Graduate degree GPA consideration

[Jtables01]

Hello,

I’m an MBA student completing my degree this spring. My graduate school GPA is much better than my undergraduate GPA, 4.0 to 3.3. If I have an LSAT or GRE that’s in the 95th percentile will that be enough for admission to a top 10 school?

I’m not sure the level of consideration that is given to graduate course work. I’d like it to be an advantage, but I’m unsure if this is the case.

[Dave Killoran]

Hello,

I’m an MBA student completing my degree this spring. My graduate school GPA is much better than my undergraduate GPA, 4.0 to 3.3. If I have an LSAT or GRE that’s in the 95th percentile will that be enough for admission to a top 10 school?

I’m not sure the level of consideration that is given to graduate course work. I’d like it to be an advantage, but I’m unsure if this is the case.

Hi Jtables,

This is a topic I've talked about a lot on our LSAT podcast and on our blog. While a solid graduate school GPA is a plus, it's not at all decisive, for several reasons:

1. Undergraduate GPAs are used for the ABA reporting, and thus for rankings. Grad GPAs are not.
2. Not everyone has a graduate GPA, so it's not a universal comparison whereas uGPA is.
3. It's a widely accepted fact that grad school grades are inflated, and thus a high grad GPA is expected. This diminishes its value.

So, it's good to have, but it won't overcome that lower uGPA.

As far as schools, this year your combination would not typically get you into the T10. Next year will be a little easier we think, so you'll get closer, but we won't know for sure for several more months. In the meantime, do everything to max your LSAT since your GPA is already fixed. Focus on what you can change, and hopefully that pays off

Thanks!

[Jtables01]

Thank you for the input. I have one more question. Assuming a good LSAT score, is T15 or T20 more likely?

[Jeremy Press]

Hi Jtables,

It's really going to come down to that LSAT score. Assuming you can get into the 95th percentile for LSAT (hitting a 168) the lower part of the T15 (say, Georgetown or Texas) will probably be slight reaches though not out of the realm of possibility. Your chances would improve slightly with an early decision application to one of them. The lower part of the T20 (say, Boston U. or Minnesota) will probably be target-type schools, since your LSAT will likely be slightly above median. Not a total lock at those, but a good chance.

I hope this helps!