Submit transcript now for higher ugpa or submit later for higher LSAC gpa?

[meggo]

The title pretty much says it all.

I'm taking three summer courses, the first mark I will receive back by the end of the month or early into July and I expect it to be my highest mark of my three summer courses. If I submit my transcript after I get that mark, my ugpa will be at 3.76 or a 3.77 (this is going off the assumption that LSAC uses the OMSAS gpa conversion scale for Canadian university students). I'm a transfer student and my marks were quite low my first year of uni, which I left about 3 years ago. So factoring everything together, submitting my transcript after I receive my first summer course grade I would have a UGPA of 3.76 and a LSAC gpa of 3.23.

Alternatively, if I wait to get my other two grades, and where I estimate they will fall, my UGPA will go down to a 3.74 but my LSAC gpa will rise to a 3.32. Obviously, when schools receive my transcripts they will see the huge discrepancy in gpa's and will look at my transcripts. I will also be attaching an addendum to explain the 10% difference in my average.

Is this discrepancy in ugpa too minute to warrant any concern and I should just wait and send in my transcripts once my LSAC gpa is likely to be raised? Any suggestions would be helpful!

[Bulldog86]

I don't 100% understand what you're asking, but I think the general rule is that LSDAS GPA is the only thing that matters.

I think UGPA might be a soft factor if there's a big difference and an upward trend (which I think is your case?) but it seems to me that if you're talking about the difference between a 3.32 and 3.23 on the GPA that matters, versus dropping .02 on the GPA that doesn't, I would maximize the LSDAS GPA and submit at the end of the summer. I suppose being Canadian might change things, but I doubt it.

Also, I would not be surprised if LSAC/schools required you to keep your transcripts updated whenever you get new grades, which would make this a moot point.

[meggo]

yeah that pretty much answers my question  From what I've read/understood, adcomms do look at transcripts, esp. if there is a big different (which there clearly is in my case). My grades weren't absolutely terrible at my first year of university, despite what that gpa implies, but hopefully they will pay attention to my addendum and my academic achievements at my degree granting institution instead of a year of university I took 4 years ago which completely demerits everything I'm doing now.

eta: Just spoke to LSAC about another issue and briefly asked about their Canadian gpa conversion. He said they don't use the OMSAS scale, they do it on a university by university basis and it depends what my school puts on my transcript for a gpa conversion (as far as I was aware, they don't put anything on it so...um....yeah....). Either way, it should boost my overall gpa to have more classes from my present institution on my transcript to dilute my old marks more....