Non-Traditional GPA/ Experience

[army76]

Hello,

Graduated class of '08 w/ a BBA in Management. My cum GPA is 3.12.  Have been in the financial world for last 8 years.  Do law schools put as much weight on grades with that much work experience?  Also, I have 14 years of service with National Guard with two deploymentsunder my belt.  I'm hoping this will be beneficial as well. Comments are greatly appreciated!!

[J.A.A.N.]

Hi. Your work experience and NG experience will probably be great "soft factors" and should work to your advantage (to an extent). The best thing you can do is arm yourself with a really high LSAT (assuming you want a T14 or even Tier 1 law school). The higher the better in your case.

[army76]

Thanks, J.A.A.N

Depending on my financial situation I would rather attend FT instead of PT. Working on paying debts down to accomplish this.  I will be applying in Fall '09 to start in Fall '10.  Does adding a minor after undergraduate help in cum GPA?

[J.A.A.N.]

Thanks, J.A.A.N

Depending on my financial situation I would rather attend FT instead of PT. Working on paying debts down to accomplish this.  I will be applying in Fall '09 to start in Fall '10.  Does adding a minor after undergraduate help in cum GPA?

I'm not sure whether adding a minor is really worth it since it takes so much to significantly raise a GPA. To answer your question, however, any college-level courses you take will be factored into your cum GPA by LSAC.

[Susan B. Anthony]

Thanks, J.A.A.N

Depending on my financial situation I would rather attend FT instead of PT. Working on paying debts down to accomplish this.  I will be applying in Fall '09 to start in Fall '10.  Does adding a minor after undergraduate help in cum GPA?

I'm not sure whether adding a minor is really worth it since it takes so much to significantly raise a GPA. To answer your question, however, any college-level courses you take will be factored into your cum GPA by LSAC.

Not once an undergraduate degree is awarded they won't.

[mbw]

Thanks, J.A.A.N

Depending on my financial situation I would rather attend FT instead of PT. Working on paying debts down to accomplish this.  I will be applying in Fall '09 to start in Fall '10.  Does adding a minor after undergraduate help in cum GPA?

I'm not sure whether adding a minor is really worth it since it takes so much to significantly raise a GPA. To answer your question, however, any college-level courses you take will be factored into your cum GPA by LSAC.

Incorrect.  Post-graduation, no classes are included in your LSAC UGPA.

By the time you're ten years post-UG, your UGPA is considered much less relevant.  However, adcomms still need to see that you have the academic ability to succeed in law school, and so will place much more emphasis on your LSAT.

Work experience is a great soft factor, as is military experience.  However, your LSAT will most likely be the determining factor as to which "tier" of schools you can successfully apply.

[J.A.A.N.]

Thanks, J.A.A.N

Depending on my financial situation I would rather attend FT instead of PT. Working on paying debts down to accomplish this.  I will be applying in Fall '09 to start in Fall '10.  Does adding a minor after undergraduate help in cum GPA?

I'm not sure whether adding a minor is really worth it since it takes so much to significantly raise a GPA. To answer your question, however, any college-level courses you take will be factored into your cum GPA by LSAC.

Not once an undergraduate degree is awarded they won't.

Sorry for the m.i. Thanks for the correction!

[dissident]

Everybody on this board seems to rave about soft factors like work experience.  I would put all of my effort into getting a high LSAT score.  I finished my B.A. 8 years ago, have great soft factors inculding a 4.0 M.A. and several years academic work experience.

Everywhere I was accepted, I think I would have been accepted with no soft factors.  The only things that mattered were my undegrad GPA and my LSAT score.  In fact, no where that I applied with median LSAT and GPA scores accepted me.  I was well over in one or both categories in all the schools that accepted me.  I was waitlisted at two schools where I was median though.

Does anyone on this board have a story about soft factors helping him? 

Maybe you will have better luck with the process, but I think a great LSAT score is your best chance.

[mbw]

Everybody on this board seems to rave about soft factors like work experience.  I would put all of my effort into getting a high LSAT score.  I finished my B.A. 8 years ago, have great soft factors inculding a 4.0 M.A. and several years academic work experience.

Everywhere I was accepted, I think I would have been accepted with no soft factors.  The only things that mattered were my undegrad GPA and my LSAT score.  In fact, no where that I applied with median LSAT and GPA scores accepted me.  I was well over in one or both categories in all the schools that accepted me.  I was waitlisted at two schools where I was median though.

Does anyone on this board have a story about soft factors helping him? 

Maybe you will have better luck with the process, but I think a great LSAT score is your best chance.

These may be strong soft factors, but are they actually that unusual, e.g., in the pool of your peers, do they make you stand out?  Many non-trads have advanced degrees, and academia is not an uncommon field of work.  Not to diminish your success in your previous accomplishments, but if soft factors do make a difference, it's typically because they're unusual.

And yes, there are quite a few soft factor success stories on LSD, including some in this cycle.

[jack24]

This is just my opinion and it may not hold true to your experience, but I come from a similar background.
I graduated in finance a few years ago with a 3.3 and I now have 5 years of successful full time experience in the lending world.  I'm fluent in mandarin and I lived outside the US for a few years.  My personal statement was read and edited by 5 people that knew me and a few people that didn't.  It wasn't anything spectacular but it wasn't horrible.

You may dominate the LSAT, so your schools might be completely different.  I'm stupid and I didn't study or take a practice test. I got a 159. Combined with my 3.3 I was pretty much instantly eliminated from the top 50.

Here were my results.
Top 50,  1 rejection
50-100:  2 accepted, 2 WL, 2 rejections
T3:  1 accepted, 1 wl, 1 rejection
T4:  2 accepted, 1 wl

This doesn't make any sense to me at all, but I got into the school I wanted to go to, so I decided not to retake the LSAT and I am very happy with my cycle.

So my point is that every school is completely different.  Your softs might help you at some schools but I guarantee you that there are schools out there who really don't care.
(Except your military background.  I would be surprised if any school didn't factor that in)

Good Luck! and congrats on graduation.