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Hey Guys,

I've just started learning about the law school admissions process, but am having difficulty assessing my personal situation.

Originally, I went to Brown University where during my first year I began having serious health issues. At the end of the year, I had a 3.4 GPA.

Here is where it gets tricky.

The health issues grew to the point where I had the choice of either dropping out entirely or taking all my classes Pass/Fail.

Afraid that I would never come back to finish, I chose the latter and continued at school where I eventually graduated.

I recently took the LSAT and got a 170.

The issue is, I really don't know how to judge my transcript because it is so unorthodox.

Technically, I have a 3.4 GPA, but only for the first year. Obviously, I can add an addendum noting my health issues, but I really don't know how much they will care.


As well, I don't know how real world experience is viewed by schools, but since then my health has made a full recovery and I've been working at a Tech Start-up for the last three years. I can get good recommendations from my employers and professors at school.

Ideally, I would try to get into one of the lowest T14, but given the circumstances understand that's probably impossible.

What do you guys think I should do? Just forget about law school entirely or is it worth a shot?


Thanks so much for your help.

I think you need 60 credits of grades to get an LSAC GPA so I don't think your 3.4 really counts for anything.

You're not explaining your academic history correctly bc right now it sounds like you finished at Brown and only Brown, and graduated of which ~90 credits were pass/fail.

pancakes3 wrote:You're not explaining your academic history correctly bc right now it sounds like you finished at Brown and only Brown, and graduated of which ~90 credits were pass/fail.

I couldn't find anything about LSAC requiring 60 credit hours of graded coursework, but if that's true, and OP *did* get a bachelor's with fewer than 60 credit hours graded, that's an interesting problem - where does OP go from here? S/he can't take more courses, since the bachelor's degree has already been awarded. Can you apply to law school without an LSAC GPA? Maybe petition LSAC to calculate a GPA based solely on OP's first-year coursework?

Nothing to worry about. People without GPAs get into everywhere. And your 3.4, if reported, might drag you down given your 170.

pancakes3 wrote:You're not explaining your academic history correctly bc right now it sounds like you finished at Brown and only Brown, and graduated of which ~90 credits were pass/fail.

That's exactly what I'm saying, lol.

Sophomore year through Senior year I took all Pass/Fail classes. Brown allows you to do that and graduate.

My question is, will the admissions officer just throw out my application because there are so many Pass/Fail classes?

I know other Brown students have gotten into top law schools, but I'm unsure if they've ever taken this many Pass/Fails.

They'll care more about your 3.4 than they'll care about your pass/fail courses (which are excluded entirely by LSAC when they make their calculation). Of course I'm sure it doesn't help you at the margins. You should probably retake so you have like a 174+, so that you'll be above the 75th percentile for CCN and down. You'll never get a full ride or anything, but that'll at least give you some negotiating room.

I think you should either ask your pre-law adviser in your university or call LSAC and see what they'll make out of your transcript.

Right now there are two things you might consider doing: 1) retake LSAT and get a 175+ 2) write a killer PS/DS about your serious health issues