Help Forum

[kjjida9797]

Hey guys, i just wanted to get some advice from you guys,
I went to two undergraduates, i had to withdraw from UIUC for a health reason after completing 2 and 1/2 yrs.
After, i came back to Korea and finished my school here. So i did my junior and senior yrs in Korea.
Here's the problem. My UIUC GPA is dismal. its just awful, 2.5/4.0 with no degrees. I didn't know what to study so i just remained undecided.
My GPA from Korea is much better, 3.85 out of 4.5 scale with a degree in philosophy.(Mostly As and Bs, with one C)
So, do you guys think this upward trend will help? or do you think the dismally low GPA from UIUC will leave me no chance of getting into T14 schools. I'm looking to take LSAT in june. Currently i score LSAT preptests in a 169~172scale.
I really want to go to Columbia, and to get in what LSAT score should i shoot for.

advice will greatly be appreciated

[Clemenceau]

I don't think your korean gpa will carry much, if any, weight. Your LSAC gpa will probably just be a 2.5

[kjjida9797]

so you expect that the Korean GPA will be completely ignored? even though i graduated from that school?

[Rigo]

You have no shot at Columbia with a 2.5 and a score in your range.

The only T14 that you have a shot at would be splitter-friendly Northwestern.

[Rigo]

so you expect that the Korean GPA will be completely ignored? even though i graduated from that school?

International GPAs aren't reported for ranking purposes, so the focus will be on your 2.5 because that's what will be reported.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Obviously schools will see the 2.5 and it may raise some questions about OP's ability to complete a US program successfully, but how can LSAC use the 2.5 as the undergrad GPA? It's not a degree GPA - I don't think they can report it for the rankings because it's not from their degree-granting university. I would think only the Korean GPA would count for rankings (except it wouldn't, bc it's international, but you get the idea).

[Rigo]

Obviously schools will see the 2.5 and it may raise some questions about OP's ability to complete a US program successfully, but how can LSAC use the 2.5 as the undergrad GPA? It's not a degree GPA - I don't think they can report it for the rankings because it's not from their degree-granting university. I would think only the Korean GPA would count for rankings (except it wouldn't, bc it's international, but you get the idea).

I think any school where you have over 60 credits is counted, and I'm assuming the 2.5 years at UIUC was 60+ credits. I could be wrong though.
When in doubt, send in your transcripts and see what LSAC does or just call up LSAC and ask.

[Ron Don Volante]

Dringo how are you possibly on pace to break 10k posts before 1l. That's crazy

[Rigo]

Dringo how are you possibly on pace to break 10k posts before 1l. That's crazy

Boring worklife + genuinely enjoying TLS and the connections I've made.

[Hand]

LSAC will calculate a U.S. GPA for you with 60 credits or more, irrespective of whether you earned a degree here (can't find the link right now, but it's somewhere on the LSAC website). Your Korean academic records will probably be evaluated as "superior". So there'll be two data points for schools to consider. But as others have noted, the foreign transcript evaluation will probably do little to help you overcome the U.S. GPA you have, since that is a number that will have to be reported. And with a ~2.5 uGPA, you should not count on getting in at Columbia, no matter how well you do on the LSAT.

[MistakenGenius]

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