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Hey fellow TLSers,

So midterms just ended at my LAC, and our deadline to drop courses w/o penalty is tomorrow. I want to know whether you think I should drop my sociological theory class, which I am anticipating getting a B+ in.

Reasons to drop:
- I'm not a sociology major, just took the class because I really like the professor who teaches it, and I did well in his past classes.
- I'll be applying to law school next fall, during my Senior year, and I'd like to raise my GPA up to 3.8 to have a shot at T6. With a B+ I won't be able to make it out of the low-mid 3.7s.
- I studied for LSAT a little bit this summer and PTed in the high 160s, so with studying for LSAT being my main goal this coming summer (7sage and Powerscore Bibles seem to be to way to go, as well as all the PTs), I'm hoping to score in the 173-174 range, and have a shot at Harvard.

Reasons to not drop:
- Dropping this class will make it so that I'm in just 3 (read: three) classes this term. This is not a problem for now, as we are required to take 3-5 classes each term, and need 32 to graduate (8 semester x 4 classes), but it means I will have to take 5 next semester.
- I'm worried that law schools will not consider my academic record rigorous enough if they see I was only enrolled in 3 classes in semester. On the flip side, however, I'm quite convinced that they don't really care about anything beyond raw GPA (which is what they report, not your number of classes), but then again when everyone has your numbers, admissions counselors must look for something to differentiate applicants.

Any and all advice would be appreciated!

Hello,


While I certainly do not know all the facts of your particular situation, I will try to provide as much insight as possible as it relates to how I would handle this, while standing in your shoes.


At first glance it seems like you have more compelling reasons to drop than not.

I will tell you that it is MUCH harder to recover from getting a bad grade in a class (not that a B+ is bad, but we are still only anticipating a max of a B+ correct?). I do not know that scale your school runs on but when I got a few A- it would bring down my GPA and I had to have many semesters of a 4.0 to recover the loss. Something to think about.

In terms of schools not considering it rigorous enough, I very much so doubt that they will hold that against you, especially if you consider a strong GPA and strong LSAT.

A loss in GPA now means you HAVE to work harder in your GPA down the road AND a stronger LSAT down the road. What happens if this same situation presents itself down the road once more??

Not to discourage you, but unless you think you can come away from this with a >B+ 100% guaranteed I would consider dropping, but thats just me and I am crazy. Barring any form of timeline issues or financial issues or excessive drops, I think it is wiser to fold now and win big later.


I am so sorry if I am discouraging, but I can only offer what I would do. What I can tell you is this. Law Schools are very very poopy when it comes to rankings, and although they may say it is not important, they care. They care cause we care. If this is the case, then numbers like GPA/LSAT/Acceptance Rates/Transfer Rates/URMs/ all play a factor in ranking. It is my view that they will do what they can to preserve or improve those numbers over rejecting you cause you took 3 classes as opposed to 4 in Fall 2016, but then 5 in Spring 2017.

I was in the position and I dropped the course and had to take an additional class in spring but made sure I was on my game. It was a reset, but we dont get many resets in school. Play it smart always and perhaps learn from this.

Again sorry if I am coming off as anything less than helpful, encouraging, and loving. But it sucks that law schools love numbers, despite what they say.

Best!

Will you be able to get straight A's next semester taking 5 classes though? If you're struggling (Not that a B+ is struggling, but it is relative to your goals) with 4 this semester, what makes you think you'll run the board next semester?

Completely agree with btruj777. Bringing GPA to 3.8 is more important than having 4 classes this semester instead of 3 if you are still OK in terms of credit hours requirement per semester and you are sure that you can get As in 5 classes next semester. I dropped a class that I didn't really need, and I knew that I would not get an A in it, and I am glad I did. But I was still taking 4 classes after dropping that one. Good luck with the decision!