Pass/fail Credit and Applying to Top Tier Schools Forum

[nawi2014]

Hi there.

I've been scouting out some of the law schools that I would like apply to this autumn and I was wondering if you all might know anything about school policies toward pass/fail credit.

My situation is a bit complicated - I have graduated a year early with a year's worth of study abroad credit from Japan that was all pass/fail. It wasn't by choice, however, because the program policy was that any and all credit received through that particular program would be on a P/F grading scale. What this means, then, is that I have just four semesters worth of class credit that counted towards my overall GPA. It's ~3.78 and I haven't taken the LSAT yet, but am hoping for a score in the upper 160s or lower 170s, at least.

I was an active member of a community service fraternity (APO), an officer in the International Studies honor society (Sigma Iota Rho), the Vice President of my university's International Student Council, and was involved in several other extracurriculars. I took a couple graduate level law classes in Japan and I will also be finishing up my degree this summer in Mexico while working with NGOs that serve to protect local indigenous civil + land rights.

If applying to schools like NYU, Columbia, George Washington, etc, etc, what do you think?

Appreciate any comments, opinions, or advice

[papercut]

Hi there.

I've been scouting out some of the law schools that I would like apply to this autumn and I was wondering if you all might know anything about school policies toward pass/fail credit.

My situation is a bit complicated - I have graduated a year early with a year's worth of study abroad credit from Japan that was all pass/fail. It wasn't by choice, however, because the program policy was that any and all credit received through that particular program would be on a P/F grading scale. What this means, then, is that I have just four semesters worth of class credit that counted towards my overall GPA. It's ~3.78 and I haven't taken the LSAT yet, but am hoping for a score in the upper 160s or lower 170s, at least.

I was an active member of a community service fraternity (APO), an officer in the International Studies honor society (Sigma Iota Rho), the Vice President of my university's International Student Council, and was involved in several other extracurriculars. I took a couple graduate level law classes in Japan and I will also be finishing up my degree this summer in Mexico while working with NGOs that serve to protect local indigenous civil + land rights.

If applying to schools like NYU, Columbia, George Washington, etc, etc, what do you think?

Appreciate any comments, opinions, or advice

P/F courses will hurt if you fail, because the F's will count in your LSADS gpa.

The fact that half of your credits are P/F will raise some eyebrows, but if you hit the mid 170s on the LSAT, you should be fine at the schools you mentioned.

[nawi2014]

Thank you for your response.

I didn't fail any of the aforementioned P/F classes, so it's reassuring to hear that from you. Of course I am concerned about the sheer quantity of them, but in many ways I am hoping that the fact of the international experience that I got in the process will make up for it since I want to study international law. I was barely 19 when I went and law school wasn't exactly the strict plan at the time until I had already been there a semester anyway

[papercut]

Thank you for your response.

I didn't fail any of the aforementioned P/F classes, so it's reassuring to hear that from you. Of course I am concerned about the sheer quantity of them, but in many ways I am hoping that the fact of the international experience that I got in the process will make up for it since I want to study international law. I was barely 19 when I went and law school wasn't exactly the strict plan at the time until I had already been there a semester anyway

Unless you're a URM, a horrible writer, or have no clue what topic is appropriate for a PS, nothing but your GPA and LSAT score will matter enough to worry about.

Just make the LSAT your bitch and everything will be fine.

[twenty]

You must have at least 60 graded credits, or else LSAC will not give you a calculated GPA. That will HUGELY affect your cycle if that's true.

[nawi2014]

Thank you for the warning! Would be bad if I didn't.

At any rate, that's not a concern. I have more than 60 "quality hours" as my university calls it. I'm not even sure they allow you to graduate without at least that.

I do have one withdrawal on my transcript from my freshman year due to time constraints, but it isn't factored into my GPA on any forms. I know that the LSAC counts withdrawals in the GPA calculation, but does it calculate only those that the university factors into the GPA or would mine be considered an F?

[twenty]

if it's punitive (which would be like a "withdraw-fail") it will count as an F. If it's non-punitive (i.e, withdraw, medical-withdraw) then it won't be factored.