Masters

[manyquestionz]

I want to go to law school but my gpa is not really in the competitive range (3.2).

I am also contemplating on the possibility of getting a MA in Criminal Justice before I goto school. Will this help my chances of getting into a better law school considering that I do better and getting a gpa higher than 3.2?

[bl825]

I want to go to law school but my gpa is not really in the competitive range (3.2).

I am also contemplating on the possibility of getting a MA in Criminal Justice before I goto school. Will this help my chances of getting into a better law school considering that I do better and getting a gpa higher than 3.2?

I think it might help a little bit, but not all that much.  For one thing, schools report the statistics for undergraduate GPA's, so a good Masters GPA wouldn't really help the school's numbers.

If you are interested in the MA for its own sake, then I say go for it.  If it's just to improve your chances of getting into a better law school, I think it's two years of your life (or one year, however long it is), extra tuition expense, and loss of any income you could make during that time for what would at best be a slight improvement in your admissions prospects for law school.

Good luck. 
BL

[penni_rose]

I have an MA (though not in criminal justice). I was told by a few admissions offices that it would help if I was borderline and that it might also help in scholarship considerations. But if your numbers are quite a bit below theirs, it probably won't make a difference. It's really not worth the time/money unless it's something you wanted to pursue anyway. Had I known that LS was my next step at the time, I would not have gotten one.

[Slumdog Lovebutton]

I have an M.S. in criminology.  I had an average GPA in undergrad and a stellar master's GPA.  I think it counted as a good soft factor, but it does not do a lot to offset an undergrad GPA, since schools have to report that statistic to LSAC (and thus it factors into their US News ranking). 

I applied to law school once before the master's and once after and had much better results the second time, but I'm fairly certain that my 7-point LSAT jump had a lot more to do with it.

One other thing the master's might help you with is making connections in academia.  You might be able to befriend law professors if you're in a criminal justice program, and those professors might be able to help you get your foot in the door.  I think this would be *most* effective if you waited to apply until after you completed your master's, though.

[cs0620]

I am having a similar thing. 

I am going to be going in with a Masters' in City and Metro Planning with a GPA around 3.4.  My undergrad wasn't as good. I am retaking a few of those classes with the hope of making my records look better.  My question here is would they look at both grades, or just the better of the two for the classes that I retook?  Also, would my completed Masters have any help on my record?  I read from the last posts that it may help with scholarships, but I am curious to see if maybe there is anythign else I should know.  I am planning on taking the LSAT in September adn entering school the fall of 2010.  So, anything is good to know.