Low GPA from Undergrad Several Years Removed Forum

[Turpedo]

Hello all,

I am interested in applying to law schools this fall, but I have some concerns: from 2008-2013 I attended community college and received very poor grades for the majority of my time there. Overall my GPA there was a 2.4. From 2014-2016 I attended a four year university and my GPA there was a 3.74. Combining all of those grades, my cumulative UG GPA is barely over a 3.0. I am currently finishing up an MA degree and my GPA in my current program is in the low 3.8 range. I know that the grad GPA does not affect the UG GPA but does this added run of academic success help my chances at all? Realistically, do I have any chance of getting into a top 25 law school with such a low GPA? I have yet to take the LSAT, but I have already begun studying. I am confident I can get a good score because I have always done quite well on standardized tests. Will the very low GPA knock me out of contention by default, or will AC's take my clear improvement into account (assuming I do ultimately get a high LSAT as well)? I am interested in international law and I am currently completing an MA in Russian Area Studies from a major university and I am fluent in Russian. Will such a background help at all in admissions decisions? Thank you!

[Yulifus]

I suggest you look at the ABA disclosures 509 form of the law schools you're interested in to see what their GPA percentiles are. If you score very high on the LSAT, it may balance out your low GPA. Many law schools put more weight on the LSAT score than GPA. You can also write a GPA addendum explaining low grades. While soft factors matter way less than LSAT/GPA, put a lot of thought into your personal statement and personalize it for every law school you apply to. I am assuming you are originally from Russia? Write a diversity statement to show how you will contribute to the diverse student body. If you did volunteer work, include it on your resume.

You should also consider some tear 2 law school as safe school.