Pre-law adviser said NOT to take all easy classes Forum

[A. Nony Mouse]

This is taken straight out of a T10 application for 2015:

In evaluating your undergraduate GPA, the following factors may be considered: the age of the grades, exceptionally high grades, difficulty of coursework, time commitments while attending college, dependent care during school, grading patterns at the school attended, and grade trends or discrepancies among your grades.

Of course they say they consider these factors. They just don't say how much weight they give to them (which is not enough to matter compared to GPA/LSAT). Schools also usually say that they consider all LSAT scores, but the data from LSN shows that they don't give any weight to any but the highest.

[pancakes3]

Just want to point out that just because a class is an intro class doesn't make it an easy one. Some intro classes are weed-out classes, or are just tough because of the breadth of topics covered.

[Barack O'Drama]

I go to UAlbany and can attest that this is true, they do refer to Albany Law as "Harvard on the Hudson" .... haha!

As a URM, I don't think there's really much difference between a 3.6x and a 3.7. You'll be pretty desirable with a high LSAT score, regardless of .1 difference in GPA. Spend time and energy on your LSAT. (Maybe a December or a February take would be possible without BS classes to worry about?)
Looking at the T14, a 3.7 would still leave you between 25% and median for most schools...the exact same place you would be with a 3.6. An extra year of classes seems more trouble than it's worth for someone in your situation.

And prelaw advisors generally suck and/or have boomer era idealizations of all law schools as leading to prosperity. At my undergrad, Albany law is "HARVARD ON THE HUDSON [River]"

[McAvoy]

This is taken straight out of a T10 application for 2015:

In evaluating your undergraduate GPA, the following factors may be considered: the age of the grades, exceptionally high grades, difficulty of coursework, time commitments while attending college, dependent care during school, grading patterns at the school attended, and grade trends or discrepancies among your grades.

hur dur so does Cooley

[Skool]

This whole idea is despicable.

OP needs to graduate and spend the next year getting a life. That this is even under serious consideration is a reflection on OPs crappy judgment, lack of intellectual curiosity, and what appears to be an inability to understand the value of a dollar.

Just get a job, any job, study for the lsat, run, fuck people, read James Joyce, make a new friend, go on a road trip, try new drugs, call your grandma. Live a life and stop being silly.

I suspect that this is the subtext of what your adviser was trying to say to you.

And while you're at it, get off my fucking lawn.

[tiltedwindmill]

This whole idea is despicable.

OP needs to graduate and spend the next year getting a life. That this is even under serious consideration is a reflection on OPs crappy judgment, lack of intellectual curiosity, and what appears to be an inability to understand the value of a dollar.

Just get a job, any job, study for the lsat, run, fuck people, read James Joyce, make a new friend, go on a road trip, try new drugs, call your grandma. Live a life and stop being silly.

I suspect that this is the subtext of what your adviser was trying to say to you.

And while you're at it, get off my fucking lawn.

Be moar intellectually curious...
Alternately: whoosh

[w7ldcard]

Take all easy classes. GPA LSAT + a little softs is all that matters

[SPerez]

IMO, I think it would be better for you to spend the next year: 1) focusing on the LSAT and making an excellent score 2) getting some work experience. You can still do something meaningful for the causes you care about, whether it's actually working full time for a non-profit or working somewhere else and being involved in your community outside of work. When it comes time for you to apply for jobs after law school, interviewers will look more favorably on someone who has job experience. Not to mention that it will also benefit you in that it might clarify what exactly you want to do with your law degree.

This is exactly what I was going to say. Just graduate and make some money while studying for the LSAT. I don't claim to know much about the sorcery involved with the hair-splitting of academic credentials at HYS, etc., but I would think an extra point or two on the LSAT would help you MUCH more than 0.1 GPA point.

And that's just in the narrow situation of getting into law school. Long term, there is much more benefit to gaining work/life experience and earning some money than taking a year of blow off classes.

Dean Perez
Texas Tech Law

[xJD2017x]

Just want to point out that just because a class is an intro class doesn't make it an easy one. Some intro classes are weed-out classes, or are just tough because of the breadth of topics covered.

That's true for pre-med for sure.

[PepperJack]

Being challenged will make you a better scholar, but you can do this in ways that don't threaten your GPA (eg: a library card).

[JCougar]

Pre-law advisors are generally dumb.

Yeah, the advice given to OP is really dumb. Law schools care about two numbers: GPA and LSAT. Raising your GPA from 3.6 to 3.7 could put you above a lot of top schools' GPA median (that's right where a lot of medians are). As a URM, this could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars of scholarship money.

All but a few schools will actually care how your GPA got that way...the only thing that matters to them is what median they have to report to LSAC/US News.

[Skool]

Being challenged will make you a better scholar, but you can do this in ways that don't threaten your GPA (eg: a library card).

I mean, what's the value added by being in a university/class room at all then? Presumably reading difficult shit with people who are on their game and who hold you accountable for your thoughts pushes people further.

You take all the risk, but you get the reward too.

[guinness1547]

This is taken straight out of a T10 application for 2015:

In evaluating your undergraduate GPA, the following factors may be considered: the age of the grades, exceptionally high grades, difficulty of coursework, time commitments while attending college, dependent care during school, grading patterns at the school attended, and grade trends or discrepancies among your grades.

That's cool, but they actually don't give a shit. An A in remedial basket weaving is better than a B in advanced physics. They want good stats more than hard coursework. The best course of action is to have the chill 5th year, kill the grades of whatever he wants to take, and use his extra time studying for the LSAT.

[McAvoy]

[quote="PepperJack"]Being challenged will make you a better scholar, but you can do this in ways that don't threaten your GPA (eg: a library card).[/quote]

[McAvoy]

Being challenged will make you a better scholar, but you can do this in ways that don't threaten your GPA (eg: a library card).

I mean, what's the value added of being in a university/class room at all then? Presumably reading difficult shit with people who are on their game and who hold you accountable for your thoughts pushes people further.

You take all the risk, but you get the reward too.

PepperJack post

[90convoy]

my pre-law advisor said take easy ones.

I'm black too and I had a 3.4 upon leaving my science major...swtiched majors, took some easy classes, and raised that sucker up to a 3.7 which is going to help me out tremendously as it would u

[beautyistruth]

Pre-law advisors know for the most part that they are redundant and pre-law advice for aspiring undergrads could more or less be boiled down to a note card that says

1. Get a high LSAT score
2. Get a good overall GPA

My past experiences with my university's pre law advisors seemed to indicate that they were hesitant to admit how much of a pure numbers game law school admissions are, and so they'll talk up all of these irrelevant factors such as soft extracurriculars, hard classes, being a member of pre-law societies, being part of undergrad law review (actually a thing at my school. All the source pulls and blue booking for none of the prestige. Great fun). Sure, these things won't hurt, and might give you something to talk about in your PS. But for the most part, it's going to come down to your LSAT score and GPA, with the fact that you're a URM giving you a boost in at least some schools.

[sparty99]

This whole idea is despicable.

OP needs to graduate and spend the next year getting a life. That this is even under serious consideration is a reflection on OPs crappy judgment, lack of intellectual curiosity, and what appears to be an inability to understand the value of a dollar.

Just get a job, any job, study for the lsat, run, fuck people, read James Joyce, make a new friend, go on a road trip, try new drugs, call your grandma. Live a life and stop being silly.

I suspect that this is the subtext of what your adviser was trying to say to you.

And while you're at it, get off my fucking lawn.

I don't think going from a 3.6 to a 3.7 will be a huge difference. I landed a full-ride scholarship at a T50 with a gpa in that range and a LSAT below a 150. I would not waste another year of school taking bull-shit classes and wasting money. You are paying an extra year of tuition. You will be far better off studying for the LSAT or working in a sexy pre law school career like management consulting, corporate finance, or I-Banking. At this point, your gpa is what it is. If I would have landed a 160 LSAT, I would have attended Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, PENN or Yale. Meaning a .1 increase won't really do shit for you, but landing a solid LSAT would end all debates.

[PB&J.D.]

1) focus on the LSAT
2) recognize that, as an AA, 3.7 will be different than a 3.6 PROVIDED your LSAT is decent, but not great (i.e. STUDY AND RETAKE FOR HIGHER SCORES, then it won't matter aside from HYS,B )

I personally don't see the value in paying for a full year, let alone staying if you're only doing so for the slight GPA boost. Graduate. Get a job that, if you don't have very marketable skills, is at least something you're interested in. Once you get your score back, decide if you need to retake and keep prepping if necessary.

Also, these people will are the best pre-law advisers you will likely find. Be aware of the lack of self-censoring; it really is the most valuable aspect of 'nony posting.