GPA Trends, or Lack Thereof Forum

[510Chicken]

I tried bumping my old thread to ask this, but people just answered the original question instead so...

People talk about the (slight?) benefits of a positive GPA trend. I wanted to know if the opposite was true. Do lower grades look bad? More importantly, what if there is no trend? I have a mid 3.8- right now and figure the best way to maintain it is to take fewer classes, mostly for pass/no pass. That means I'll only be taking about 8-16 graded units over the next two quarters. To be fair, several of those classes are just general education requirements, but I want to make sure that it won't look too bad. Thanks.

[09042014]

I tried bumping my old thread to ask this, but people just answered the original question instead so...

People talk about the (slight?) benefits of a positive GPA trend. I wanted to know if the opposite was true. Do lower grades look bad? More importantly, what if there is no trend? I have a mid 3.8- right now and figure the best way to maintain it is to take fewer classes, mostly for pass/no pass. That means I'll only be taking about 8-16 graded units over the next two quarters. To be fair, several of those classes are just general education requirements, but I want to make sure that it won't look too bad. Thanks.

Nah brah, you need an upward climb or you have NO CHANCE. It's why 4.0's don't get accepted. They didn't do any better.

[Knock]

I tried bumping my old thread to ask this, but people just answered the original question instead so...

People talk about the (slight?) benefits of a positive GPA trend. I wanted to know if the opposite was true. Do lower grades look bad? More importantly, what if there is no trend? I have a mid 3.8- right now and figure the best way to maintain it is to take fewer classes, mostly for pass/no pass. That means I'll only be taking about 8-16 graded units over the next two quarters. To be fair, several of those classes are just general education requirements, but I want to make sure that it won't look too bad. Thanks.

Trends basically don't matter. They're kind of useful for showing the committee you've matured if you have a strong positive trend after a bad freshman year, but it's not going to hurt you. It basically comes down to LSAC GPA.

I think you're probably playing it smart, if you have a mid 3.8 and think the best way to maintain it is to maintain fewer units, then go for it (assuming you will graduate on time).