No Cumulative GPA for half international, half U.S. UG? Forum

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Masbl

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No Cumulative GPA for half international, half U.S. UG?

Post by Masbl » Sat Aug 19, 2017 5:44 pm

Hello,

I could not find a lot of information on my particular case, so I thought it might be helpful to post here. I did two years of my UG at a foreign university and then transferred to a U.S. school, where I studied for two more years and graduated. I submitted my U.S. transcript to LSAC, and on the ASR it shows that I have 61 Total Semester Hours, but only 56 Cumulative Semester Hours that count towards my GPA. Since it is below 60 graded semester hours, I currently have a Degree GPA, but not a Cumulative GPA. My foreign UG transcript is submitted, but not yet processed. I assume it will not be processed until my foreign graduate degree transcript is also submitted (which will take time, since it will not be available until November).

My question is, when my foreign UG transcript is processed, will the credits be factored into the Cumulative Semester Hours (or GPA) on the ASR at all? The classes only show up as 'T' transfer credits on my U.S. transcript. Should I expect to not have a Cumulative GPA, despite graduating from a university in the U.S.? If this is the case (I hope it's not) how will law schools view an applicant with two years at a foreign university, a degree from the U.S., but no report-able GPA?

Any insight into this situation would be appreciated!

lucretius_

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Re: No Cumulative GPA for half international, half U.S. UG?

Post by lucretius_ » Sat Aug 19, 2017 6:23 pm

Masbl wrote:Hello,

I could not find a lot of information on my particular case, so I thought it might be helpful to post here. I did two years of my UG at a foreign university and then transferred to a U.S. school, where I studied for two more years and graduated. I submitted my U.S. transcript to LSAC, and on the ASR it shows that I have 61 Total Semester Hours, but only 56 Cumulative Semester Hours that count towards my GPA. Since it is below 60 graded semester hours, I currently have a Degree GPA, but not a Cumulative GPA. My foreign UG transcript is submitted, but not yet processed. I assume it will not be processed until my foreign graduate degree transcript is also submitted (which will take time, since it will not be available until November).

My question is, when my foreign UG transcript is processed, will the credits be factored into the Cumulative Semester Hours (or GPA) on the ASR at all? The classes only show up as 'T' transfer credits on my U.S. transcript. Should I expect to not have a Cumulative GPA, despite graduating from a university in the U.S.? If this is the case (I hope it's not) how will law schools view an applicant with two years at a foreign university, a degree from the U.S., but no report-able GPA?

Any insight into this situation would be appreciated!
You will have a reportable GPA, or something like it, no matter what. LSAC will get your transcript from your the foreign institution and convert it in some way to a 4.0 system OR they may end up giving you a foreign GPA assessment, which I believe falls into 4 categories (Superior, Above Average, Average, and Below Average or something close to that). Seeing as you have a degree from the US, I have a feeling they will be trying to convert your GPA into the 4.0 system. You're just going to have to wait and see what they do once they process all of your transcripts. US schools see applications from foreign students without reportable GPAs all of the time. That's what the assessment is for. I don't think it's a huge deal, but I've heard that it usually makes the LSAT a more important factor than it already is, which could be a good or a bad thing depending on your score(s).

Masbl

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Joined: Sat Aug 19, 2017 5:11 pm

Re: No Cumulative GPA for half international, half U.S. UG?

Post by Masbl » Sat Aug 19, 2017 7:47 pm

lucretius_ wrote:
Masbl wrote:Hello,

I could not find a lot of information on my particular case, so I thought it might be helpful to post here. I did two years of my UG at a foreign university and then transferred to a U.S. school, where I studied for two more years and graduated. I submitted my U.S. transcript to LSAC, and on the ASR it shows that I have 61 Total Semester Hours, but only 56 Cumulative Semester Hours that count towards my GPA. Since it is below 60 graded semester hours, I currently have a Degree GPA, but not a Cumulative GPA. My foreign UG transcript is submitted, but not yet processed. I assume it will not be processed until my foreign graduate degree transcript is also submitted (which will take time, since it will not be available until November).

My question is, when my foreign UG transcript is processed, will the credits be factored into the Cumulative Semester Hours (or GPA) on the ASR at all? The classes only show up as 'T' transfer credits on my U.S. transcript. Should I expect to not have a Cumulative GPA, despite graduating from a university in the U.S.? If this is the case (I hope it's not) how will law schools view an applicant with two years at a foreign university, a degree from the U.S., but no report-able GPA?

Any insight into this situation would be appreciated!
You will have a reportable GPA, or something like it, no matter what. LSAC will get your transcript from your the foreign institution and convert it in some way to a 4.0 system OR they may end up giving you a foreign GPA assessment, which I believe falls into 4 categories (Superior, Above Average, Average, and Below Average or something close to that). Seeing as you have a degree from the US, I have a feeling they will be trying to convert your GPA into the 4.0 system. You're just going to have to wait and see what they do once they process all of your transcripts. US schools see applications from foreign students without reportable GPAs all of the time. That's what the assessment is for. I don't think it's a huge deal, but I've heard that it usually makes the LSAT a more important factor than it already is, which could be a good or a bad thing depending on your score(s).
Thanks for your reply! It seems like, from what I've found, it's more likely that they will give me a separate foreign GPA assessment and not count anything toward my GPA on the ASR. I am also under the impression that the Cumulative GPA is the only score that matters for law schools, since it is the one they report to the ABA and USNWR. I hope it's a possibility that they do as you say and convert my foreign GPA into a 4.0 scale and combine it with my U.S. GPA. Otherwise, it seems like I'll be 4 graded credits short of having my GPA mean anything significant. I guess I can only know for sure when my foreign transcript is finally processed, but more thoughts are welcome!

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