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I'm working towards a B.S. in Business with an economics concentration and want to go to Columbia Law for a specific program they offer. Does anyone have any experience with applying to grad school when CLEP and/or DSST credits were part of your undergrad degree....if so, did the school convert your test scores into letter grades, did you have any trouble applying or getting accepted, etc. I'm nervous about how this may affect my chances of getting into law school, and some of the scores from my CLEP tests were in the low 50's. =/
Anyway, thank you so much for your replies - they really mean a lot to me. I plan on contacting Columbia, as well, to see what they have to say about CLEP and DSST credits.
Working towards B.S. in Business with Economics concentration :p
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I guess it would depend on if Columbia uses their own admissions process or operates using the Law School Admissions Council. The LSAC has their own formulas for determining your GPA for admissions purposes. I have tried and failed to find out how test scores figure into their process because I am also interested in applying to law school. There could be another route to your goal though.
The Phoenix School of Law (not affiliated with UoP) allows anyone with an undergrad degree to take two of their courses (not for credit), do well enough and you will be offered admission to the school.
Maybe Columbia, or another school you would like, offers a similar program.
BA/Liberal Studies, TESC 2011
AAS/Applied Electronic Studies, TESC 2010
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Why do people keep asking these questions... once you have graduated from an accredited university THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS. Requirement for entrance into Law School is holding a 4 year degree (BA/BS), plus whatever else they tack on.
You are not doing anything wrong, illegal, shady, or unethical. You are completing your degree with ACE approved credits and nationally recognized tests. You are completing your degree in accordance with your school's policy. You just happen to be doing it in a way that can save you a lot of money and a lot of time, nothing wrong with that.
Anyone that looks down on you for that is just jealous that they wasted 4 years sitting in a classroom and has tens of thousands of dollars in debt, because they weren't smart enough to take advantage of systems that ALL US COLLEGES support and ADVERTISE.
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The OP is asking a legitimate question. Admission to law school is very competitive and a high GPA can make or break an application, he simply wants to know how test scores calculate into their GPA formula.
BA/Liberal Studies, TESC 2011
AAS/Applied Electronic Studies, TESC 2010
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If your school gives them as pass/fail they don't factor into your GPA at all, just like any other course you have that does not give a final grade.
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Columbia University's is a Top 14 law school, so they may not take someone with ACE credits- but only they can answer that. I suspect that your LSAT score would be more of a factor, and are you a minority (often helps in law school admissions)?
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valsacar Wrote:If your school gives them as pass/fail they don't factor into your GPA at all, just like any other course you have that does not give a final grade.
The LSAC does not care what your undergrad school says your GPA is. They use THEIR OWN FORMULA for figuring out your GPA. Law school applicants typically have their "school GPA" and their "LSAC GPA," these numbers are very often not the same. This is what the OP was asking about, how does the LSAC figure in test scores to an applicants GPA.
BA/Liberal Studies, TESC 2011
AAS/Applied Electronic Studies, TESC 2010
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countingnotes Wrote:I'm working towards a B.S. in Business with an economics concentration and want to go to Columbia Law for a specific program they offer. Does anyone have any experience with applying to grad school when CLEP and/or DSST credits were part of your undergrad degree....if so, did the school convert your test scores into letter grades, did you have any trouble applying or getting accepted, etc. I'm nervous about how this may affect my chances of getting into law school, and some of the scores from my CLEP tests were in the low 50's. =/
Anyway, thank you so much for your replies - they really mean a lot to me. I plan on contacting Columbia, as well, to see what they have to say about CLEP and DSST credits.
what is your overall gpa from all your coursework (including dsst conversions)? that is what will matter in the end along with the lsat. schools will not individually scrutinize the courses
DSST Environment & Race to Save Humanity * 51/80 Clep CIS 63/80
College Math 66/80 * DSST Business Law II - No Pass
Principles of Mgmt 61/80 * A/I Lit 51/80 retest 61/80
Social Sciences and History - 66/80 - A * Freshman Composition - 60/80
Intro to Computers 426 -Current System - p/f = pass * Intro to Modern Middle East Studies - 61/80
Human Cultural Geography - 61/80 * US History I - A -61/80
US History II - A 68/80 * Civil War - A 57/80
Intro to World Religions - A 68/80 * Intro to Bus Law - 64/80 A
Public Speaking 55/80 A * MIS 429/500 * Statistics 459/500 * MacroEconomics 57/80
MicroEconomics 53/80 (ran out no money in meter) * Criminal Justice 418/500
English Comp with Essay 58/80 * Personal Finance 406/500 (Ran thru IC once & test once... 40 minutes/98 questions.. close call)
Principle of Supervision - 436/500 * Clep American Government 67/80
FEMA's Completed - 49 (sorry i'm addicted to them).
BA - Criminal Justice - Central State University
AAS - Computer Science - TESU
AAS - BOG - Info Tech - Pierpont
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It may be different for law school, but it is my understanding that each graduate school sets their own requirements for admission.
I hope you have seen this very encouraging thread already:
http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...c-law.html
There have been similar threads, also.
Please keep us updated on your progress.
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1 LSAT
2 LSAT (ESSAY) Make sure it jives with the schools worldview!
3 The Higher the GPA the better. PS DSST's = Letter grades at Excelsior = GPA
After getting in be prepared to write and read a lot!!!!!!!!!
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