Extreme GPA Padding Forum

[splitboi]

Hi guys,

I have a question about GPA Padding. Unfortunately I messed up in undergrad big time
and pulled a 2.5 gpa. Only thing is, I didn't graduate yet. I did reading and found out I can
take online community college classes (In California it's really cheap), and these will count for the same credit
as any of my courses, and they don't even have to transfer into my university for them to count.
I called a LSAC official and confirmed it with them. Ultimately, although the cost of the classes
will hurt a little, if I'm able to pull a scholarship at a T30 school I think it'll be worth it.
My question is, if I take enough courses to pull up to 3.0-3.2 territory, will law schools be ok with that?
I know the first thing people are gonna say is that it's a big red flag for law schools, but from what I've
read about how law schools are influenced by USNEWS and how much more important LSDAS GPA is, would it matter?
I studied my ass off and pulled a 175 LSAT, so I'm hoping that those two hand in hand will make it work.
Thoughts? Is this level of GPA padding just too much for any law school to take me?

[Sls17]

I would absolutely, absolurely do this. I don’t think law schools will be overly skeptical of the online community college classes, and even if they get side-eyed a little, the benefit of an overall higher GPA matters far more. Congrats on that stupendous LSAT and I’d say do whatever it takes to bump your GPA before graduation for the best possible law school admissions/scholarship shot.

[QContinuum]

I would absolutely, absolurely do this. I don’t think law schools will be overly skeptical of the online community college classes, and even if they get side-eyed a little, the benefit of an overall higher GPA matters far more. Congrats on that stupendous LSAT and I’d say do whatever it takes to bump your GPA before graduation for the best possible law school admissions/scholarship shot.

I agree with the above. I might be more hesitant if, say, OP was looking to "pad" a 3.5 GPA, but currently their GPA is sub-3.0. Getting that above 3.0 is worth quite a bit. I think OP should go for it.

[Rcanai]

Hi guys,

I have a question about GPA Padding. Unfortunately I messed up in undergrad big time
and pulled a 2.5 gpa. Only thing is, I didn't graduate yet. I did reading and found out I can
take online community college classes (In California it's really cheap), and these will count for the same credit
as any of my courses, and they don't even have to transfer into my university for them to count.
I called a LSAC official and confirmed it with them. Ultimately, although the cost of the classes
will hurt a little, if I'm able to pull a scholarship at a T30 school I think it'll be worth it.
My question is, if I take enough courses to pull up to 3.0-3.2 territory, will law schools be ok with that?
I know the first thing people are gonna say is that it's a big red flag for law schools, but from what I've
read about how law schools are influenced by USNEWS and how much more important LSDAS GPA is, would it matter?
I studied my ass off and pulled a 175 LSAT, so I'm hoping that those two hand in hand will make it work.
Thoughts? Is this level of GPA padding just too much for any law school to take me?

Hi, I used to be in admissions at a T14, and I definitely do not recommend what you're considering for a number of reasons. The most important reason is that it won't make a difference. If you're below a school's 25th percentile or above their 75th percentile for GPA or LSAT, it doesn't make a big difference how above or below you are. From the school's perspective, being at a 2.5 or 3.0 won't make big difference, especially given that you have a 175.

[SlipperyKipper]

Hi guys,

I have a question about GPA Padding. Unfortunately I messed up in undergrad big time
and pulled a 2.5 gpa. Only thing is, I didn't graduate yet. I did reading and found out I can
take online community college classes (In California it's really cheap), and these will count for the same credit
as any of my courses, and they don't even have to transfer into my university for them to count.
I called a LSAC official and confirmed it with them. Ultimately, although the cost of the classes
will hurt a little, if I'm able to pull a scholarship at a T30 school I think it'll be worth it.
My question is, if I take enough courses to pull up to 3.0-3.2 territory, will law schools be ok with that?
I know the first thing people are gonna say is that it's a big red flag for law schools, but from what I've
read about how law schools are influenced by USNEWS and how much more important LSDAS GPA is, would it matter?
I studied my ass off and pulled a 175 LSAT, so I'm hoping that those two hand in hand will make it work.
Thoughts? Is this level of GPA padding just too much for any law school to take me?

I sincerely wish I had known that this was an option! A sub-3.0 GPA is going to hold you back greatly even with that stellar LSAT score (congratulations, by the way). So, if I were you, I would definitely do this to get past that 3.0 threshold.

[nixy]

I agree schools won’t care. Just do the math and make sure that you actually can get the GPA up without spending years - it would still probably work, no problem, but you just want to make sure you want to invest that time.

[splitboi]

Hi guys,

I have a question about GPA Padding. Unfortunately I messed up in undergrad big time
and pulled a 2.5 gpa. Only thing is, I didn't graduate yet. I did reading and found out I can
take online community college classes (In California it's really cheap), and these will count for the same credit
as any of my courses, and they don't even have to transfer into my university for them to count.
I called a LSAC official and confirmed it with them. Ultimately, although the cost of the classes
will hurt a little, if I'm able to pull a scholarship at a T30 school I think it'll be worth it.
My question is, if I take enough courses to pull up to 3.0-3.2 territory, will law schools be ok with that?
I know the first thing people are gonna say is that it's a big red flag for law schools, but from what I've
read about how law schools are influenced by USNEWS and how much more important LSDAS GPA is, would it matter?
I studied my ass off and pulled a 175 LSAT, so I'm hoping that those two hand in hand will make it work.
Thoughts? Is this level of GPA padding just too much for any law school to take me?

Hi, I used to be in admissions at a T14, and I definitely do not recommend what you're considering for a number of reasons. The most important reason is that it won't make a difference. If you're below a school's 25th percentile or above their 75th percentile for GPA or LSAT, it doesn't make a big difference how above or below you are. From the school's perspective, being at a 2.5 or 3.0 won't make big difference, especially given that you have a 175.

Hi, thanks for your input! Could you maybe explain a little bit more about that as I'm kind of confused what you mean. I wanted to push up my GPA into acceptable territories to accompany a 75th percentile LSAT. Also do you mind going into a couple of the other reasons just so I'm clear? It would definitely be good for me to understand if it's not worth it since it's a bit of an investment. Thanks!

[cavalier1138]

Hi, I used to be in admissions at a T14, and I definitely do not recommend what you're considering for a number of reasons. The most important reason is that it won't make a difference. If you're below a school's 25th percentile or above their 75th percentile for GPA or LSAT, it doesn't make a big difference how above or below you are. From the school's perspective, being at a 2.5 or 3.0 won't make big difference, especially given that you have a 175.

Why don't cycles actually reflect that? People with >75th LSATs routinely get rejected with <3.0 GPAs, while their counterparts with 3.2+ get admitted to the same schools. MyLSN reflects that, as do the results that people report here (e.g. this thread).