TESC and Law School

[GringoInTijuana]

Hi everyone. I am new here and this is my first post/thread. I have just begun my journey to finish my degree via TESC in the next 6 months and apply to law schools in San Diego by the end of this year (2009). I was all fired up about TESC because of their new GPA policy since I am going to have to transfer in 27 credits from a Junior College in Las Vegas, NV where my cummulative GPA is a frightening 2.0 with various "F"s. I understand that TESC does not record letter grades or GPA from credits transferred in. I also understand that, per the new policy, I need to take at least one GRADED course from TESC in order to assure myself a nice 4.0 graduating GPA. The rest of the required credits I plan on testing out of and taking advantage of Portfolio Assessment (I am a certified court interpreter/translator for Spanish and have extensive paralegal/law firm experience and speak basic Arabic as well as other talents I'm sure I could squeeze a few credits out of). I recently took the LSAT "for fun" and scored a 148 (36th percentile) without even cracking a book or taking a practice test. Not a great score but for not preparing whatsoever, it's not bad at all . I can also study for it now and retake it and score higher. Both scores will be available to the law schools I apply to but the only two school I am interested in are not anywhere near the "top-tier" ultra-competitive law schools most people are so damned worried about getting into. California Western Law School and Thomas Jefferson school of Law are both mediocre schools located in San Diego and since I am after all a "Gringo In Tijuana", my geographic, financial and family situations limit me to these two schools. They are both ABA accredited schools, by the way.
Here is the problem...
My father and my brother are both attorneys in Las Vegas, NV. Although they both support me in finishing my degree via alternative methods and continuing on to law school, they caution that ABA accredited schools subscribe to what is called the LSDAS which is a academic information compiling service administered by the LSAC (Law School Admissions Council). (About the LSDAS) LSDAS basically takes your GPA, rips it up, spits on it, farts on it and then eats it and what comes out it's other end is your new GPA that is then shown to the ABA accreddited schools you have applied to. That is the layman's version of what happens :p . My dad says that despite TESC's wonderful GPA policy of "hiding" transferred courses letter grades, LSDAS will calculate ALL PRIOR TRANSCRIPTS FROM INSTITUTIONS ATTENDED, effectively "canceling out" TESC's new GPA policy and providing my two law schools of choice with a horribly accurate GPA! :eek:
Does anyone have any information as to whether or not this is actually what happens? Anyone graduate from TESC and get accepted to Law School? Did LSDAS/LSAC realy get ahold of PRE-TESC transcripts and lower your GPA? Am I just overreacting? Can I legally "pretend" that TESC is the only school I ever attended and "hide" my ugly academic history from the LSDAS/LSAC? PLEASE HELP ME!:eek:

[creationstory]

Hi everyone. I am new here and this is my first post/thread. I have just begun my journey to finish my degree via TESC in the next 6 months and apply to law schools in San Diego by the end of this year (2009). I was all fired up about TESC because of their new GPA policy since I am going to have to transfer in 27 credits from a Junior College in Las Vegas, NV where my cummulative GPA is a frightening 2.0 with various "F"s. I understand that TESC does not record letter grades or GPA from credits transferred in. I also understand that, per the new policy, I need to take at least one GRADED course from TESC in order to assure myself a nice 4.0 graduating GPA. The rest of the required credits I plan on testing out of and taking advantage of Portfolio Assessment (I am a certified court interpreter/translator for Spanish and have extensive paralegal/law firm experience and speak basic Arabic as well as other talents I'm sure I could squeeze a few credits out of). I recently took the LSAT "for fun" and scored a 148 (36th percentile) without even cracking a book or taking a practice test. Not a great score but for not preparing whatsoever, it's not bad at all . I can also study for it now and retake it and score higher. Both scores will be available to the law schools I apply to but the only two school I am interested in are not anywhere near the "top-tier" ultra-competitive law schools most people are so damned worried about getting into. California Western Law School and Thomas Jefferson school of Law are both mediocre schools located in San Diego and since I am after all a "Gringo In Tijuana", my geographic, financial and family situations limit me to these two schools. They are both ABA accredited schools, by the way.
Here is the problem...
My father and my brother are both attorneys in Las Vegas, NV. Although they both support me in finishing my degree via alternative methods and continuing on to law school, they caution that ABA accredited schools subscribe to what is called the LSDAS which is a academic information compiling service administered by the LSAC (Law School Admissions Council). (About the LSDAS) LSDAS basically takes your GPA, rips it up, spits on it, farts on it and then eats it and what comes out it's other end is your new GPA that is then shown to the ABA accreddited schools you have applied to. That is the layman's version of what happens :p . My dad says that despite TESC's wonderful GPA policy of "hiding" transferred courses letter grades, LSDAS will calculate ALL PRIOR TRANSCRIPTS FROM INSTITUTIONS ATTENDED, effectively "canceling out" TESC's new GPA policy and providing my two law schools of choice with a horribly accurate GPA! :eek:
Does anyone have any information as to whether or not this is actually what happens? Anyone graduate from TESC and get accepted to Law School? Did LSDAS/LSAC realy get ahold of PRE-TESC transcripts and lower your GPA? Am I just overreacting? Can I legally "pretend" that TESC is the only school I ever attended and "hide" my ugly academic history from the LSDAS/LSAC? PLEASE HELP ME!:eek:

yes i'm familiar with it. i say only send your TESC transcript.. if you went to a school and didn't use any of the transcripts or credits for your TESC degree.. than don't send it... i know a number of people who have and didn't have a major issue with it....

[GringoInTijuana]

Are you saying I would be better off NOT transferring my existing 27 junior college credits to TESC and just starting from scratch? I fear that if I do transfer them to TESC, and then choose NOT to send my junior college transcripts to the LSDAS/LSAC, they will become suspicious when they see my TESC transcript that has 27 credits listed as "TR CR" or "Transfer Credit". You follow me?:confused:

[creationstory]

Are you saying I would be better off NOT transferring my existing 27 junior college credits to TESC and just starting from scratch? I fear that if I do transfer them to TESC, and then choose NOT to send my junior college transcripts to the LSDAS/LSAC, they will become suspicious when they see my TESC transcript that has 27 credits listed as "TR CR" or "Transfer Credit". You follow me?:confused:

start from scratch... get a ton of FEMA's to fill up your free electives... if u have a lot of F's .. u'll be screwed later on... if there is no record of the F's u're good to go. i would suggest doing a ton of CLEPS and DANTES exams and do a degree in liberal arts. if you really want a GPA.. hmm.. get your Associates at EC .. and your BA at thomas edison .

but.. you know... thinking about it... do your AS at EC (EC does not accept D's or F's) (use your 27 credits you had b4) .. from there do your BA at TESC .. get some FEMA's there and you should..... be ok... no promises


though.. if LSDAS asks something .. say you have a financial obligation to the junior college school.... (my friend did that to avoid some really bad grades that would've been posted)

[cookderosa]

Hi everyone. I am new here and this is my first post/thread. I have just begun my journey to finish my degree via TESC in the next 6 months and apply to law schools in San Diego by the end of this year (2009). I was all fired up about TESC because of their new GPA policy since I am going to have to transfer in 27 credits from a Junior College in Las Vegas, NV where my cummulative GPA is a frightening 2.0 with various "F"s. I understand that TESC does not record letter grades or GPA from credits transferred in. I also understand that, per the new policy, I need to take at least one GRADED course from TESC in order to assure myself a nice 4.0 graduating GPA. The rest of the required credits I plan on testing out of and taking advantage of Portfolio Assessment (I am a certified court interpreter/translator for Spanish and have extensive paralegal/law firm experience and speak basic Arabic as well as other talents I'm sure I could squeeze a few credits out of). I recently took the LSAT "for fun" and scored a 148 (36th percentile) without even cracking a book or taking a practice test. Not a great score but for not preparing whatsoever, it's not bad at all . I can also study for it now and retake it and score higher. Both scores will be available to the law schools I apply to but the only two school I am interested in are not anywhere near the "top-tier" ultra-competitive law schools most people are so damned worried about getting into. California Western Law School and Thomas Jefferson school of Law are both mediocre schools located in San Diego and since I am after all a "Gringo In Tijuana", my geographic, financial and family situations limit me to these two schools. They are both ABA accredited schools, by the way.
Here is the problem...
My father and my brother are both attorneys in Las Vegas, NV. Although they both support me in finishing my degree via alternative methods and continuing on to law school, they caution that ABA accredited schools subscribe to what is called the LSDAS which is a academic information compiling service administered by the LSAC (Law School Admissions Council). (About the LSDAS) LSDAS basically takes your GPA, rips it up, spits on it, farts on it and then eats it and what comes out it's other end is your new GPA that is then shown to the ABA accreddited schools you have applied to. That is the layman's version of what happens :p . My dad says that despite TESC's wonderful GPA policy of "hiding" transferred courses letter grades, LSDAS will calculate ALL PRIOR TRANSCRIPTS FROM INSTITUTIONS ATTENDED, effectively "canceling out" TESC's new GPA policy and providing my two law schools of choice with a horribly accurate GPA! :eek:
Does anyone have any information as to whether or not this is actually what happens? Anyone graduate from TESC and get accepted to Law School? Did LSDAS/LSAC realy get ahold of PRE-TESC transcripts and lower your GPA? Am I just overreacting? Can I legally "pretend" that TESC is the only school I ever attended and "hide" my ugly academic history from the LSDAS/LSAC? PLEASE HELP ME!:eek:

Your family is right, but TESC isn't hiding transfer credits- it's normal for colleges to only figure courses taught at that institution to be part of your GPA. If you take classes at TESC and end up pulling all A's, you decide to go back to your home college, but you'll be sad to find that your home college will not use the TESC grades in your home college GPA either. It's just that way. Besides, any college you go to will want all of your transcripts. Every grad school I applied to wanted EVERY transcript from EVERY school. It's not law school- they all do that. I even had to provide official CLEP transcripts from The College Board to grad schools, even though they were part of a degree.

In my opinion, if you want to improve your GPA, you need to have graded credits. Use any random GPA calculator you find on google to determine how many credits at "A" will be necessary to get you up over 3.0
Only after you are at 3.0 should you start testing. Otherwise you simply dilute the possibility of upping your GPA. It's harder to raise the average in a pool of 100 credits than in a pool of 60.

Another (better) idea. You could decide not to transfer in any of your previous credits. This has already been suggested, but start from scratch. No disrespect, but 27 credits is nothing. Earn your new shiny high GPA bachelor's degree by taking a combo of classes and exams. I took 27 credit in one semester once, and averaged taking 21 per term (classes + exams). If you don't bring in ANY of the credits, they won't be a factor, and you'll have a fresh start.

I couldn't help myself- I ran your numbers. I figured using Back to College: Online and On-Campus Degree Programs for Adults that if you have 27 credits at the grade of "D" you would need 60 graded credits at perfect straight "A's" in order to get up over 3.0!!!
Also, if you got 100 new credits at straight "A's" you are still only at 3.3 (which I think is a lousy representation of someone who can earn straight A's in over 30 classes in a row)

On the other hand, start from scrach, and every A is a 4.0 (you can even get some B's and you'd never drop under 3.0)


You also shouldn't lie. I'd say the truth- those were classes you took, and didn't succeed at. It wasn't a degree at that school, and they are not part of your earned degree. They were simply classes you took when you were young.

[GringoInTijuana]

I'm all over this like white on rice! I almost have my 27 FEMA credits (I'm finishing #26 and #27 tomorrow), plus I'm up to 42% (out of 70% of course!) on ALEKS beggining algebra. I'm shooting for a BA Liberal Studies from TESC in 6 months so here goes nothin'!
Any info on whether LSDAS/LSAC can get a hold of my crap junior college transcript EVEN if I start from scratch and DUMP those credits?
Thank you everyone for such timely and informative replies!

[creationstory]

I'm all over this like white on rice! I almost have my 27 FEMA credits (I'm finishing #26 and #27 tomorrow), plus I'm up to 42% (out of 70% of course!) on ALEKS beggining algebra. I'm shooting for a BA Liberal Studies from TESC in 6 months so here goes nothin'!
Any info on whether LSDAS/LSAC can get a hold of my crap junior college transcript EVEN if I start from scratch and DUMP those credits?
Thank you everyone for such timely and informative replies!

they can't if they don't know about 'em... remember... financial obligation...

[cookderosa]

they can't if they don't know about 'em... remember... financial obligation...

>>


LOL Actually they can. There are a lot of data bases that are shared and used by regionally accredited colleges to report credit earned . I can't remember if it was this board where the student at Ashford (online) University had all of his past transcripts pop up on their data base....anyway, everyone has a history. So what. Turn it into an opportunity. Like you said- you are all over this, and you might even do it! So- start thinking of your position right now- how will you frame this into kick-butt application? There are a lot of great things you can say about overcoming youthful indiscretion- turning your world around- doing in 1 year what takes many people 4-5....don't hide your head!

[NJMedic]

One caveat - if the application requests transcripts from ALL prior colleges (as virtually all do) - then ommision can result in revoking their acceptance if they catch wind of it for any reason.

[retake]

Start over from scratch. That's what I'm doing. It just looks better anyway.

Overcoming the poor GPA to get into law school may be tough. However, I know of some grad schools, like Dakota State University, that only want transcripts from schools that you earned your undergrad degree from or schools where you earned credit in transfer towards the degree. If you are starting over, you wouldn't have to provide those other transcripts.