Page 1 of 1

LSDAS GPA and Plus/Minuses

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 4:01 pm
by wehman
Hello,

My brother went to med school and during his application process had to fill out his GPA according to the courses he took and the corresponding grade. Then AAMCO (I think that's the achronym?) generated his GPA; however, when applying, a few medical colleges did not calculate +/- and simply rounded them off.

In my case, in 20 courses so far I have 15/20 A's and 5 Bs. Therefore, if there are any top law schools that do not calculate the +/-'s and round them off, I would love to know.

Have any of you heard of any decent (top 50) law schools doing this? It would significantly increase my GPA for their admissions.

Thank you.

Re: LSDAS GPA and Plus/Minuses

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 4:05 pm
by Bildungsroman
The school considers the LSDAS GPA, which factors +/- grades into its calculations. I have never heard of law school not considering +/-. Why wouldn't they?

Re: LSDAS GPA and Plus/Minuses

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 4:19 pm
by wehman
I am not sure why they wouldn't unless maybe for regional reasons. For example, at the University of South Carolina undergraduate school, they utilize the 10 point grading scale. There are no +/-'s. So, as opposed to assuming a USC A is the same as a JMU A as many law schools probably do now, a school could just remove all +/-'s to level the playing field? However, there are losses both ways.

The medical school in Galveston, Texas was where my brother's GPA was calculated according to a 10 point grading scale thus increasing his overall GPA. Just curious if there was anything like that in the world of law schools.

Re: LSDAS GPA and Plus/Minuses

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 4:27 pm
by merichard87
Law schools use the CAS system which factors +/-. The law school themselves do not do their own gpa calculation.

Re: LSDAS GPA and Plus/Minuses

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 7:20 pm
by gdane
You know what sucks even more? An undergrad in which +/- grades were seldomly given by political science professors. Just realized this a few weeks ago. My GPA is severely underinflated. Sucks when an 89 gives you a B and not a B+ or A-. Oh well...

Re: LSDAS GPA and Plus/Minuses

Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 8:15 pm
by im_blue
Every law school counts the LSDAS GPA, which includes +/- (A+ = 4.33, A- = 3.67, etc). Why? Because LSDAS GPA is reported as ABA data, which is used in US News rankings.

Re: LSDAS GPA and Plus/Minuses

Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 8:45 am
by wehman
What if your school doesn't give A+?

Re: LSDAS GPA and Plus/Minuses

Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 10:04 am
by merichard87
Then you get A=4.0, B=3.0. It sucks but it is what it is.

Re: LSDAS GPA and Plus/Minuses

Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 3:57 pm
by Canarsie
wehman wrote:What if your school doesn't give A+?
mine doesn't either. definitely sucks but i am sure there are plenty of applicants in this group, even if many are not.

Re: LSDAS GPA and Plus/Minuses

Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 4:06 pm
by D-ROCCA
This site should answer all your questions about LSAC GPA conversion.

--LinkRemoved--

Re: LSDAS GPA and Plus/Minuses

Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 6:32 pm
by im_blue
wehman wrote:What if your school doesn't give A+?
Doesn't matter, then you can't get the 4.33.