Multiple BA & an MA degree. Chances at a top 20? Forum

[sschoonm]

As a non-traditional applicant - current age is 41, I have a BS in Finance in 2003 with 2.8 GPA from the U. of Denver. I later transferred those credits into the U. of Colorado - Denver and got an additional BA in Philosophy with a 3.5 GPA earned in 2010. After that, I completed an MA in Philosophy with a 3.8 GPA from California State University, Los Angeles. My LSAT is 171. I have years of professional experience in software development for 3 years and a finance job for 5 years. It's tough to know if I'll be viewed as a splitter with only using the DU GPA or if I'll be more competitive by only using the 3.5 GPA from CU Denver. I keep reading that graduate degrees don't count, but helps with a holistic picture. Any input would be helpful.

[nixy]

Unfortunately, the UGPA that will count is your 2.8 from your first bachelor’s - that’s when it’s set in stone for LSAC purposes. Your other academic accomplishments will be helpful in showing adcomms that your UGPA doesn’t reflect your current ability to succeed in law school, but the 2.8 is what they’ll have to report for rankings purposes, so you will be a fairly extreme splitter. You may well have some decent outcomes (depending on what your goals are) but you will have to apply broadly as your cycle will be unpredictable.

[cavalier1138]

Everything nixy said is correct. I just have to add the obvious question: Why do you want to go to law school?

[CanadianWolf]

Everything nixy said is correct. I just have to add the obvious question: Why do you want to go to law school?

Agree with all of the above.

Depending upon your career goals, a one year masters specialty degree in business may be an option for you to consider.