Is it worth waiting until late December to apply to Law School if GPA will improve?

[handslikesecrets]

I currently have a 3.45 (I grade poorly in Math, if it weren't for my Math classes I would have around a 3.7), and am taking the LSAT in October. I have one more year of undergrad, and am planning to apply to about ten law schools. Because I have so few required classes left, one option is loading up on easy, lower-division classes that I know I can achieve an A in relatively easily this upcoming Fall semester, which would put me up to about a 3.52. All of the admission graphs have 3.5 as a major benchmark- is it worth me waiting until my grades are through in December and I am above a 3.5 to apply, or should I plan on applying before Thanksgiving with a 3.45? Any advice would be appreciated.

[logic games]

Hey, welcome to our message board.

First, did you consider your chances of admission as explained in this thread: 3 Ways to Predict Law School Admission Chances? Although you have not taken the LSAT yet, you should be able to predict what you are capable of getting based on your current practice tests (if taken under real conditions). Plug in the different GPAs and see how they affect your chances. And as you probably know, your LSAT score is substantially more important than your GPA.

Without more information, I would say that applying earlier, before Thanksgiving, will benefit you more than increasing your GPA by .07.

Also, I don't know how your college works, but at mine, grades usually did not come back until mid January. And you would still have to send LSAC your official transcript, which could take a substantial amount of time, especially with how busy LSAC is in January. This would put you at a severe disadvantage compared to most December LSAT takers, who would presumably have all of their application materials ready to go once their LSAT score comes back.

I would definitely lean towards applying early. But run the numbers just to be sure.

[Jen Teal]

Originally Posted by handslikesecrets

I currently have a 3.45 (I grade poorly in Math, if it weren't for my Math classes I would have around a 3.7), and am taking the LSAT in October. I have one more year of undergrad, and am planning to apply to about ten law schools. Because I have so few required classes left, one option is loading up on easy, lower-division classes that I know I can achieve an A in relatively easily this upcoming Fall semester, which would put me up to about a 3.52. All of the admission graphs have 3.5 as a major benchmark- is it worth me waiting until my grades are through in December and I am above a 3.5 to apply, or should I plan on applying before Thanksgiving with a 3.45? Any advice would be appreciated.

I think logic games hit the nail on the head. The slight increase in GPA, assuming you can pull it off, is not as important as a high LSAT score and an earlier application.