What if you have NO GPA? Forum

[BalanceCare]

Does anyone have experience or knowledge of application results for people who have NO reportable UG GPA? (I.e, from attending one of the handful of American schools that does not use a traditional grading system.) I'm especially interested in results from T6 applications.

In such a case, does the applicant's LSAT basically stand on its own, such that if you have school's 75th percentile you're in good shape because it helps their reported numbers and they don't have to worry about reporting your grades?

Or does it hurt the applicant because even with a strong LSAT the adcomms look at you as an unproven quantity? Transcripts from these schools do reveal a great deal of information about an applicant's academic skills but they can't be summed up in a single #.

thanks for your help.

[ben4847]

What kind of school?

[Anonymous Loser]

I attended a UG that did not utilize a traditional grading system, and this was not an issue in either the law school application process or my job search. While such grading systems are not common, most schools likely receive a few non-GPA applications every cycle.

I got the sense that my UG performance was assumed equivalent to my LSAT performance--i.e., if my LSAT was above the 75%, then my application was treated as if I had a GPA above the 75% as well. I don't know how the lack of a GPA changes U.S. News reporting requirements.

[BalanceCare]

What kind of school?

The schools I have in mind are private liberal arts schools.

I attended a UG that did not utilize a traditional grading system, and this was not an issue in either the law school application process or my job search. While such grading systems are not common, most schools likely receive a few non-GPA applications every cycle.

I got the sense that my UG performance was assumed equivalent to my LSAT performance--i.e., if my LSAT was above the 75%, then my application was treated as if I had a GPA above the 75% as well. I don't know how the lack of a GPA changes U.S. News reporting requirements.

Thanks. This is exactly the kind of info I'm looking for.

[twenty]

A friend of mine applied this last cycle with no GPA. He had a 168 LSAT, and ended up taking a full ride at UMinn. He mentioned that for the most part, schools were either ecstatic and offered him tons of money, or otherwise he got outright dinged at schools that he should have been a lock at. There's a few caveats I should put on this, though -- he had no academic LORs, and he applied in mid-January. So there certainly could have been other reasons, too.

If I were you, I'd take the LSAT super seriously. Consider yourself lucky that you're potentially getting away with having a GPA above every school's 75th, and prepare for the LSAT accordingly.

[fatduck]

[JamMasterJ]

A friend of mine applied this last cycle with no GPA. He had a 168 LSAT, and ended up taking a full ride at UMinn. He mentioned that for the most part, schools were either ecstatic and offered him tons of money, or otherwise he got outright dinged at schools that he should have been a lock at. There's a few caveats I should put on this, though -- he had no academic LORs, and he applied in mid-January. So there certainly could have been other reasons, too.

If I were you, I'd take the LSAT super seriously. Consider yourself lucky that you're potentially getting away with having a GPA above every school's 75th, and prepare for the LSAT accordingly.

I think it's more like having a gpa of exactly median, since it won't affect the school's median at all.

[Yukos]

What kind of school?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampshire_College
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_College_of_Florida

Oh, and of course, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_law_school

[shntn]

What kind of school?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampshire_College
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_College_of_Florida

Oh, and of course, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_law_school

Sarah Lawrence as well. My friend transferred out of there after freshman year, and her professors just all gave her A's for the purposes of her transfer app. If not for that, she would have graduated with no technical GPA either. I'm sure law schools have dealt with cases like this before. Makes me wish I'd gone to a school like that, if they really do just look at the LSAT and assume that the GPA is roughly similar in percentile terms.