Completely restarting BA for better GPA to apply to law school?

[Dee1218]

My undergrad GPA is pretty bad from courses I never finished and did not withdraw from. Depending where I finish my BA, I have 12-20 credits remaining and it won't be enough to bring my GPA up significantly even if I do extremely well.

I know for your law school GPA, they calculate every class you have ever taken prior to completing your first Bachelor's degree. 

So, has anyone completely restarted a degree and taken courses they already completed with an "A" in order to have a higher GPA? Is this even possible? 

Current GPA is 2.56. Even if I take 12 more classes at 36 credits and get an A in every class, my GPA wouldn't break a 3.0. 

My plan is using Straighterline to transfer letter grades to COSC. 


I would be paying out of pocket so financial aid requirements would not factor in. 

Thanks!

[Ideas]

Yes, some schools allow you to retake the same course, at the same school, and replace the old grade. If you can, that's a great plan.

[Thorne]

I don't know how to do it, but I've heard of the Academic Fresh Start program in Texas. Presumably, a few other states would have an equivalent.

Keep in mind that this would erase EVERYTHING. Every credit, every degree, every class - gone. A DIY "fresh start" would probably be something like retaking all the classes you never finished/did poorly in, getting an A or B in all of them. Even then, this seems unlikely to work unless you took the same class at the same school.

[sanantone]

Another option would be to get a masters degree and focus on getting a very high LSAT score to make yourself more competitive. You can also start at a lower tier law school and transfer to a higher tier one after the first year.

[Dee1218]

Another option would be to get a masters degree and focus on getting a very high LSAT score to make yourself more competitive. You can also start at a lower tier law school and transfer to a higher tier one after the first year.

My understanding is that the master's GPA won't factor into the GPA at all. They only look at your undergrad GPA. They also count ALL classes even if they were retaken with a better grade.

I am hoping to do well on the LSAT of course, but I don't want to solely rely on that.

I am not sure how they factor the same class being taken twice at different colleges. 

My choice of law schools will be somewhat limited to location. I am in my 30s, my husband's job is here, and we have kids so it isn't as simple as me just up and moving to where they accept me.  

The other thought I had was completing a Bachelor's and just taking totally different classes for all of the requirements.

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Yes, some schools allow you to retake the same course, at the same school, and replace the old grade. If you can, that's a great plan.

My former school did not allow that, all of the grades will be on the transcript and my understanding is the LSAC calculates the bad grades as well.

---

I don't know how to do it, but I've heard of the Academic Fresh Start program in Texas. Presumably, a few other states would have an equivalent.

Keep in mind that this would erase EVERYTHING. Every credit, every degree, every class - gone. A DIY "fresh start" would probably be something like retaking all the classes you never finished/did poorly in, getting an A or B in all of them. Even then, this seems unlikely to work unless you took the same class at the same school.

This is an interesting concept but I don't think it will help when the LSAC counts all former grades. According to the website for the Academic Fresh Start program- they just don't count the grades against you getting into school.

[sanantone]

Delete. Misread OP.

[Ideas]

Can you load up with more credits before you graduate? Someone here said her husband took 24 credits a semester at one of the cheap NM community colleges. If I were in your position, I would consider taking 2 semesters of the max credits, and taking easy classes that aren't repeats.

Keep in mind they won't allow you to take as many in the summer because it's a short term (8 weeks instead of 15-16 weeks). I don't know if they would allow it if they saw your past grades, but you could try. I believe they allow 18 credits without special permission which can still add up fast.

[dfrecore]

I think in this instance, you should:

1) Look at a bunch of schools. Not every school ONLY looks at test scores and GPA's - plenty look at mom's who want to go back to school and are looking for a break. Many will look at your old GPA, notice that it was X number of years ago, and now you've taken 10 courses and gotten all A's. So you need to be smart about where you go.

2) Talk to someone in admitting at the law school you want to go to, and tell them your story - "I was a young kid, fresh out of high school, I didn't do so great in college, now I'm back to finish my degree, what can I do to get in." Only that school can tell you what would work for them.

3) Talk some courses now and get A's in them.

4) Forget about fresh start, or trying to finagle your way through this. It's probably going to be impossible to do so. Go with what you actually have some control over (which is 1-3 above).

[High_Order1]

I have a teeny bit of depth with law school peculiaries...

main question is, what are the requirements for what you plan to do with the degree?

Do you need a LLM or a JD? What tier school does it need to be?


Some law schools are picky about students because that's part of their branding and marketing.

You may need a tier two school if your plan includes a fortune 500 company, but if you want to do papers from home... a tier four school may fit your bill.

Another route is to consider getting some bona fides by clerking somewhere or interning at a place that can carve out an 'in' at your school of choice.

Another another route is distance ed, and go to the campus part time. I understand there are some programs like that currently.

At any rate, don't let your past trip up your future. As others have said, go talk to someone that can help you!!

[DavidHume]

Do you have a specific law school in mind?

https://www.ilrg.com/rankings/law/4/desc/GPALow might help you find schools to consider. From what I understand, you are correct in that law schools typically don't consider the GPA from a master's.