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I am a junior at a large state university in the Northeast. I major in Political Science with a minor in Urban Studies.

I currently have a lower GPA than probably most of my counterparts who are pursuing the same major as me - only a 3.3 GPA. I know that my GPA is pretty low for law school and probably isn't really good for a Political Science major.

However, my GPA is low because for the first 1.5 years of my undergraduate career, I was an Engineering Major. I realized that Engineering wasn't right for me, but by the time I realized that, my GPA was only a 3.1. I changed my major to Political Science which is something that I am really interested in. My major GPA is a 4.0.

I am not sure entirely how I should approach this situation during law school admissions or that I even should apply to law school (as a first-generation, low-income student, I need lots of aid in order to attend law school. I do not think my family would be able to pay for my schooling or would I want to put my family in the burden for paying for so much). I have B's and C's in my Engineering classes.

1. Get your GPA as high as you can before you graduate.
2. Stomp the LSAT.

There is no other way to approach this. Frankly, most people's GPAs would go up if they switched from engineering to polysci, so you can't explain it away. Just get your numbers as high as possible.

rinkrat19 wrote:1. Get your GPA as high as you can before you graduate.
2. Stomp the LSAT.

There is no other way to approach this. Frankly, most people's GPAs would go up if they switched from engineering to polysci, so you can't explain it away. Just get your numbers as high as possible.

This. You could also try delaying graduation to take more credits to get your GPA up. You can also take some time in between UG and law school to put some distance between your low GPA.

So does this mean that I am screwed for a T14 school or at least getting a good scholarship to a lower ranked law school?

jenn_ct wrote:So does this mean that I am screwed for a T14 school or at least getting a good scholarship to a lower ranked law school?

Not at all. If you off set your lowish GPA with a stellar lsat you should could still do fine

Also, I cannot delay graduation or take more college courses after I get my undergraduate degree. My family lives under the poverty line and I am on full aid at the school I go to. I simply cannot afford to pay for classes out of pocket or stay another year (where I would have to pay full price).

jenn_ct wrote:Also, I cannot delay graduation or take more college courses after I get my undergraduate degree. My family lives under the poverty line and I am on full aid at the school I go to. I simply cannot afford to pay for classes out of pocket or stay another year (where I would have to pay full price).

How about a nearby community college? You don't necessarily have to take it at your current school. Just transfer the credits from CC to LSAC later.

My community college tuition is about $4,000 a year. One 3 credit course costs about $650 each..with plans to increase to $680 this summer.

For a student whose family lives under the poverty lines, this is far from affordable.

jenn_ct wrote:My community college tuition is about $4,000 a year. One 3 credit course costs about $650 each..with plans to increase to $680 this summer.

For a student whose family lives under the poverty lines, this is far from affordable.

Are you not in-state?

Those are the prices for my Community College in my hometown. I am in-state and am a U.S. Citizen student. I live in New York State so prices are more expensive. However, I go to school out of state and with a combination of financial aid, school scholarships, and outside scholarships, I am attending this out-of-state state school almost for free.

Ok so extra time in school is a no go. You still have 3 semesters left, right? Take as many easy credits during those 3 semesters. Like I mean take the max amount of credits your school allows per semester. That might also mean putting off taking a pre requisite till the last semester. At least at my school once you finished all pre reqs and had a certain amount of credits they made you graduate. But anyway, I bet you could get your GPA up to around a 3.5 if you really ace all your classes.

Then it's really gonna come down to your lsat. So I would put in a lot of work on doing well. it might behoove you to take time after UG to focus primarily on studying if you can

jenn_ct wrote:Also, I cannot delay graduation or take more college courses after I get my undergraduate degree. My family lives under the poverty line and I am on full aid at the school I go to. I simply cannot afford to pay for classes out of pocket or stay another year (where I would have to pay full price).

Can you get a job?

jenn_ct wrote:Those are the prices for my Community College in my hometown. I am in-state and am a U.S. Citizen student. I live in New York State so prices are more expensive. However, I go to school out of state and with a combination of financial aid, school scholarships, and outside scholarships, I am attending this out-of-state state school almost for free.

Do another year with loans if it's worth it
Find out: how much it would cost for another year, how much you can raise your GPA, and how much more money you may get as a result of this year. Also might want to take into account the opportunity cost of applying a year late.

I already have a required work-study job on campus. I also have a small summer work contribution so I do work in the summers as an intern with the local transportation authority.

You have a ton of time. Don't go to law school right out of undergrad. If you keep a 4.0 the rest of the way you'll finish with a 3.6, which is more than enough to get good money in the T-14.

With a 3.5 and an LSAT score in the high 160's you will probably get some decent scholarship offers from T14 schools.

nlee10 wrote:

jenn_ct wrote:My community college tuition is about $4,000 a year. One 3 credit course costs about $650 each..with plans to increase to $680 this summer.
For a student whose family lives under the poverty lines, this is far from affordable.

Are you not in-state?

Lol typical Californian not realizing CC can actually be pricy.

OP-just remain focused and get that GPA as high as possible. You're not out of the running for anything, but you'd be a fool to slack off if law school is the goal.