Law is a hard field of study and has GPA requirements.
Getting into law school and doing well is partly determined by the GPA, or grade point average, of a student. The other admissions requirements include the LSAT, or Law School Admissions Test, personal statements and recommendation letters from previous teachers. The two main considerations on getting into law school are the GPA of the student and the LSAT score the student received.
Low Admissions Scores
Undergraduate GPA scores are one consideration on getting into law school. The low scores accepted by the college depend on the specific law school, but typically are around 3.0 GPA or higher. The exact GPA cut off depends on the school.
Preferred Courses
Law schools often look for specific courses of study in undergraduate students. In many cases, a harder course study looks better with a lower GPA score than an easy major with a 4.0 GPA score. For example, the school would be more likely to admit a student who had a 3.0 in a double major of political science and physics than a student who had a 3.20 in art. Another key to undergraduate classes is well-rounded classes which have a wide range of studies, states College Answer.
GPA Averages During Law School
GPA averages for students in law school varies based on the specific school. The Internet Legal Research Group shows low and high GPA scores of students in various schools around the country. According to the 2009 data available on the website, schools like Yale, Harvard and Stanford have low GPA scores of 3.77, 3.75 and 3.74 respectively. The high GPA scores of the college students in the same year at the same schools were 3.97, 3.95 and 3.95. Most law schools have a minimum GPA requirement, which varies by school.
Raising Law School GPA
A law school GPA is a determining factor in getting a job later. Most students in law school will fall somewhere in the middle, though there are always those who excel and rank in the top and those who struggle and rank at the bottom. To raise a law school GPA, there are some strategies students can work on. Laura Bergus, a writer on Lawyerist and 2011 graduating law student, suggests working on the middle ground rather than struggling with classes that are challenging. While it is important to work hard in all classes, figuring out which classes are easier and working on edging those grades up is a way to improve the overall GPA.
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