- Tue Dec 29, 2015 5:17 pm
#21400
Interesting situation and question! This is so rare that I don't have a clear picture how that will be handled, but I know what you should do, and that's make a few phone calls. First, are the two degrees from the same institution? If so, call them and ask them how they will report your GPA. I am assuming that you are getting a lot of credit from the first degree towards the completion of the second, so that you only have to take a few additional classes to complete the B.S. rather than starting over from scratch. If the degrees are from two different institutions then call the second one and ask how they will calculate and report your GPA - the first one will just report what you got there.
Next, call or email LSAC and ask them how they will handle it. Will they report both, just the more recent one, or some sort of composite?
Finally, call the law school(s) to which you plan to apply and ask them what they want to see. You will almost certainly need to include some statement in your application explaining the unique situation, especially if your GPA has changed substantially. If you got a 2.2 the first time and are now getting straight A's that will be a lot easier (and better!) to explain than the reverse. If the grades are comparable (which would not be so surprising with only 5 years between studies) then it's not going to matter all that much, but you should mention it anyway.
If your current grades are much worse than your old ones, you need to have a good explanation ready, because that could cause you some real problems. Balancing work/family and school, more challenging subject matter, difficulty with online or evening classes, etc. may account for some dip in grades, but you must be ready to show them that you will not have those problems once you are in law school.
Start dialing, and good luck! Please come back here later and tell us what you learned - we haven't had this question before, but we may have it again and we would love to learn from your experience.
Adam M. Tyson
PowerScore LSAT, GRE, ACT and SAT Instructor
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https://twitter.com/LSATadam