Top Law Schools

I have 4 W grades (withdrawals) on my transcript and 2 non-punitive Fs (they were remedial/developmental courses, so they are not factored into my GPA). The Fs are from 2017 when I started community college and took basic foundational math and English courses but I just stopped attending mid way through the semester due to family issues and medical issues.

Assuming my GPA is 3.9+ and my LSAT score is 170+, will top law school admissions care about the non-punitive Ws and Fs on my transcript? There is also like a 3 year gap between where I started attending community college, dropped out, and then started attending a different university again where I stayed and graduated.

I was thinking of including an addendum to explain the grades and discrepancies, but that might make them look closer into it which may or may not be worse. But I would assure them that it's not a recurring problem.

Thank you.

You definitely don't need to explain the Ws.

The Fs might be a different story. When you say they're non-punitive, does your transcript actually say that these were remedial courses? It doesn't matter if your community college "counted" the courses; LSAC has its own standards for which grades it includes in calculating your LSAC GPA, which is the only thing that counts. And if I recall correctly, "remedial" courses need to be explicitly marked as such on your transcript for LSAC to ignore them.

cavalier1138 wrote: ↑

Tue May 25, 2021 9:50 am

You definitely don't need to explain the Ws.

The Fs might be a different story. When you say they're non-punitive, does your transcript actually say that these were remedial courses? It doesn't matter if your community college "counted" the courses; LSAC has its own standards for which grades it includes in calculating your LSAC GPA, which is the only thing that counts. And if I recall correctly, "remedial" courses need to be explicitly marked as such on your transcript for LSAC to ignore them.

The transcript does state that they are remedial/developmental courses. They are marked as "R" and "R" is equal to "Developmental Education" according to my transcript.

Should I explain the education gap? I started attending community college, dropped out for 4 years, then started attending university again. I should finish the degree 4 years like a normal student (although it sort of also took 8 years if the gap from when I first started matters)

Thank you.

zizzie wrote: ↑

Tue May 25, 2021 11:47 am

The transcript does state that they are remedial/developmental courses. They are marked as "R" and "R" is equal to "Developmental Education" according to my transcript.

Correction to my last post, I just took a look at my official transcripts and the 2 Fs are marked as credit-based "College Preparatory" course rather than outright "remedial courses". They are both under level 100 though.

Should I be concerned that the LSAC might include them in the grade conversion, or would it be obvious enough that they're remedial courses?

Here is an image: https://i.imgur.com/GCsLoZl.png

Thank you.

zizzie wrote: ↑

Tue May 25, 2021 1:36 pm

I just took a look at my official transcripts and the 2 Fs are marked as credit-based "College Preparatory" course rather than outright "remedial courses". They are both under level 100 though.

The sub-100 designation does not necessarily mean LSAC will count them as remedial. I think this would be worth a call to LSAC, describing exactly how the courses appear on your transcript and asking whether LSAC would consider those to be "remedial" courses.

zizzie wrote: ↑

Tue May 25, 2021 11:47 am

Should I explain the education gap? I started attending community college, dropped out for 4 years, then started attending university again. I should finish the degree 4 years like a normal student (although it sort of also took 8 years if the gap from when I first started matters)

I would include a short addendum on this. It won't make a difference, but you generally don't want to leave adcomms guessing about why you took an unusual educational path.

cavalier1138 wrote: ↑

Tue May 25, 2021 1:41 pm

The sub-100 designation does not necessarily mean LSAC will count them as remedial. I think this would be worth a call to LSAC, describing exactly how the courses appear on your transcript and asking whether LSAC would consider those to be "remedial" courses.

LSAC was not able to give me a definitive reply and said that they don't want to accidentally misguide me. They said that the determination will be made once my transcripts are processed. But I still have over a year left to graduate so that'll be a while.

I assume that I can make a case for them being remedial courses. According to the course description, the courses do not go towards a degree. They do give "compensatory credits" but I think that's for financial aid reasons.

I also assume the reason they gave it the "R" indicator was because it stands for Remedial. "College Preparatory" classes are synonymous with "remedial" classes at my community college. I just wish the distinction was more clear on my transcripts just in case LSAC misinterprets it.