GPA less important after a gap year? Forum

[HydroFlask666]

Is it true or false that after taking a gap year after undergrad, admissions committees put less weight on your gpa? I am wanting to take a gap year, but will have to reconsider this option if my stellar gpa is weighted less as a result.

[MT Cicero]

Is it true or false that after taking a gap year after undergrad, admissions committees put less weight on your gpa? I am wanting to take a gap year, but will have to reconsider this option if my stellar gpa is weighted less as a result.

I took 12 gap years...and they put .0001% less weight on my GPA in the admissions process. As long as USNWR uses UGPA, schools will use it. If an octogenarian's lifelong dream was to get a law degree and he had 4 advanced degrees with perfect grades and a 180 LSAT...he'd still likely need a 3.5 from his undergrad in the 1950s to have a puncher's chance at HYS.

I highly recommend at least one gap year. Your future self will likely appreciate it.

[haus]

Is it true or false that after taking a gap year after undergrad, admissions committees put less weight on your gpa? I am wanting to take a gap year, but will have to reconsider this option if my stellar gpa is weighted less as a result.

I took 12 gap years...and they put .0001% less weight on my GPA in the admissions process. As long as USNWR uses UGPA, schools will use it. If an octogenarian's lifelong dream was to get a law degree and he had 4 advanced degrees with perfect grades and a 180 LSAT...he'd still likely need a 3.5 from his undergrad in the 1950s to have a puncher's chance at HYS.

I highly recommend at least one gap year. Your future self will likely appreciate it.

I agree.

I started undergrad in 1990, detoured through a tour in the USMC, completed my undergrad after 11 schools over 16 years, picked up a grad degree from one of the best known/regarded universities in the country, and built a successful career in a challenging field (working full-time since 91, in my current specialty since 02).

With all of this said, my cycle went almost exactly as one one would suspect from my LSAC GPA & LSAT. My road is not for everyone, but I do not think that I would make any changes. Even if you may not see an obvious payoff in admissions, I think a gap is worthwhile in many different ways.

Good luck with your path.

[fats provolone]

how prestigious is this gahp yeah going to be?

[AccidentalAggie]

I had a 20+ year gap between undergrad and law school. Along the way I picked up a second undergrad and a Master's degree. The ONLY thing that mattered was my 1st undergrad GPA (2.x) and the LSAT. Everything past that point was ignored. It's a screwed up system, but that's the way it works.

So, to answer your question: no

[A. Nony Mouse]

One year isn't going to make any difference to anything, it's not anywhere near enough time.

Any number of years won't make a great GPA look less great, because it's still what schools report to USNWR for rankings purposes.

It's possible that many years, say 10+, can help make a poor GPA look *slightly* less poor - if you've done lots of great things in between that show your academic potential and so on. But as AccidentalAggie points out, not generally, because softs like additional graduate degrees don't get reported for rankings, whereas UGPAs do, even when they're really old.

So you're fine.

[Mack.Hambleton]

Where'd u even hear that lol

[Username123]

Go cure cancer, AIDS and some other disease/virus.

Also, go get elected as the POTUS.

End world hunger.

If you succeed in the above, that GPA might not matter as much anymore.

[HydroFlask666]

Thanks for the responses, guys. I'm not actually sure where I heard this. Maybe I'm just making things up.