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My situation is kind of unique. In the next few months I need to decide if I will go abroad to the Middle East to study Arabic for a year after I complete my senior year of college. Though I will complete all my requirements for graduation after 4 years, I won't technically graduate until after the 5th year. I'm very enthusiastic about this opportunity, but I'm worried about how it might impact my GPA in the eyes of LSAC. I have a very good GPA now, however I know the Arabic classes abroad are very rigorous and often students struggle to pass, let alone make As. Will these classes affect my LSAC GPA? I know they won't affect my university GPA (the 2 semesters abroad just count as 2 pass/fail courses), but the grades I make in them will be visible on my transcript. I'm fascinated both by the study of law and foreign culture, so I'm pretty torn.

I did a similar program in the middle east and got butchered on my grades in Arabic classes. It was by far my weakest semester of undergrad and affected my LSAC gpa fairly significantly. It might not for yours if you're able to keep the grades off the official transcript.

That said - do it anyway, because study abroad is the best thing ever and a couple hundredths of a percent on LSAC gpa is not the biggest deal in the long run. The three months I spent abroad were among the very best of my life, and the slight effects this might have on law school admissions are absolutely not worth considering when the alternative is a fricking year in the middle east. It's so great and I will be personally offended if you let law school admissions get in the way of something that awesome.