hold such a leadership position so I'd have more time to increase my law stats.

edit: I haven't taken any pass/fail classes before, except Judo which is a 1-credit P/F automatically.

Since you want to wait 1-2 years to apply, that you'd be taking 3/13 credits as P/F this semester probably shouldn't factor into your reasoning. I don't think committees delve into the minutiae of every semester to splice out intel. You've done really well over the semesters you've presented here, so they'll know you're smart. Upper level language courses can rough up anyone. The goal is to protect your GPA.

If your course load is roughly 13/semester, yo'd graduate with just 4/104 credits as P/F, doesn't come close to being a blip on the radar. I applied with 4/36.5 as P/F and it didn't seem to be a problem.

Also, mad props on taking arabic. That was my language in HS/UG.

Shukran! I really wish I could just take Arabic pass/fail, that would make my life easier. I guess I'll just be using all the extra time I would be using to write those legislation papers on studying, practicing and studying some more Arabic so it doesn't provide a complete blow to my GPA. I got an A the past two semesters, and this professor is just completely different.

What's your deadline for deciding whether to take classes Pass/Fail? Wait to see if you can balance your classes and everything else. Maybe the Legislation class will be easier than you think and you can still take it for credit. Or maybe Arabic won't be as difficult as you think (inshallah)! Otherwise, don't worry about having too many Pass/Fail classes on your record - 4 credits is nothing.

As far as this anecdotal piece of evidence is concerned, 36 P/NP and/or P/F units throughout undergrad didn't hurt me that much.