W's on transcript

[ssppiikkeerr]

I am wondering how my 2 W's will play into my Law school admissions. preferably to top 20 schools. The W's are non-punitive and are not in my major. One was a class that I had already had credits for, (math) and the other was a Chem course that was going downhill. My current GPA is a 3.7  and right now my score is a 168. I do plan to retake my lsats; just giving a general idea of where I am coming from.  The W's came in my first semester of freshman year.

[Miami88]

I wouldn't stress out over it. It may warrant a brief addendum - but it won't break your app. This is a very minor flaw... if you were expelled, that's a major flaw... withdrawing from a course your first semester... please. Everyone, including those that get accepted to these top schools, has something in their app that isn't perfect. Which makes sense... we are all human. The difference in those who get accepted v those who don't is probably the way they present those flaws. Do they talk down about themselves? Do they disrespectfully and smugly shrug it off? Or do they accept it and use it as a vehicle to learn from - to grow. Go for the latter.

Good luck! And congrats on your high academic achievements thus far.

[ssppiikkeerr]

Thank you for replying! That makes sense, I will use it as a tool to grow. Great way to express the upward trend from my first semester to now as well.

[Citylaw]

Miami is right on point.

I had three W's nobody really cared.

Believe it or not admissions committees do not look at every detail of an application. They are human beings and when a few people have to review between 3,000 and 10,000 applications in a few month period they don't review the transcript, personal statement etc in great detail.

For the most part you will either you go in the reject or accept pile based on your numbers, and a 3.7 GPA and 168 LSAT are pretty solid.

If you are really on the fence they might actually read your personal statement and decide to accept or reject you based on that. If after the personal statement your still on the fence they may actually read your letter's of recommendation and make a decision based on that. If your still on the fence they might review your major and the difficult of courses you took to obtain a 3.7 GPA. If your still on the fence after that they might look for W's and an upward or downward trend.

So basically what I am trying to say is more likely than not no admissions officer will even notice the W's.

[barprephero]

W beats F any day of the week

Its the GPA that matters. If your school makes the W into an Incomplete and that becomes adverse to GPA, freak out. If not, don't sweat it.