second BA, low undergrad, & top law School - opinions?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by krazymack, Mar 23, 2003.

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  1. krazymack

    krazymack New Member

    Say if you have a 2.7 GPA in a difficult major for undergrad, and you have a pretty good LSAT score 160+, and you have good recommendations.

    Would it be worth it pursuing another undergrad degree (preferably via D/L) to boost up your cumulative undergraduate GPA and to increase your chances for admissions in a top law school, or third or fourth tier law school with scholarship offers?

    Since Law schools look at your undergrad cumulative GPA right? I'm curious and just needs some opinions.
     
  2. working1

    working1 New Member

    An LSAT score of 160 or over is very good. A 2.7 GPA is around or close to a B-minus (B-). I wouldn't pursue another Bachelor's degree if I were your shoes.

    Good Luck.

    Working1,
    CBM, MBA, BS, BA, AAS, AAS, AA
     
  3. wannaJD

    wannaJD New Member

    This is a good question for me, since I've signed up for a distance learning law program at Northwestern California University School of Law.

    I'm thinking that if I want to go to a real law school:

    1. passing the California baby bar (required for 1L distance learning students in California before they go on to 2L) would help convince an admissions committee;
    a. I'm serious
    b. I have potential, regardless of LSAT score (I took it YEARS ago and got 150, I believe...I was sick the day of the test, too, so I don't feel so bad about that score.)

    2. I can prove to myself this is a worthwhile goal that I really want before plunking down $80,000 and 4 years of my life.

    In other words, perhaps this distance learning law approach is also a way to prove your worthiness in lieu of a second BA?????

    Any comments from people in the know?
     
  4. obecve

    obecve New Member

    Krazymack, what about applying to a few schools and discovering if you need additional credentials. You can let the process be your guide. From a fincial perspective it is certainly cheaper to be admitted without more course work. Perhaps you can strengthen your application by the quality of your references and whatever written documents you submit.
     
  5. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    I am very much against pursuing a second Associates or Bachelors degree, unless it is in a specialized field that you need for employment. Otherwise, it's not prudent to pursue a second degree at the same educational level.

    If another degree must be pursued, then get a Masters degree. Some Masters degrees only require 30 more credits above the undergraduate level. That would accomplish a couple of things:
    • It would raise your academic credentials to the next higher level.
    • It would give you a high GPA at the graduate level, which would be examined more closely than the undergraduate work.
    • Oftentimes, if you have a Masters degree, then gaining entrance to post-graduate work is easier then if you don't have a Masters degree. ;)
     
  6. obecve

    obecve New Member

    Me Again

    Very nice point and very accurate in terms of how schools look at credentials.
     
  7. Guest

    Guest Guest

    Give this a try it is a matrix which shows GPA/LSAT and the schools accepting various combinations.
     
  8. wannaJD

    wannaJD New Member


    Yes, I would agree, but I thought for sure I read somewhere on this board that because law schools only publish undergrad stats for entering classes, they therefore emphasize undergrad grades more to keep the published averages high.

    ?
     
  9. Guest

    Guest Guest

  10. wannaJD

    wannaJD New Member

    Thanks for the link!

    It is only a cool $93,000 (part-time) plus books to get into the school in my area that corresponds to the graph of my GPA/LSAT combo.

    If I paid $800/month I could pay that back in ten years on a low/no interest loan. Sheesh.
     
  11. Nosborne

    Nosborne New Member

    93 thousand dollars!!??!! Ouch!

    The University I went to (New Mexico) took into account the difficulty of the undergrad major when comparing GPAs. I'd apply here and there and see what they say.

    Nosborne, JD
     
  12. krazymack

    krazymack New Member

    Thank so much for you all of your opinions. I truly appreciate all of the comments from the members on this board. I'm very happy to have degreeinfo.com forum as a source to help with my educational concerns. I have read a lot of interesting comments on here. I just stated some stats in my original post to test the waters because I'm trying to put things into perspective.

    The 160 LSAT score is actually a goal for me. I'm willing to work very hard to achieve a score like that. It's a stellar score. But, I did have a 2.7 GPA for undergrad in Computer Science, it was a very tough degree. I'm willing now to take the necessary steps to do whatever it takes to get into a decent law school somewhere. And I was a little concern that my undergraduate GPA might somehow make me penalized to get into law school. I e-mailed a law school that I was interested and they said that a 1/3 of the application was weighted on undergraduate GPA, another 1/3 was weighted on the LSAT score, and the other 1/3 on work experience, recommendations, and graduate school. So it seemed like the undergraduate GPA was weighed as a large component in the application process.

    Maybe a top tier school is not the answer, but I'm also pretty satisfied with the fact of getting into any decent law school no matter how the tier is. But it would be VERY nice to have the scholarship offers.

    I've read the comments on here on how you can go about forgiving the undergraduate GPA. They were all great. I've been and I am toying with the ideas of several majors and programs on undergraduate and graduate levels. I've been looking into AIU's MBA program and some non-residential Philosophy/Classics program (since the Philosophy & Classics major have been an effective major in preparation for the LSAT) I was looking at a Biblical degree originally, but I figured it would be only used for my own personal edification.

    I like the idea of the Masters route like me again stated. I personally thought it would be interesting to fuse a business/IT background and pursue an area of law. Perhaps use an MBA as a stepping stone to a law degree in a business law field. But, I just felt that my undergraduate grades would still hamper the application. Because I did receive some less than stellar grades in some courses and I'm really ashamed of them. Especially when coming from a non-reputable, regional (not even national) liberal arts institution like the one I attended.

    Then again some others suggested testing the waters to some law school and applying to see if you can get in with the GPA. A lot of routes to consider and I just wanted to open up a topic of discussion about it because it concerned me.

    Thanks for having patience with me in my search for finding myself. I really do appreciate everyones thoughts, concerns, and help. I really do. :) I truly appreciate it! :D

    Again, thank you so very much. You guys are very kind. [:)]
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 24, 2003

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