Terrible undergrad GPA, decent graduate GPA Forum

[j.anderson]

Hi,
I tried searching for a similar situation to mine, but didn't find any.
I am originally from Europe, where I graduated with a 2.6 GPA (business administration). I got accepted into a strategic management master's program where I had a 3.4 GPA (high percentile for the school), which got me headhunted by a company in London. I wasn't able to juggle a full time job in a foreign country and a master's thesis, so I never finished my thesis and never received my master's degree. Unfortunately I can no longer receive dispensation to complete my thesis and graduate.

For the past eight years, I've been working as a technical/regulatory consultant. The last two years I have been engaged in consumer privacy regulatory work, all in the European Union.

I haven't yet taken the LSAT, but have been consistently scoring 175+ in my practice tests.

My wife and I currently live in the DC area, but are going to relocate to the bay area, so my question is whether the above information would at all enable me to get into Stanford or Berkeley.

Have at it, but be gentle.

[goldeneye]

Your undergraduate GPA is all that matters. And with that GPA, you'll have trouble at those schools as they like high GPAs. A solid LSAT in the 170s could get you into Northwestern or UVA with decent money.

[Big Dog]

My wife and I currently live in the DC area, but are going to relocate to the bay area, so my question is whether the above information would at all enable me to get into Stanford or Berkeley.

Highly unlikely. Sorry, there is no way to make this gentle, either. While UC loves non-traditionals, they are GPA-focused. A high GPA is much better for Cal than a high LSAT.

[j.anderson]

Not to worry.
I suppose I should have spent my undergrad years in school rather than traveling around, but who in their right mind would prefer accounting over south east Asia?

After reading a few articles, I read that the reason graduate work isn't considered is that it's graded differently than undergraduate classes. Forgive me for my ignorance of the US school system, but is this really the case?

The classes in my master's program were graded on the exact same scale as my undergrad ones.

Edit: and, of course, thank you very much for your quick replies.

[Tiago Splitter]

Not to worry.
I suppose I should have spent my undergrad years in school rather than traveling around, but who in their right mind would prefer accounting over south east Asia?

After reading a few articles, I read that the reason graduate work isn't considered is that it's graded differently than undergraduate classes. Forgive me for my ignorance of the US school system, but is this really the case?

The classes in my master's program were graded on the exact same scale as my undergrad ones.

Graduate GPAs in the US do tend to be higher across the board, but the real reason schools only care about your UG GPA is because it's the only thing the US News rankings take into account.

All you can do is shoot for a 180 on the LSAT and perfect the rest of your app in hopes of getting them to look past that GPA from many years ago. It's possible, but typically California schools aren't kind to splitters.

[bailey8078]

In my program anything lower than a B- was considered failing/had to be retaken.

[j.anderson]

Not to worry.
I suppose I should have spent my undergrad years in school rather than traveling around, but who in their right mind would prefer accounting over south east Asia?

After reading a few articles, I read that the reason graduate work isn't considered is that it's graded differently than undergraduate classes. Forgive me for my ignorance of the US school system, but is this really the case?

The classes in my master's program were graded on the exact same scale as my undergrad ones.

Graduate GPAs in the US do tend to be higher across the board, but the real reason schools only care about your UG GPA is because it's the only thing the US News rankings take into account.

All you can do is shoot for a 180 on the LSAT and perfect the rest of your app in hopes of getting them to look past that GPA from many years ago. It's possible, but typically California schools aren't kind to splitters.

Very high grades in graduate programs are pretty rare where I'm from, since the material is much harder than undergrad level.

I'll see if I can score 180 in the June tests and submit applications. If the worst that can happen is a denial, I think I can live with that.

I graduated in 2002, fwiw, so it is quite a while ago, but I have pretty good letters of recommendation from two of my former professors as well as my current boss who is the director of legal affairs. I also TA'd the freshmen graduate students in my second year. So I think my softs are OK at least.

Anyway, again many thanks for your help.

[stuckinthemiddle]

WAIT.

As an international, doesn't his GPA not count (except for maybe being labeled as "average" by LSAC)? In which case, his LSAT would carry all the weight?

[Tom Joad]

WAIT.

As an international, doesn't his GPA not count (except for maybe being labeled as "average" by LSAC)? In which case, his LSAT would carry all the weight?

Yeah, that is what I am thinking. The guy may be slightly boned, but not totally boned.

[j.anderson]

Wahey!

Guess I'll have to find a different theme to my PS now. But I can live with that!

Thanks again.