Question about CAS--I failed 2 classes at Community College--HELP?

Neonzeus
Fri, 28 Dec 2012 12:21:42 +0000

Don’t panic. Yes all of the credits will be taken into account for the GPA that is sent with your applications. You can also submit a personal statement to explain the Fs and semesters that were rough.

It’s frustrating since the LCAS GPA appears to be most signficant for admission cut-off purposes (although applicants do flag their GPAs in their majors). You have a LOT of company. Plan on preparing extra-hard for the LSAT, since that component of your application will be critical. You might end up being a “splitter,” with a higher LSAT score and a lower GPA. The application process is rockier for splitters, since schools’ are harder to predict for splitters. (If you’re going to be a splitter, it’s reportedly much better to have a high LSAT score and lower GPA than the reverse.)

My kid also had some rough classes as a college freshman, and later achieved a high GPA. He was stressed out too when he realized that his first semester’s grades brought down his LCAS GPA. He submitted a personal statement with his applications, explaining his first semester grades. He got onto a few wait-lists where his GPA was in the lower 25% of admitted student profiles. He doesn’t know whether the personal statement explaining the GPA, the fact his transcript showed a big improvement, or other soft factors were the reason that he made it onto wait lists. He ultimately was admitted to a wait-list school, did really well and transferred to a much higher ranked school. He passed the bar and got a job this summer, so this story has a happy ending – although this was obviously doing it the hard way and there were negatives. For example, you don’t get scholarship $ when you get admitted off a wait list, and transferring can mean that you lose law review or opportunities for OCI (2L summer job) interviews.

I’m assuming that you can’t be talked out of law school, by the way. Many of my kid’s classmates are still job hunting. It’s as bad as everyone says.