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I was gleefully entering my LSAT and GPA stats into every online admission predictor I could find, and coming up with chances at Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, etc...only to sit down and actually recalculate what my LSAC CAS GPA will be to find out I don't have a 3.9, I actually have a 3.67.

I'm of the firm belief that there should be some sort of time limit to LSAC's grade recalculations. How many of us non-traditional older students spent a few semesters blowing off community college or technical classes when we were 19? Or maybe not completely blowing off those classes, but certainly not trying as hard as we would now that we know we want to go to law school?

Ten years seems like an appropriate cut-off time. It just sucks that what I did 10 years ago is coming back to haunt me, and that my dreams of an T14/ivy education are literally over because I was 19 and acting like I was 19.

Ok, *whine/ complaint/ rant over*

3.67 Can still get you some excellent outcomes. I think you're going to be just fine.

retake

artistar wrote:I was gleefully entering my LSAT and GPA stats into every online admission predictor I could find, and coming up with chances at Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, etc...only to sit down and actually recalculate what my LSAC CAS GPA will be to find out I don't have a 3.9, I actually have a 3.67.

I'm of the firm belief that there should be some sort of time limit to LSAC's grade recalculations. How many of us non-traditional older students spent a few semesters blowing off community college or technical classes when we were 19? Or maybe not completely blowing off those classes, but certainly not trying as hard as we would now that we know we want to go to law school?

Ten years seems like an appropriate cut-off time. It just sucks that what I did 10 years ago is coming back to haunt me, and that my dreams of an T14/ivy education are literally over because I was 19 and acting like I was 19.

Ok, *whine/ complaint/ rant over*

Have you sent in your transcripts to LSAC and have gotten an official LSAC GPA? If concerned about it, I would send in my transcripts for for peace of mind.

Either way a 3.67 is still very solid

you can still get into Harvard

Broncos15 wrote:Have you sent in your transcripts to LSAC and have gotten an official LSAC GPA? If concerned about it, I would send in my transcripts for for peace of mind.

Either way a 3.67 is still very solid

Yeah, I'd kill for that.

But I hear you OP. I hate having a 5 credit C on my GPA because a high school math teacher handed the class over to an 11th grader. But it is what it is, gotta work with what you got.

.

It DOES really suck, and I agree that stuff you did 10 years ago shouldn't drag you down, but if you were competitive for YHSC at 3.9/(Your LSAT) then you can still land HC at 3.67/(Your LSAT) and can DEFINITELY still achieve your dream of a T14 or Ivy education

That's brutal, but it's not going to kill your application. Schools are going to go through your transcript and see that. Not sure where your LSAT is, but that's definitely one place you can show Adcoms what kind of a student you are in the present.

Good luck

What's your lsat score?

You guys and gals are very, very nice. And I mean that, it's not just th alcohol talking...

I'm actually devising a plan to re-take one CC course this summer (found out my CC removes the previous grade if you take the exact same course over at their school) and to take a new course with a fav old professor of mine that I know I can get a 4.o from. The re-take course would be with another old prof I know. I've calculated those two 4.0's to bump my GPA up by 0.01 points.

Doing a gap year after my bachelors and getting all A's senior year (easy - I've only gotten A's at my new college) would bump me up to a whopping 3.72 (from a 3.67). Better, but no 3.9.....

I solidly pt at 170. Can't seem to break higher. That is part of the reason I am so upset: that GPA was a shoe-in at HYS! And all I had to do was work on the LSAT score by a few points. Now? Who knows...

Thanks again, all.

Post removed.

^ Correct, mornincounselor, good to post that warning out to people reading this!

I have not yet gotten my bachelor's degree. I checked with both LSAC and my CC to confirm I can still override that course, even though I graduated with my AA. LSAC said they don't count both grades IF the college removes or does not count the first grade, which is what my particular CC does.
What LSAC said was any courses above 100-level taken before you get a bachelor's are courses they count. So this summer is my last chance to take CC courses to bump up my GPA before I graduate.

Everyone should check their CC's policy on counting grades of re-taken courses before enrolling to boost GPA.

I'd make sure to have it very clear/get it writing from LSAC before you retake classes because generally I've heard they wont count retaken classes as well.

^ good idea

I think that counting your Yale acceptance before it hatched without even an LSAT score on file is part of your problem.

I think I'd focus on the LSAT for now, that's your ticket to a good school. Getting a 3.7 won't do much good if you end up with like a 163.

artistar wrote:^ good idea

A funny thing: according to my calculations, there seems to be more of a GPA boost if I take a brand new course and get a 4.0 than if I re-take a 3.4 and replace it with a 4.0.

Does that make sense? Math is not my strong point (part of the reason my GPA went down )

There is no way that a 3.4 being replaced by a 4.0 will have a smaller impact than a 3.4 and a 4.0 co existing on your transcript. If they are both there it is two 3.7s, which is basically what you are at now - while a 4.0 improves the gpa slightly and the 3.4 drags it down slightly.

Edited: LSAC will count all grades shown.

Sorry to hijack this....but I thought too that even if you got a C in a class and later re-took for an A LSAC would count both grades in the LSAC GPA calculation even if one's UG school takes just the higher grade.

I have two C's which I may look to replace if that's the case

edited:

This is from lsac's page under "Grades excluded from conversion":

"The original grade for a repeated course when the transcript does not show both the grade and the units for the original attempt. The total number of credits assigned to these grades will appear on the applicant's academic summary, but will not be included in the GPA calculation."

artistar wrote:

Broncos15 wrote:Sorry to hijack this....but I thought too that even if you got a C in a class and later re-took for an A LSAC would count both grades in the LSAC GPA calculation even if one's UG school takes just the higher grade.

I have two C's which I may look to replace if that's the case

This is from lsac's page under "Grades excluded from conversion":

"The original grade for a repeated course when the transcript does not show both the grade and the units for the original attempt. The total number of credits assigned to these grades will appear on the applicant's academic summary, but will not be included in the GPA calculation."

So if your college only counts the second attempt, lsac will only count the second attempt.

Be careful OP regarding this part of the rule. I'm not sure if it applies to you and your school

Mine states" When a course is repeated by an undergraduate student in an attempt to earn a grade higher than C, D, F, or U, only the highest grade will be used for the degree audit. However, the grades for all courses taken in residence at the University will remain on the student's permanent record"

So in other words even though my college only counts the highest grade, LSAC will still count the lower grade on the transcript.

tldr: Be sure you can get those lower grades completely removed first if at all possible

Thanks, Broncos15.

artistar wrote:It just sucks that what I did 10 years ago is coming back to haunt me, and that my dreams of an T14/ivy education are literally over because I was 19 and acting like I was 19.

Try applying at age 30 with a gpa set in stone from years 18-21. I found schools in the lower T14 were willing to discount grades in favor of subsequent achievement, but I had no shot at the top schools even with a very good LSAT.

Not sure if this has been said, but a 3.9/170 is far from a shoe-in at HYS dude. You're far below their LSAT median, and even Columbia's LSAT median. You can get into H with a 3.67 but you need to clear their LSAT median (and preferably their 75th percentile).

PeanutsNJam wrote:Not sure if this has been said, but a 3.9/170 is far from a shoe-in at HYS dude. You're far below their LSAT median, and even Columbia's LSAT median. You can get into H with a 3.67 but you need to clear their LSAT median (and preferably their 75th percentile).

And the OP doesn't even have an LSAT score