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I'm wondering if anyone has applied with a similar situation, and how you felt your GPA was interpreted:

In order to get my bachelor's in 3 years, I took classes in high school and during summers from community and state colleges. My degree-granting GPA (notably, not a community or state college) is 3.768, major GPA is above 3.9, but when you figure in those summer classes to get my overall GPA they drag it down to a 3.7.

I take the LSAT in October so I won't know until then, but on timed practice tests I've been scoring in the 170's - as high as 178 but not usually lower than 172.

I guess what I'm getting at is: has anyone with an equally messy undergrad transcript (and relatively unremarkable GPA) applied to upper T14? Do you think I'd have any chance?

paige.r wrote:I'm wondering if anyone has applied with a similar situation, and how you felt your GPA was interpreted:

In order to get my bachelor's in 3 years, I took classes in high school and during summers from community and state colleges. My degree-granting GPA (notably, not a community or state college) is 3.768, major GPA is above 3.9, but when you figure in those summer classes to get my overall GPA they drag it down to a 3.7.

I take the LSAT in October so I won't know until then, but on timed practice tests I've been scoring in the 170's - as high as 178 but not usually lower than 172.

I guess what I'm getting at is: has anyone with an equally messy undergrad transcript (and relatively unremarkable GPA) applied to upper T14? Do you think I'd have any chance?

I was in an eerily similar situation. I took classes at a CC my senior year of HS, transferred to another college, and graduated from a third college; I wrote an addendum describing why I seemingly bounced from college to college, but after this past cycle, I have no reason to believe AdComms had any problem with it. The fact that you've attended three (or more?) separate institutions will probably not adversely affect your chances at the T14, although your GPA may. To the extent that AdComms may be curious as to why you attended so many different colleges, it wouldn't hurt to write an explanatory addendum.

Regarding your upper T14 chances: If you do indeed score in the mid-170s, you'll have a decent shot at CCN with an outside shot (~25%) at H:

Thanks so much! I hadn't actually thought of writing an addendum regarding my transcript; for some reason in my mind those were only for Really Bad Things like illnesses or a death in the family that affected a semester's grades. I think you're right, though, that it would be a good chance to explain why my transcript looks the way it does so that they don't assume it's a result of lack of direction or not following through.