Top Law Schools

So here's my story: I'm a dual citizen here in the us and another country. I attended college overseas as an undergrad and did a double degree in law and econ. I dropped the law component for various reasons,, one of which is that I wanted to move back to the us so I didn't think an australian law degree helps much. Unfortunately in the process I failed my torts class. My questions are: how much can this hurt me all things equal (good gpa and lsat) and how should I explain it in my personal statement?

Thanks in advance

Hi. American law schools will probably look at your bad grade in Torts as they would any bad grade from college. The work you did as an undergrad most likely will not be considered as classes done as part of the law degree, although your work qualifies as part of a law degree in australia. If your GPA is good, I wouldn't worry too much about it. You just should explain your bad grade in an addendum.

Strange wrote:My questions are: how much can this hurt me all things equal (good gpa and lsat) and how should I explain it in my personal statement?

Do not under any circumstance attempt to explain away a bad grade in a personal statement. If you feel it's necessary to address, do so in an addendum. In your case, I wouldn't even bother with an addendum since all it will do is draw attention to an irrelevant part of your transcript. If you have a compelling reason for failing that class (i.e. you had the flu on exam day, your mom died right before your final paper was due, etc.) then it probably would be okay to do an addendum. Otherwise, it will probably do more harm than good.

Do you even have a reportable GPA? If not, you probably don't have to worry about anything since your apps will get considered mostly on the merits of your LSAT score.

joebloe wrote:Do you even have a reportable GPA? If not, you probably don't have to worry about anything since your apps will get considered mostly on the merits of your LSAT score.

This is my second question. I spent two years studying overseas, then about a year and a half here in the US (did some summer school to speed it up). I have a GPA for the US obviously, but they don't use that overseas. Should I be finding some third party to combine my GPA's or just reporting my American one?

LSAC will report your GPA, and they will probably only use your "american" one

I am going to bump this because I just got the CAS report I'm a little concerned.

This study included 14 courses in economics, for which his grade average was in the superior range, and 2 courses in law, one of which was failed

LSAC decided to mention this again elsewhere in the report too. Thanks guys!

Should I be worried and should I write an addendum for this? Just want to hear more input if possible.

Strange wrote:I am going to bump this because I just got the CAS report I'm a little concerned.

This study included 14 courses in economics, for which his grade average was in the superior range, and 2 courses in law, one of which was failed

LSAC decided to mention this again elsewhere in the report too. Thanks guys!

Should I be worried and should I write an addendum for this? Just want to hear more input if possible.

Definitely write an addendum for a failing grade. They'll be curious about any outlier, and an F (or failed class) with no acknowledgement looks suspicious. However, at the end of the day, when it comes to grades, adcomms just care about your GPA. I wouldn't worry about it too much if the rest of your application is strong; just address it.

I had an outlier grade as well and my cycle turned out ever-so-slightly better than my numbers would indicate.

Good luck!