Next to your LSAT score, your GPA is the most important thing on your law school application. Like it or not, those numbers hold the greatest weight in your likelihood of getting into a particular school. Unlike your LSAT score, though, your GPA has another facet to it: your transcript. Whether your transcript has a positive or negative effect on your application depends on what’s on it.
Let’s take a look at what your transcript can say about you. Before we start, though, a disclaimer: not everyone’s transcript will be analyzed. I imagine that the people who run the greatest risk or chance of having their transcript reviewed fall into a few categories.
- Splitters (e.g., those with a high LSAT/low GPA or low LSAT/high GPA combo).
- Those with a good GPA that could have been a great GPA had they not messed up one or two semesters.
- Those with a lower GPA but who undertook a non-traditional (for law school) major, such as a hard science or math.
- Those who attended more than one undergraduate institution.
- Non-traditional applicants, particularly those that have been out of school for a while and may not have had the best GPA when they were in school.
If you’re a PoliSci major (or any other “traditional” law school major) with a 3.5+ GPA, I don’t think your transcript will be scrutinized in any fashion. You can rest easy. For those of you that will get scrutinized, though, let’s see what the different aspects of your transcript may say.
Your Grade Trend
What pattern do your grades follow? Do they start off strong and go down as you go progress through college? Or are they weak at the start and get stronger? What if they start off weak and never improve? Do they fluctuate up and down throughout your college career? All these different scenarios will say different things about you.
The Decline
If you start off with strong grades that get weaker, it may indicate that they can’t handle more advanced courses. This assumption stems from the typical college career, with general courses in the beginning and more advanced, specialized courses later.
Moving on Up
If you begin with weak grades that get stronger, you can make a good case about your potential and maturity. You can easily argue that you had a hard time at the start of college, for whatever reason that may be. Whether it was your first time on your own, you went crazy for a semester, etc. But, then you got your act together and excelled when it mattered most! This also looks better than those with a downward grade trend since your highest grades are most recent.
Consistently Weak
In the even that you have weak grades that never get better, you have a lot of explaining to do. Hopefully, you have an LSAT score that belies these grades! Or, perhaps you pursued a major that is known to be objectively difficult and preferably at a university that has a reputation for being exceptional in that field. Keep in mind that neither of these makes the transcript look better. After all, a low GPA is a low GPA. If someone comes along with a higher GPA in the same discipline, they are looked at much more favorably. It may, however, take some of the edge off. However, a weak GPA is never a good thing, no matter how many reasons you can point to for it. If law school is your eventual goal, then aim for a 3.5+. No real two ways about it.
No Consistency
If your grade trends are all over the place, you probably have it worse than any other trends we’re going over. If there is no true trend, it can be taken to be an unknown quantity. There’s no rhyme or reason for your performance—sometimes you do well, sometimes you don’t. Class types, subjects, times of the year; none of these seem to make any difference or create a pattern. Law schools might look at this grade trend and wonder which student they will get. If you fit in this category, especially if it’s in conjunction with a less-than-stellar GPA, address it in an addendum.
Your Class Selection
Ah, the great debate over class selection. Some say that it doesn’t matter which major or classes you take, as long as you get that coveted 4.0. Needless to say, I’m on the dissenting camp. I believe an “A” in Underwater Basket-weaving will not be considered the same as an “A” in Advanced Calculus. Call me old-fashioned, but I judge a person’s academic prowess and potential based on the difficulty of their courses. I’m willing to bet AdComs do the same. I’ll go further and says an “A” in Underwater Basket-weaving won’t hold a candle to a “B-” in Advanced Calculus.
The moral of the story? Don’t pick classes because they look easy. Pick classes because they complement your major and will challenge you. Then do well in them. If you end up doing not-so-well in them, at least you can fall back on the “it was a truly difficult course” excuse. You can’t do that if you get a “C” in Dog Walking 101.
Your Major
There’s a lot of chatter about what constitutes a “good” major if you’re planning on going to law school. I’m of the opinion that any major that is reading-, research-, and writing-intensive is good, even if it’s not in the realm of the “traditional” law school majors (PoliSci, Econ, English, etc.). People with notoriously difficult majors (Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Math, Engineering, etc) will get a little more leniency if their grades aren’t stellar. Not only have professors in these disciplines been found to be tough graders, the subjects are also tough in and of themselves.
On the other hand, much like with class selection, those that take the painless way out major in the super-easy just for the sake of an easy “A” may also be looked upon not as favorably. Above all, law schools want to see that you can handle the rigor of law school classes, and that you are ready for the academic intensity that they will entail. Yes, your major should be interesting and easy for you to be engaged in–but it should also speak to your academic potential.
Your Major GPA vs. Your Overall GPA
Some students have a high major GPA, and a low overall GPA, or viceversa. This can be due to a number of things, but you should be prepared for what this major vs. overall GPA scenario might say about you. If your major is, for example, in a hard science, and you did very well in it, but did very poorly in the less-scientific/more right-brain classes outside of your major, law schools may see you a risky candidate–law school classes, although they are certainly rooted in analysis, also require subjective and intuitive skills.
On the other hand, if you’re overall GPA is a good one, but your major GPA is poor, that may say that you lose interest in delving deeply in a subject, and that you do better when you have multiple subjects to choose from and study at once. While that might say wonderful things about your personality, it may make law schools a little leery–law school (any professional or graduate program, really) is about advanced study in a single field. If you haven’t shown that you can focus intensely on one subject and succeed in it, what will happen when you have to study nothing but law for three years?
Your Undergraduate Institution
I am a big believer in that your undergraduate institution really doesn’t hold that much weight (if any) during the law school admissions process. Don’t believe me? Check out Harvard Law’s list of undergraduate institutions represented during the 2010-2011 school year. It’s not just the Ivy League represented–there are plenty of state universities, small private colleges, and liberal arts institutions, too. Where you come from doesn’t matter as much as how you did when you were there. Instead of worrying about the relative “prestige” of your institution, worry about doing well in your classes while you’re there..
Some may say that taking the time to scrutinize your transcript like this borders on the obsessive and overly analytical. While I agree, to an extent, I also believe that knowing what all the different aspects of your application say about you is also incredibly beneficial. It is only by learning to listen to your application that you will be able to put together the most effective admissions package, and increase your overall chances of acceptance. Take the time to hear what your transcript (and all the other parts of your application) are saying, so that you can better harness their words.
Hello,
I graduated from Baruch college with a 3.69 GPA overall. My Major GPA in Finance was a 3.88 and my Psych. Minor GPA was a 4.0 and my Law Minor GPA was a 3.77. I failed a calculus course but my school replaced the grade when I retook it (I got a B in the course). Now my LSAC GPA is a 3.6. Over the past 5 semesters my GPA was a 3.87. I want to get into a top 14 law school, preferably NYU and Columbia. Do you think that they will overlook my 3.6 LSAC GPA and take my Baruch college GPA of a 3.69 as more indicative of my academic standing? I’m nervous that they will deny me because of my GPA.
The reason that I failed the course is that I failed the final. Baruch has a policy for Finance that if you fail the Final, you fail the class. I scored in the mid 80’s on my exam’s and was going to get a B or B- in the course if I didn’t fail the final.
Hi Matthew,
Thanks for the message. The unfortunate fact here is that the schools will use the LSAC GPA because that’s the one that “counts” as far as reporting to the ABA and US News. It is, essentially, the number they are tied to since it’s the official one on your record. I know that’s unfair, but this policy has been in place for decades, and many people have been adversely affected by it. So, there’s no changing it for now.
What I would do is write a GPA addendum explaining what happened, taking responsibility, and indicating that your subsequent grades are more indicative of who you are. It won’t completely offset the lower GPA, but it will help a little.
Good luck!
Hi!
I’m 20 and applying this cycle does being young and not having any full time work experience hurt my chances?
Hi Sebastian,
Nope, won’t hurt you at all! You are what is called a K-JD, where you go from undergrad right to law school, and it is one of the most common paths for lawyers. Also, keep in mind that law school is not like business school, for example, where at least 2 years of full-time business experience is basically a requirement.
So, you are good!
Thank you! So I know that a lot of T14 like northwestern have 90% of the class a year or more out of school. Does that mean that the majority of people applying are people who are out of school for a year or they are the ones getting accepted?
Each school is different, but keep in mind that a year out of school–or more–can be for many different reasons: gap year, travel, fellowships, part-time jobs, studying for the LSAT, etc. Going straight to law school from undergrad is totally normal! If you want more data, look at the schools individually as that’s where there are differences, and use their 509 disclosures as needed: http://abarequireddisclosures.org/.
Thanks!
Hi!
Thanks for all this helpful information. I’m on the fence on whether or not to add an addendum to my application and would love some advice. LSAT aside (taking it soon!) I graduated from a strong liberal arts school with just above a 3.5 GPA, however, I had a rough 2nd semester freshman year. I wound up getting a C and two B- because the professor of the Spanish class I was enrolled in (where I got the C), refused to help me outside of class other than telling me to study twice as hard and drop my extracurriculars. My academic advisor- incorrectly- encouraged me to stick with the course instead of taking the W, and unfortunately I was unable to handle the pressure of performing well in that class in addition to the 4 other courses I was enrolled in (hence 2 B- and an overall bad semester gpa). I’m confident that that professor no longer works for the university, and my semester GPAs were 3.5+ for the remainder of my time at school. Plus, the semester before and after this course, I received A- in both Spanish. I’ve been working for over a year now and plan to apply this cycle. Do you think it’s worth explaining this semester to law schools? I didn’t end up with a bad overall GPA and so I don’t know if it’s necessary, but I also want to cover all my bases.
Apologies for the lengthy post and thank you so much in advance for your advice!
Hi Rachel,
Thanks for the message! I’d be wary of writing an addendum that contains the description of events you have here (even if improved). the fundamental problem is that your message is one where you didn’t get along with a professor, and this sent you into a tailspin that derailed an entire semester. Now fast forward to law school, and the adcomms know how tough law school can be. In effect, you’d be sending a message that trouble with a class could be destabilizing. Now, I’m sure that’s not the case, but that’s the underlying message that goes along with that story. So, if you do choose to address that one bad semester, I’d focus on some other aspect of what occurred, not the professor.
Thanks!
Hi,
I started out taking Chemical Engineering as my major in college. My GPA wasn’t horrible but wasn’t great at the time (around a 3.0). I also started going through some serious medical issues that landed me in and out of the hospital (I missed several weeks of consecutive semesters). I changed my major, found a proper treatment, and ended up being able to pull my GPA to a 3.4 (3.76 major GPA in Human Development). I’ve been working for 2 years in a great job and have excellent recommendations. Is this going to screw me out of getting into a good school?
Hi Rachel,
Thanks for your question! The good news here is that you still can get into a good law school! A 3.4 is in the 25th percentile range for many law schools. For reference, this is a helpful tool that you can use to enter your GPA and projected LSAT score: https://officialguide.lsac.org/Release/UGPALSAT/UGPALSAT.aspx. This will provide you with a helpful breakdown of how you would measure up, and you can specifically look at schools you have in mind!
If you’re concerned that your GPA might affect your admissions chances, you could (and should!) consider writing an addendum (https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/whats-the-deal-with-addenda/). You will want to explain your past medical circumstances similar to how you did in this post. Addenda are supposed to be very matter-of-fact: here’s what happened, here’s how it affected my performance, here’s how I managed to recover and learn from that experience.
Also, the one major aspect you haven’t mentioned here is your LSAT score, which can be one of the largest deciding factors in a law school application — a stellar score can sway an application acceptance in your favor! For some information about students applying with a lower GPA/high LSAT score (typically called being a “splitter”) you can refer to this blog post: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/which-law-schools-are-splitter-friendly/.
Thanks!
Hello, I received an NC for a science course that was outside my major. I have a really good GPA and I am really worried about the science course that I didn’t even need to bring me down with this LSAC rule. I still have two years to go so I am trying to get an even better GPA to offset the class, but I am really worried. Do S/NC even if they do not affect your GPA at your institution count against you in LSAC? Thus receiving a 0?
Hi Mary!
If the institution you attend considers a grade of NC nonpunitive, the NC will not have any impact on the LSAC (Law School Admissions Council) GPA–which is very important to the admission process. Feel free to check out LSAC’s full policy on grades excluded from conversion here.
Thank you for the very useful info! I have a question of my own. I am currently a freshman at a community college in California hoping to attend a t14 law school in the future. My predicament is that I have taken 2 Ws in the same math class. The reason I dropped the class the first time was because of a family issue and the second time was because I made a mistake and overloaded my schedule. I currently have a 4.0 and have changed my major from finance to philosophy to hopefully allow me to keep my gpa as high as possible. Will these two Ws look as bad as I think they will? Once again thank you for the info and any feedback would be much appreciated.
Hi James!
If the community college you attend considers withdraw grades nonpunitive, the Ws will not have any impact on the LSAC (Law School Admissions Council) GPA–which is very important to the admission process. Therefore, a first or second withdraw won’t be viewed as negative, and is often better than a D or an F in a course, for instance.
Hi!
Thank you so much for your great information! I have a transcript that reflects a weaker start/high finish. I came into a highly competitive pre-med school as such, and I struggled my first two semesters as I tried to figure out what I really wanted to do. My first two semesters were 3.2 and a 3.0 after I got a C in intro bio. Once I figured out what I wanted to do (Bioethics and History), I’ve had a 3.78 since – with one B+. I’m aiming for a T14 school with a dual masters in either PH or History (haven’t decided yet), and my cumulative GPA so far is a 3.5. I’m hoping for an LSAT >170 and I am preparing ~1 yr in advance. Do you think I have a shot? Do you have any advice? Thank you so much in advance.
Hi Hannah,
Thanks for the question! We would encourage you to utilize one of our favorite resources for researching data on nearly all of the ABA-approved schools in North America: LSAC’s LSAT/GPA Calculator. This tool allows you to input your undergraduate GPA and your highest LSAT score (or the score you’re realistically aiming for), and get feedback on where each stands relative to attendees at individual schools, as well as your likely odds of duplicating that result on those figures.
If your numbers are at or above the 75th percentile, your chances are (numerically-speaking) high. At that point, your job is to make sure your softs (personal statement, résumé, letters of recommendation, any addenda and supplemental essays) are good enough that they don’t hinder you.
Assuming that you’re still in college–it would be in your best interest to continue to establish a solid GPA (there are no do-overs when it comes to that 4.0, after all), consider letters of recommendation early (develop relationships with professors), join a pre-law group, like Phi Alpha Delta (it’s hard to understate the value at this stage in immersing yourself in a like-minded community), become, or remain an active daily reader, and when you do begin to prepare for the LSAT, start early and find the option that suits you best and is likely to produce the most profound results, without feeling overly-constrained by your budget (How to Choose the Best LSAT Prep Option).
Thank you!
Hi,
So I’m one of the people with the ‘started off with a weak GPA and got stronger’ situations described and I’m curious if I have a chance at going to law school (I’d want to go to BC, BU or northeastern). I transferred second semester freshman year with a 3.85 GPA from a community college but once I got to umass amherst I did terribly. It was a combination of going from a town with 5000 people to a school with 30,000 and my classes. My freshman year I had no idea what I wanted to major in or do with my life and took a Calc class, economic class and philosophy class and did not do great.. and by not great I mean I got a 2.6. The semester after that I ended up getting a 2.9, then a 3.3 and then around a 3.7 each semester since – sometimes a bit higher. I did well in all my upper level polisci classes (because I finally found something I enjoyed) but my overall GPA is now a 3.34 which I know is on the very low end. SO my question is: what should I aim for as a LSAT score? And how bad is my GPA compared for these school?
I hope you can help
Hi Ash,
Please note that the LSAT is scored on a scale of 120-180, with a majority of test takers scoring between 150-154. Feel free to utilize one of our favorite resources for researching data on nearly all of the ABA-approved schools in North America: LSAC’s LSAT/GPA Calculator. This tool allows you to input your undergraduate GPA and your highest LSAT score (in your case, you may input a median score of 150), and get feedback on where each stands relative to attendees at individual schools, as well as your likely odds of duplicating that result on those figures. It’s not a crystal ball of course, but it should give you a reasonably accurate estimation of how you’ll fare as you send off applications, and to help determine what LSAT score you should aim for. Thank you!
Hi!
I came into college with 30 credits from high school. With my major and two minors I’ve still only had to take 12-13 credits every semester with one semester of 15 credits, even taking a variety of classes. I have an overall gpa of 3.85. I’ve never pass failed a class, withdrawn or taken easy A classes. However, will law schools think negatively of me because I haven’t taken 15 credits each semester?
Hi Cydney,
If a law school does analyze your transcript, they will typically look at your grade trend, class selection, major, GPA, and where you attended undergrad. Therefore no, only taking 15 credits per semester will not reflect negatively. Please keep in mind that your LSAT score and GPA will be the most important thing on your law school application, and not everyone’s transcript will be evaluated. Feel free to check out our Free Admissions Help page for more LSAT and Law School tips, tricks, and advice here: https://www.powerscore.com/lsat/law-school-admissions/help/.
Hi there,
My situation is pretty unconventional and I was hoping you could help me better understand my options/chances for top law schools (all T14). Any and all information you can provide will be very helpful!
I spent my freshman year at a rigorous, BFA performance (musical theatre) program — one of the best in the country. However, not long after i arrived, I realized that what I was studying was not what I loved. Past that, I got sick, I was diagnosed with depression (living thousands of miles away from home for the first time) and, as I’m sure you can imagine, my grades weren’t stellar. I probably averaged around a 3.3 GPA between both semesters spent at the school, with one D+ and a few C’s scattered throughout. Keep in mind, all of the classes I took were performance based; voice, performance studies, jazz dance, music theory, ballet, camera acting and many more. This is the case for any big BFA program — in my case, it was pretty much purely theater and music. After that year, I moved back home to save money and started attending community college studying political science and journalism. At CC I was regularly on the deans list, graduated with high honors, and was very involved in student life and campus culture (3.88 GPA). Now, am finishing my degree at UCB and am performing consistently well academically. How will law schools see my academic history? I know my GPA will be slightly affected by my freshman year grades, but do you think that my freshman year grades/courses being completely unrelated to my degree will hold any bearing on the decision, especially given my consistent good performance in my major courses and all courses taken since community college? Is showing an upward trend of this kind something law schools will care about? I’m very interested in Stanford, Cal, UCLA, many ivies, and other east coast/midwestern private schools.
Of course, this is all assuming my LSAT score is in the right range. I’m aiming for as close to or above 170 as possible. However, LSAT aside, What do you think I’m looking at given my academic history? are the schools I am aiming for within my reach, or am I in risky territory?
Thanks again! I really enjoyed the read. Anything you can tell me would be helpful! I loved reading your responses to the other comments — really informative!
Hi Ryan,
Thanks for the message, and the kind comments! If you enjoyed the discussions here, you might also like those at https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/scholarship-vs-prestige-when-to-take-the-money-and-run/. The discussion of school options is pretty interesting as well, although a little jumbled at the moment as we move to this new blog format 🙂
In your case, they will ask questions of your history so I’d plan on including a GPA addendum in your application where you explain what happened. You don’t want to leave possible negative question marks in an application otherwise they fill in their own negative answer! In the addendum explain everything that happened, take ownership of it, and further explain how that spurred changes and helped you get where you are today. That will go a long way towards mitigating concerns.
Your cumulative GPA is the one that schools will be looking at, and so everything will get calculated in and factored. That’s just the way it is :/ While the upward trend is a definite positive, it’s that final GPA number that holds the weight. How that plays around the medians of each school will have a big impact, but you can offset those concerns with a higher-than-median LSAT score. Your LSAT will work to balance any lingering GPA concerns. Think about it this way: if a school saw your GPA history but then a high LSAT, they’d think, “Okay, had some early issues but straightened them out and clearly has the ability to do well.” But if your LSAT comes in low, it will further call into question what happened academically. So the LSAT can be a bandage of sorts, or open the wound deeper. After you graduate, pour your efforts into the test and hopefully it will come in where you want it.
Best of luck and let us know if we can help you on that LSAT front (we know a little bit about it). Thanks!
I am going into my fifth and final year of my undergraduate (double major + a minor). The past four years I’ve been full-time, taking five or four classes per semester. After the death of my mother in February I dropped a class because of the stress of it all…. and I finished the semester with only three credits (which is still full time but not a full course load).
I am debating whether I should take five classes in the fall and finish my degree or if I should take the semester off to prepare for the LSAT and then do a full semester in the winter, or take three classes in the fall and three in the winter to retain full-time status for the entire year. What would you recommend?
Do law schools take the number of courses per semester into account?
Hi Maria,
Thanks for the question! They will look at that, but it’s not a point of problem for them unless they see wild gyrations in your class load.Here, you could explain what happened with your mother and that would be the end of the concern.
As for your class load, I can say that schools want you to use your time in what they consider a productive fashion. And oddly, they don’t look favorably on taking semesters off to study for the LSAT (it’s a wholly contradictory position for them to take given how much weight they put on it, but that’s a debate for another day). So, I’d recommend the 3-3 class lineup over the 0-5 lineup. the 5-0 lineup would also work, assuming you can study for the LSAT in there successfully. So, for me it would be that schedule or the 3-3 schedule, depending on your personal preferences and how you feel about the workload.
Please let me know if that helps. Thanks!