Diminishing returns on GPA's above 4.0? Forum

[xnsch]

So I know this is kind of a funny question and I guess the definition of a first world problem in the realm of law school admissions, but I wonder if there are any marginal gains on GPA's above 4.0? At my school I'm a double-major with Economics, and in my Economics department there's a pretty strict curve that applies to every class(5% A+'s, 15% As, etc. or something like that). So through my econ major I've been able to wrack up quite a few A+'s which have made my cumulative LSAC GPA something like 4.16. Is there any benefit to having a GPA that far above a 4.0 for schools like HYS? Or are the marginal returns past 4.0 really minuscule?

[emkay625]

I don't think anyone can really answer this question for you, because there's probably a very small sample size. Maybe go on LSN and do a search for GPAs 4.0 and above with a small LSAT score range and see if there are vast differences between applicants with say a 4.0/172 and a 4.1/172. My guess is that no, there's not much of a difference, but I am just making that up.

[Bearlyalive]

Yeah, probably no good way to tell. It should not really matter that much for you as an individual, though. Your GPA will not (obviously) hold your application back for any school, but you'll still need to nail the LSAT. Applying with a 4.12 and a 175 versus a 4.05 and a 175, your numbers are not going to matter at that point; it will be a matter of the rest of your application materials to determine which full rides you get, which you don't, and whether or not you're a special enough snowflake for YLS.

(Not meaning to disparage anyone who is special enough for YLS, but rather to poking fun at myself).

[xnsch]

Yeah, probably no good way to tell. It should not really matter that much for you as an individual, though. Your GPA will not (obviously) hold your application back for any school, but you'll still need to nail the LSAT. Applying with a 4.12 and a 175 versus a 4.05 and a 175, your numbers are not going to matter at that point; it will be a matter of the rest of your application materials to determine which full rides you get, which you don't, and whether or not you're a special enough snowflake for YLS.

(Not meaning to disparage anyone who is special enough for YLS, but rather to poking fun at myself).

Figured as much. Not that I really worried/cared much about, was just curious whether I should give a damn about racking up more A+'s anymore in the future haha