Study Abroad

[Socrates]

I can't seem to make sense out of any information I find in regard to how studying abroad will affect my LSAC GPA.

I took 18 hours of credit in Italy at a decent school, but my degree granting university here in America is only giving me pass credit. As such, I have 6 different classes, 3 credits each, with PASS on my transcript.

I had been under the impression that the grades (I do have a transcript for these grades from the school in Italy) would be weighed along side my university classes with the grades earned abroad (same scale LSAC uses, minues A+s), but now am not so hopeful. This is because I had the equivalent of less than a year of coursework abroad. It could be (and I hope this to be the case) that I am just missing something entirely or reading the LSAC web site wrong, but I'm just not sure.

I'm sure this has been answered before, but ever since the search feature went bye-bye, it seems the hassle of looking through 40 pages (I looked through 10) is too much to do, with little lost by the addition of one more thread.

Thanks for the help!

Kyle

[bert]

First, the obvious advice: call LSAC.

After that, I don't know that there's much you can do in terms of your cum GPA.  If your academic transcript says pass, then I'd imagine that's what LSAC will treat it as.  If you haven't done so already, consider disputing the translation with your school - especially if you have documented evidence demonstrating academic excellence.

You do, however, have the option of including an addendum in your application(s) detailing the fact that said grades aren't reflective of performance.  Just a thought.

[Socrates]

Thanks for replying so quickly.

I definitely plan on calling or emailing LSAC as soon as my exams are finished. I suppose I am just trying to get a grasp of what to expect.

No less, anybody else with a similar experience? I know I'm not the least bit unique for having studied abroad.

[SilentSwirl]

I studied abroad two different semesters.

One semester I received French grades at a french university and my university translated them into actual grades. These were calculated by LSAC just like all others.

The other semester I was in Italy, and the program had a grade reporting service (optional, you had to pay for it) where they would agree to give you an American grade (let me tell you how much it sucks to be given a B+ by a professor not because of lack of quality of work but because she's European and believes no one deserves an A) and it would go on record at Spellman College. My school got the grades from Spellman and gave me transfer credits but no grade. I sent LSAC my school's transcripts as well as the Spellman transcripts that had actual grades on them.

So, my answer does nothing to help solve your problem, but you did ask if anyone had similar experience! Best of luck, and I agree - The easier thing is to call LSAC -- it really won't take all that long. I called them to ask about some stuff, shouldnt set you back more than 5 or 10 mins max.

[NewHere]

my university translated them into actual grades

As opposed to French grades, which are... fake grades?

[prajna]

i remember calling lsac about this and the general rule is: if the grades from the foreign university is easily convertible to an ABC scale (meaning if you either got letter grades or something on a 4-point scale), then lsac will count it regardless of whether or not your own school counted it as real grades or pass fail. if your grades are in a weird foreign system, like my french grades which were on a 20 point scale, then lsac cannot and will not calculate it in their gpa.

[SilentSwirl]

my university translated them into actual grades

As opposed to French grades, which are... fake grades?

Okay, fair enough. My university translated my french grades into American grades.

French grades are on a 20 point scale, except that 17, 18, 19, or 20 are basically never awarded. I don't know a single french person who has ever gotten more than a 16 in a class. So while a 16 might numerically be the same as an 80, in terms of MEANING it's the same as an A.

At the bottom of this page there's an interesting conversion chart for French, German, Spanish, and American grades. It it, of course, only one system.
http://www.wes.org/gradeconversionguide/articlewindow.htm

[letylyf]

If the credits show up on your home university transcript as pass/fail, it will do absolutely nothing to affect your GPA in one way or another. This is the majority of study abroad cases, including mine (for both when I had "fake" grades transferred and when I took "real" classes ). You don't have to submit a foreign transcript or anything else.

In short, there's nothing to worry about or for you to do. I don't think it would make any difference if you submitted anything else... that's just usually how study abroad grades work.

[waningdelusion]

If the credits show up on your home university transcript as pass/fail, it will do absolutely nothing to affect your GPA in one way or another. This is the majority of study abroad cases, including mine (for both when I had "fake" grades transferred and when I took "real" classes ). You don't have to submit a foreign transcript or anything else.

In short, there's nothing to worry about or for you to do. I don't think it would make any difference if you submitted anything else... that's just usually how study abroad grades work.

credited.  unfortunately. 

[NewHere]

French grades are on a 20 point scale, except that 17, 18, 19, or 20 are basically never awarded. I don't know a single french person who has ever gotten more than a 16 in a class. So while a 16 might numerically be the same as an 80, in terms of MEANING it's the same as an A.

I know what you mean. I studied in the Dutch system, where the grades are on a 10-point scale, and 10s and 9s are rare. What you could do, if LSAC does nothing with the foreign grades, is send the school a conversion table. My transcript was evaluated by LSDAS, and while they didn't convert the GPA into a 4-point GPA, they added a table saying 10 = A+, 9 = A, 8 = A-, 7 = B, 6 = C, 1-5 = F. This table was taken from an official study, and was the same as a table supplied by my university as a diploma supplement for people who want to use their diploma abroad. Perhaps the French school could provide you with a similar conversion table?