LSDAS GPA -- Course included from High School?

[grape]

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum and have been thinking about law school.  The earliest I would start law school if I decided to go through with it is the Fall of 2009, so I still have a ways to go.  I've already graduated college with a BS in Accounting.  My undergraduate GPA was a 3.81.  I've read that the LSAC requires all transcripts to be sent in, including transcripts from community colleges while in high school.

So here is my situation.  I was a freshman in high school, and my mom signed me up for a C++ class at a community college so that I could skip ahead to the next programming course during my sophomore year in HS.  Long story short, I never went to class and ended up with a D.  This course was never reported in my high school transcript, nor was it reported in my undergraduate college transcript.  I TOTALLY forgot that I took this course until I began reading these forums.  This course had no bearing on anything in my life -- until possibly now.  Do I need to report this class to LSAC? and will they take it into account when calculating my LSDAS GPA?

I was 14 years old when I got this D.  I will be 24 when I apply and enter law school.  Are they seriously gonna use a class I took A DECADE AGO to determine whether I get into LAW SCHOOL or not?

[grape]

yep, i just called the community college today and confirmed that they know I exist.  DAMN.  i was hoping since this was like 10 years ago, they would have forgotten about me somehow.

so can anyone confirm that this community college "D" that i received 8 years ago as a freshman in high school will or will not factor into my GPA?  From what I've read on this board, it kind of sounds like LSAC will count anything and everything.  but I dont know that anyone's situation is quite like this.  I received no high school OR college credit for this stupid class, and now its gonna lower my GPA by a whole .1

now im pissed that my mom made me take that stupid summer course that i didnt even wanna take.

[lsatarist]

yep, i just called the community college today and confirmed that they know I exist.  DAMN.  i was hoping since this was like 10 years ago, they would have forgotten about me somehow.

so can anyone confirm that this community college "D" that i received 8 years ago as a freshman in high school will or will not factor into my GPA?  From what I've read on this board, it kind of sounds like LSAC will count anything and everything.  but I dont know that anyone's situation is quite like this.  I received no high school OR college credit for this stupid class, and now its gonna lower my GPA by a whole .1

now im pissed that my mom made me take that stupid summer course that i didnt even wanna take.

Hey there, I was in the same boat. I took some Calc. class at community college that I never went to and then failed. Like you, it was never transferred and had no bearing on my University GPA. However, LSAC WILL... ABSOLUTELY WILL require that you send in your community college transcript from when you were 14. That being said, I got out of my F (for 5 credits), by obtaining an appeal form.. INCLUDING documentation (letter, medical, etc.). It was retroactively, withdrawn. Thus, I report it, but it has no bearing on my LSDAS GPA. Hopefully you are so lucky as well. Good luck to you.

[just dot]

Yup.  My HS dual enrollment from over a decade ago is on my report.  They require you to disclose ALL college level courses including those taken as HS dual enrollment.  The good news is what is on D going to really do to your GPA?  Probably not much.  Schools you apply to are basically going to ignore it when they see how old it is compared to your recent coursework and how young you were then.  I wouldn't sweat over it too much but definitely include it.  Things like that are much worse if you try to hide them.

[grape]

The only reason I'm discouraged by this is because I'm told that the LSDAS GPA is what law schools need to report for rankings, so therefore why would they care that the D is from before I hit puberty?  All that matters is that the D is in there, and that it's pulling my GPA down from a 3.8 to a 3.7.

This is just really bumming me out, because I got a 2.9 first year of college.  After that, I dedicated my life to school, stopped partying every night, and ended up getting 4.0s every single semester to pull my GPA up to a 3.8.  Now this stupid class my mother signed me up for when I when I was 14 is negating pretty much a year of hard work in advanced 400 level accounting classes. Just great.

If and when I apply to law school, there is no way im going to try to hide this.  I just don't have that in me.  It just sucks cause I hear nonstop that law school admissions is all about your numbers (LSAT + GPA).  Even if I write an addendum explaining that I got the D when my voice still hadn't dropped,  the D will still pull the GPA down.  A number is a number, and an addendum wont have any affect on their school rankings.

Sorry for being so emo.  But can this LSDAS system get any dumber?

[youallscareme]

write an addendum? and apply EARLY while there is still room for them to admit a "low" 3.7 and meet their number averages (see this is the kind of thing that scares me when i am on this board)

[just dot]

The only reason I'm discouraged by this is because I'm told that the LSDAS GPA is what law schools need to report for rankings, so therefore why would they care that the D is from before I hit puberty?  All that matters is that the D is in there, and that it's pulling my GPA down from a 3.8 to a 3.7.

This is just really bumming me out, because I got a 2.9 first year of college.  After that, I dedicated my life to school, stopped partying every night, and ended up getting 4.0s every single semester to pull my GPA up to a 3.8.  Now this stupid class my mother signed me up for when I when I was 14 is negating pretty much a year of hard work in advanced 400 level accounting classes. Just great.

If and when I apply to law school, there is no way im going to try to hide this.  I just don't have that in me.  It just sucks cause I hear nonstop that law school admissions is all about your numbers (LSAT + GPA).  Even if I write an addendum explaining that I got the D when my voice still hadn't dropped,  the D will still pull the GPA down.  A number is a number, and an addendum wont have any affect on their school rankings.

Sorry for being so emo.  But can this LSDAS system get any dumber?

I wholeheartedly agree that it's dumb.  I completely sympathize.  I have a full semester of courses that I dropped because of a family emergency showing up as F's on my report...imagine what THAT is doing to my GPA.  They won't let me even petition to have them removed at this point.  Since they didn't show in my GPA through my school I had no idea that LSDAS would count them.  They do.  I've written a GPA addendum, of course, but my GPA is still what it is.

Don't worry.  0.1 in your GPA probably isn't going to make or break you at most schools.  I agree that you can write an addendum for it if you want.  And if you have the upward trend in your grades that you're describing you still look like an excellent candidate.  I know if I was on an adcomm I would give a lot more thought to recent 4.0s in classes than a D from forever ago.

[grape]

thanks for your responses.

i haven't taken my LSAT yet, because if i do apply to law school, i'll be applying next year (entering in 2009).  i graduated this past May, and I have already begun working full time.

I realize that LSAT score reigns supreme when it comes to LS admission, so if I do end up deciding to apply, I'll really try to nail the LSAT.  I also realize that a 3.7 is still a very good gpa, but I earned a 3.8, so it's really the principle that bothers me.

If they want to use courses that you took for high school credit, why not just take into account your HS GPA as well?  There is no consistency or method to the madness here.

[youallscareme]

theres a perfectly good reason, you took the course at the community college, they get transcripts from ALL colleges attended. its not the principle you just want to go to harvard, no reason to lie about it and say it is unfair. there are ways to deal with this, just use them and move on