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I started my undergraduate experience in the night program, so I already have a somewhat irregular credit spread. I took summer and winter classes, and if I continue to do so, I will have the 120 credits I need for my political science BA by the end of four years. Lately though, I've been thinking about transferring to a different school with a more diverse selection of courses and programs, and doubling majoring (most likely in something like economics that gives me more career options). If I do so in the timeline that I have set up, then I'll wind up taking five to five and a half years total before I graduate.

My main concern (besides money) at the moment is whether law school admissions look negatively upon taking more than the typical four years to graduate. More specifically, would this have a negative impact on my chances for upper T14 (T6+) admissions?

They don't give two shits. A 4.0 that takes 7 years is still greater than a 3.8 finished in 3 years.

Fish127 wrote:My main concern (besides money) at the moment is whether law school admissions look negatively upon taking more than the typical four years to graduate. More specifically, would this have a negative impact on my chances for upper T14 (T6+) admissions?

Not important at all. If you were padding your GPA with a bunch of easy CC classes, Y and S (and maybe H to some extent) would look negatively upon your decision, but that's obviously not anything like what you'd be doing.

It won't matter. Taking more than 4 years is almost as common as graduating "on time" is these days. Add in the fact that you started PT, transferred, and added a major and no one will bat an eye at your extended timeline.

Took me like 8. No one gave a shit. I don't even know how they could tell. I would assume they just see your LSAC GPA.

MarkfromWI wrote:It won't matter. Taking more than 4 years is almost as common as graduating "on time" is these days. Add in the fact that you started PT, transferred, and added a major and no one will bat an eye at your extended timeline.

I've known more than just a handful of people who took more time to graduate solely to boost GPA. They added another major, often times.

JJ123 wrote:Took me like 8. No one gave a shit. I don't even know how they could tell. I would assume they just see your LSAC GPA.

They would know because they see your entire transcript which is broken down by semester/quarter/etc.