Determining where to apply with medical reason for low GPA

[commonlaw]

I have a compelling medical reason for a bad year, which brought my GPA (LSAC) down to a 3.5 and ultimately resulted in my having to take time off school, after a flurry of incompletes. After returning to school, I earned a 3.77 (global)/3.92 (major) and graduated with departmental honors, having taking graduate coursework and completed an honors thesis. I have a solid letter writers that can speak to my academic and professional abilities and will also submit an essaying explaining why I don't believe my GPA truly reflects my academic potential.

So my question is, how can I approximate my chances of acceptance into any particular law school? Should I just go by my LSAT score? Should I consider myself as my LSAT score + a 3.7+ GPA candidate? Any insights as to how law schools "look past" low GPAs in practice?

Thanks!

[Dave Killoran]

I have a compelling medical reason for a bad year, which brought my GPA (LSAC) down to a 3.5 and ultimately resulted in my having to take time off school, after a flurry of incompletes. After returning to school, I earned a 3.77 (global)/3.92 (major) and graduated with departmental honors, having taking graduate coursework and completed an honors thesis. I have a solid letter writers that can speak to my academic and professional abilities and will also submit an essaying explaining why I don't believe my GPA truly reflects my academic potential.

So my question is, how can I approximate my chances of acceptance into any particular law school? Should I just go by my LSAT score? Should I consider myself as my LSAT score + a 3.7+ GPA candidate? Any insights as to how law schools "look past" low GPAs in practice?

Thanks!

Hey Commonlaw,

Thanks for the question! If your explanation is compelling, I think of it as adding maybe .1 to your LSAC GPA. As in, they see your explanation and believe in it, so it adds to their belief that you can do the work (which is the fear with "low" GPAs, although 3.5 isn't really low). However, they are numerically tied to your LSAC GPA, and so they have to use that as a baseline, but you get about a .1 boost from having a credible explanation.

Hopefully that makes sense!