GPA undergrad and grad school

[Mike33]

Hi, sorry if this was already covered, but I searched the threads and did not find my question.

Do law school admissions combine your undergraduate GPA with your graduate school GPA to use in making their acceptance decisions? Or do the decision makers that be just use your undergraduate GPA? Thanks.

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Mike,

It's just your undergraduate GPA that is used. Your graduate GPA plays an extremely small role here, unfortunately. I personally wish they emphasized it more, but the problem is that not everyone has a graduate GPA whereas everyone has an uGPA. Hence, it's a universal comparison point. What I've often told people is that you need to have strong graduate grades simply to let them know you are a solid student. So, high grades just check a mental box they have, but low grades can really hurt since they undermine confidence in your academic abilities. Bottom line is that they can't help you much but they sure can hurt you.

Please let me know if that helps. Thanks!

[Mike33]

Dave, your information absolutely helped. Your whole forum is extremely helpful. Thank You.

[mwilley]

Hi Dave,

Is this something that you can write an addendum to explain? I had a relatively low UGPA (2.95) but have a 4.0 GPA from an MBA program along with 5 strong years of leadership experience running a business. Obviously, my priorities were not quite what they are today when I was attending undergraduate college. Will the law school admissions counsel take this into account?

I am currently in the process of using the PowerScore self-study materials. If I am able to achieve my target score of 160 on the LSAT, would you be able to suggest a range of rankings that you would suggest looking at for schools?

Thank you,
Mike W

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hello Mike,

Welcome to the Forum! While Dave is out of town, I'm happy to jump in and answer your question.

Yes, I think you absolutely should write an addendum. This is precisely what the addendum is for: to explain such irregularities as substandard academic performance in college. Considering your subsequent leadership experience and MBA degree, you can make a compelling case that your college transcript is not reflective of your academic potential, nor is it predictive of your success in law school.

For more information on how to approach writing an addendum, check this blog post out:

What's the Deal with Addenda?

Hope this answers your question! Let me know.

Thanks,