Huge grade drop after transfer from Community College. Forum

[CPAlawHopefu]

I transferred to a 4 year university from a community college.

My community college GPA is a 3.8, with two B+ and rest of them A's. Then came the transfer, and I managed to get an F on one of the courses (I didn't take the final due to personal issues) and ended the term with a 1.9 GPA (academic warning was given). I then slowly made my way back up but I wouldn't necessarily say that it was a continuous upward trend because I was alternating between 3.1-3.5 GPA every quarter. I finished the school with a 3.05 GPA (only considering the 4 year university grades).

Cumulatively speaking, my LSAC GPA comes to 3.46. So I'm one of the lucky students that benefited big from the LSAC calculation, but my Academic Report created by LSAC shows that my GPA at the 4 year university is only at 20th % (they didn't have enough data to calculate % for my community college).

If I'm applying to a law school with a median GPA between 3.3 and 3.4, even if I am technically above the median, will I be penalized for the horrendous grade at the 4 year university where I actually completed my Bachelor's? Or will the AdCom not really care and just consider the LSAC GPA?

[seashell.economy]

I've heard mixed things about this. People on TLS will say that adcomms will only care about your LSAC GPA. If you talk to adcomms they will maintain they take a holistic view of all your grades in all your classes, considering rises (or drops) in grades as you work through your UG years.