Taking more classes than required for degree

[RiverM]

I searched the previous few pages, and I've seen a little bit on the subject of law schools and admissions, but nothing concrete.

I imagine there would be no issue, but I would like to take more classes than I'm required to in order to get graded credits for LSAC. I have over 100 credits between RA, ACE, etc. that I will be bringing, so I only *need* 30 to graduate, but I'd like to add minors/fluff to get to a good GPA for LSAC (making up for 10 years ago) and get over 60 graded credits to get a good GPA to go with LSAC applications.

Once the requirements are met is the degree automatically conferred? LSAC only counts credits *before* the first bachelor's degree.

Thanks in advance. I've been lurking here since 2020 and should have jumped into this back then... looks like things have gotten more difficult and I've only put off my own progress.

[LevelUP]

I searched the previous few pages, and I've seen a little bit on the subject of law schools and admissions, but nothing concrete.

I imagine there would be no issue, but I would like to take more classes than I'm required to in order to get graded credits for LSAC. I have over 100 credits between RA, ACE, etc. that I will be bringing, so I only *need* 30 to graduate, but I'd like to add minors/fluff to get to a good GPA for LSAC (making up for 10 years ago) and get over 60 graded credits to get a good GPA to go with LSAC applications.

Once the requirements are met is the degree automatically conferred? LSAC only counts credits *before* the first bachelor's degree.

Thanks in advance. I've been lurking here since 2020 and should have jumped into this back then... looks like things have gotten more difficult and I've only put off my own progress.

I recall hearing you have to apply for graduation once you reach the requirements.

You can have up to 3 minors at UMPI
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UMPI_!Minors

[origamishuttle]

Even if they want you to apply once you've completed all the courses for your major/minors, you should be able to get close and then change to a different major or minor so that you can continue to accrue credits.

[ss20ts]

Are you receiving financial aid? I ask because there's a limit to how many credits you can complete with financial aid and not graduate. Degree conferral is not automatic. You have to apply for graduation. UMPI no longer limits minors to 3. There's someone on Discord who is completing their 4th minor right now.

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Even if they want you to apply once you've completed all the courses for your major/minors, you should be able to get close and then change to a different major or minor so that you can continue to accrue credits.

Then you'd have to take the courses required for that major. And they may not be what the OP is looking to take.

[ss20ts]

From what I understand, as long as you meet the requirements for your degree, the school will automatically confer it. But you should definitely double-check with your academic advisor or registrar's office to be sure policies can vary.

You have to apply for graduation. Degrees are not automatically conferred at UMPI. 

-Signed a 2 time UMPI grad who had to apply both times

[bjcheung77]

Basically, if you have more credits than the requirements to graduate, those extra credits that don't go into the degree will be placed into the transcript as other credits. Many people have more than the 120+ credits, you should at least have the 60 graded credits, if you need to offset your previous GPA, you should take more than the 60, and/or retake the classes that have a grade of C or lower at the institution you have that from. You may want to request all the RA credits to be used for your degree, and move all the ACE credits into the other field below your degree, if at all possible.

[RiverM]

Are you receiving financial aid? I ask because there's a limit to how many credits you can complete with financial aid and not graduate. Degree conferral is not automatic. You have to apply for graduation. UMPI no longer limits minors to 3. There's someone on Discord who is completing their 4th minor right now.

---

Even if they want you to apply once you've completed all the courses for your major/minors, you should be able to get close and then change to a different major or minor so that you can continue to accrue credits.

Then you'd have to take the courses required for that major. And they may not be what the OP is looking to take.

I believe I'll be making too much money for financial aid. Plan was just to pay out of pocket since it's relatively affordable with UMPI and I've been setting money aside.

Basically, if you have more credits than the requirements to graduate, those extra credits that don't go into the degree will be placed into the transcript as other credits. Many people have more than the 120+ credits, you should at least have the 60 graded credits, if you need to offset your previous GPA, you should take more than the 60, and/or retake the classes that have a grade of C or lower at the institution you have that from. You may want to request all the RA credits to be used for your degree, and move all the ACE credits into the other field below your degree, if at all possible.

Thanks for this advice. That's kind of my plan. I'm not sure how LSAC actually calculates the GPA, I'd imagine it would be everything on the transcript from prior to the first bachelors, but this is a really good point. I'll have to do some more research here!

[Samhain408]

I searched the previous few pages, and I've seen a little bit on the subject of law schools and admissions, but nothing concrete.

I imagine there would be no issue, but I would like to take more classes than I'm required to in order to get graded credits for LSAC. I have over 100 credits between RA, ACE, etc. that I will be bringing, so I only *need* 30 to graduate, but I'd like to add minors/fluff to get to a good GPA for LSAC (making up for 10 years ago) and get over 60 graded credits to get a good GPA to go with LSAC applications.

Once the requirements are met is the degree automatically conferred? LSAC only counts credits *before* the first bachelor's degree.

Thanks in advance. I've been lurking here since 2020 and should have jumped into this back then... looks like things have gotten more difficult and I've only put off my own progress.

I recall hearing you have to apply for graduation once you reach the requirements.

You can have up to 3 minors at UMPI
https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/UMPI_!Minors

This is incorrect you can have as many minors as you want. This was confirmed by my advisor and several other students advisors in the discord group.

[ss20ts]

This is incorrect you can have as many minors as you want. This was confirmed by my advisor and several other students advisors in the discord group.

This is actually a recent change. In the past, UMPI did limit students to 3 minors. I was one of them! And there were several who posted on here after I graduated that they were also limited to 3 minors.

[ifomonay]

You might need to do a little more research to be sure. So I know someone who applied to an EdD program, and yes I know it's not the same as law school. But that program said they will look at the GPA of the first 120 units completed in their undergrad, as to prevent the GPA hack of taking more classes to bump up GPA. I don't know if it is the same case for law school admissions though.