<p>First off, in terms of grad school/law school/post grad opportunities, you should be completely fine. To be competitive for very good law schools (i.e. top 10 schools) from Chicago, you need around a 3.6 GPA, and you should be there within a year. If you’re interested in law school, get your GPA in the 3.6-3.7 range, and then really just concentrate on DOMINATING the LSAT. The LSAT is really the key factor - if you can get a great score, you’ll be a very persuasive candidate. If you have a high LSAT score and a good GPA from a respected school like Chicago, you’re in great shape. </p>
<p>For grad school in humanities, they only really care about the GPA for the major, and you should be fine there too. It sounds like you have a great GPA in your major, and the Chicago rep does absolutely great on the grad school front. If you are interested in MA or PhD programs, I’d concentrate on keeping your GPA up of course, but also forming good relationships with good professors who’d be willing to write you recs. Great recs and showing you’re a good fit for a program is key to the grad school admissions game. </p>
<p>For post-grad opportunities, it really depends what you want to do. I’d say a Marshall or Rhodes would be out of reach, but Chicago has a great tradition with the fulbright program, and good Chicago students are always in the running for that. Again, just like w grad school apps, focus on creating a persuasive research topic and make sure you have references who will be willing to go to bat for you. </p>
<p>From what I know, student marshals generally have a 3.8+, and PBK usually starts around 3.7. You should be in the running for PBK. Student Marshal is harder to predict just because, well, it’s really hard to attain. </p>
<p>The beauty about Chicago’s trimester system is that, of course, a trimester will only count for 1/3 of your year end’s GPA, whereas in a semester, it’s 1/2 your year end’s GPA. So basically, at Chicago, you have more chances to make up for one poor trimester. Also, if you really wanted, you could take electives at Chicago over the summer - the extra session of classes could boost your overall GPA even more by throwing some more good grades onto your transcript. It’s worth considering if you’re really driven to get as high a GPA as possible. </p>
<p>Right now, that one bad trimester is behind you. Go forward knowing you’re pretty much still in the running for everything - don’t lose focus, keep working hard, and make sure you push that GPA up and up. Good luck!</p>