How many transcripts go to LSAC? / Starting the process for unconventional applicant Forum

[lkj2015]

Hello all!

I've been lurking here for a long time while I have been finishing out my time in the Navy (currently an O-3 submarine officer). I am starting my process to apply to law school, ideally to be admitted for Fall 2021, with a possible option to defer until Fall 2022. My plan is to start LSAT prep this summer (no initial score yet, I'm sorry).

I've had a weird path up until this point. I am already not sure how to deal with submitting transcripts to the LSAC, and their impact on my chances for admission. I attended a state school for 1 year before gaining admission to USNA. My GPA at the state school was 3.3- not good, but I didn't think it would matter since at USNA we basically "reset' and have to complete four years despite any prior college. My GPA at USNA was 3.69 where I received a BS in History (w/ honors) and Minor in Russian.

My 2 questions are:
1) The LSAC instructs us to submit ALL transcripts where college credit was received. This obviously includes my 1 year at state school (whoops), BUT I received a IB diploma in high school and that diploma gave me a lot of credit hours at state school and some at USNA. Do I need to submit my high school transcript as well? That feels strange, maybe only because I am getting old.

2) How much is the 3.3 at state school going to affect my chances, even compared with a good GPA from a way better school over 4 years? (Effectively 5 years of GPA)

/break/

I am also looking for any general advice with my transition. I will have been commissioned for 7-8 years by the time I go to Law school. I am a F sub officer (I was part of the initial wave of integration) with all the WE from that (I've had higher than average evals and awards), and I've had "post grad" education by way of the nuclear power pipeline. I was also D1 athlete at both colleges in 2 sports- only mentioning that because Stanford is the dream and I know they value athletes as a soft attribute.

Any advice is welcome regarding my situation- yes, I do understand that the LSAT is where the magic happens and I look forward to the studying. Thanks!

[rb3645]

You will not need to submit a high school transcript, but all grades attempted in your undergraduate career (not just the school from which you received your degree) will count towards your LSAC GPA. As such, your LSAC GPA might be lower than 3.69. You might consider writing an addendum explaining your GPA at the state school and drawing attention to your improvement at USNA. So, yes, you are 100% right in saying that the LSAT is where the magic happens!

You can read how your grades are summarized on LSAC's website: https://www.lsac.org/applying-law-schoo ... marization

[lkj2015]

Great thank you so much for the advice!