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I had just graduated as a finance major with a 3.0 GPA. I’m currently on my way to becoming a financial advisor. However, I’d decided to go to law school because I want something more than just working at a retail bank. I’d wrote the LSAT and I scored a 171. The school (UofT) I’m interested in has a median LSAT of 167 so I’m confident that my LSAT is enough to for admission. However, their median GPA is 3.8 so clearly my GPA is insufficient. I think I can gain admission for a few low-tier law schools but I’m still in my early 20s so I’d rather wait and graduate from the best law school in Canada.
I can complete another BA part-time at an accredited institution different from my alma mater taking the same courses and receiving the same degree as full-time students. It’ll be a heavy workload but I think it’s doable. However, I’m not sure how law schools will reconcile my GPAs from two undergraduate programs.
An alternative is that I can apply for a graduate program and hope to do really well in that. But, I don’t think graduate GPAs matter for law school admissions.
Finally, I can just apply to a second or even third-tier law school right now. I may get in, but I’m worried about the job prospects of those graduating from such schools.
What should I do? I really want to erase the scar of my poor GPA. Is it even feasible?
I had just graduated as a finance major with a 3.0 GPA. I’m currently on my way to becoming a financial advisor. However, I’d decided to go to law school because I want something more than just working at a retail bank. I’d wrote the LSAT and I scored a 171. The school (UofT) I’m interested in has a median LSAT of 167 so I’m confident that my LSAT is enough to for admission. However, their median GPA is 3.8 so clearly my GPA is insufficient. I think I can gain admission for a few low-tier law schools but I’m still in my early 20s so I’d rather wait and graduate from the best law school in Canada.
I can complete another BA part-time at an accredited institution different from my alma mater taking the same courses and receiving the same degree as full-time students. It’ll be a heavy workload but I think it’s doable. However, I’m not sure how law schools will reconcile my GPAs from two undergraduate programs.
An alternative is that I can apply for a graduate program and hope to do really well in that. But, I don’t think graduate GPAs matter for law school admissions.
Finally, I can just apply to a second or even third-tier law school right now. I may get in, but I’m worried about the job prospects of those graduating from such schools.
What should I do? I really want to erase the scar of my poor GPA. Is it even feasible?
A bunch of questions:
a) do you really want to be a lawyer? a pervasive interest or a current interest?
b) why did you rack up a 3.0 GPA...I'm not judging...but was it because of work, having fun, tough major?
c) are we talking about UT-Austin or U-Tennessee? OK, I backed up, you mean University of Toronto. Did you go to UT as an undergrad or somewhere else?
d) you talk about best law school in Canada - you mean McGill? I'm sure they'd be super competitive, too.
e) how do LSAT scores line up with percentiles? Their numbers are weird. Most other standardized tests work off of 800.
f) people do go to law school with graduate degrees. I'm sure they would factor it in, but don't know how they'd "reconcile" the two. You should talk to someone in several law school admissions departments anonymously to find out
g) I think a lower-tier law school is risky in this day and age
Your LSAT score is excellent. I'm not sure how law school admissions in Canada works, but you can never erase or completely replace your undergrad degree grades. It's your "perminent record" so to speak.
Either way, elite law schools are a crap shoot, but I'm sure with a 171 you'd probably get into a competitive one even with a 3.0.
Your LSAC GPA (ie the one that matters) is only based off the grades earned toward your first bachelor's. Getting a second degree won't matter much, although since Canadian law schools aren't so rankings-driven, they may actually take that significantly into account. As for American schools, your best shot at getting into a good school would be by EDing to Penn, Michigan, or UVA. Northwestern might accept you RD with a couple years' work experience, but probably not straight out of undergrad. Keep in mind you'd have to pay full freight at these schools with your numbers. If you're among the 70-80% or so who either get a top-paying private sector job, or whose public sector work qualifies for loan repayment assistance, you will be fine. But if you're in that small but still significant minority who ends up underemployed or unemployed, you'll be in pretty big trouble, especially since law school debt is nondischargable in the event of bankruptcy.
Try posting on top-law-schools.com for more information. It can be a bit over dramatic at times, but the regular posters generally know what they're talking about.
LSAT is weighted heavily by some schools.
T14 or bust. Only first degree grades matter as I've been told by multiple sources.
I think a couple schools near the bottom of T14 would at least be interested.
That's interesting to know. I think people could mature and do better. At least it keeps the OP from embarking on something that won't pay off for law school admission.
I had just graduated as a finance major with a 3.0 GPA. I’m currently on my way to becoming a financial advisor. However, I’d decided to go to law school because I want something more than just working at a retail bank. I’d wrote the LSAT and I scored a 171. The school (UofT) I’m interested in has a median LSAT of 167 so I’m confident that my LSAT is enough to for admission. However, their median GPA is 3.8 so clearly my GPA is insufficient. I think I can gain admission for a few low-tier law schools but I’m still in my early 20s so I’d rather wait and graduate from the best law school in Canada.
I can complete another BA part-time at an accredited institution different from my alma mater taking the same courses and receiving the same degree as full-time students. It’ll be a heavy workload but I think it’s doable. However, I’m not sure how law schools will reconcile my GPAs from two undergraduate programs.
An alternative is that I can apply for a graduate program and hope to do really well in that. But, I don’t think graduate GPAs matter for law school admissions.
Finally, I can just apply to a second or even third-tier law school right now. I may get in, but I’m worried about the job prospects of those graduating from such schools.
What should I do? I really want to erase the scar of my poor GPA. Is it even feasible?
Don't do it. No point. And yes, they do look at graduate school GPA's in law school admissions.
i'm not sure if its the same with canadian law schools, but in the US some of the schools on the lower end of the top-14 really value work experience. you could potentially use work experience to offset a less-than-stellar gpa, esp when you're bringing in a decent LSAT score as well. however this could be a problem if you're looking into law school because you're struggling to find work experience
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