Is this possible or a far away dream?

[HonuDiver]

Hello!

My GPA wasn’t the best and I have attended other colleges throughout my life. It’s never “stuck” but recently I decided my dream was that I wanted to go to law school (I turned my life around) but I never thought it was possible with my history of bad grades. Then I got to thinking I need to take a bunch of credits to get a better grade. I was originally thinking of using UMPI to get an undergrad but now I’m wondering if it would be possible to use it to boost my GPA. Or if there are other schools that are self paced and graded to get my GPA up. I don’t need anything fancy for law school - I’ve considered liberty or somewhere with a low/moderate acceptance rate. 

Thanks!

[Mint Berry Crunch]

Hello!

My GPA wasn’t the best and I have attended other colleges throughout my life. It’s never “stuck” but recently I decided my dream was that I wanted to go to law school (I turned my life around) but I never thought it was possible with my history of bad grades. Then I got to thinking I need to take a bunch of credits to get a better grade. I was originally thinking of using UMPI to get an undergrad but now I’m wondering if it would be possible to use it to boost my GPA. Or if there are other schools that are self paced and graded to get my GPA up. I don’t need anything fancy for law school - I’ve considered liberty or somewhere with a low/moderate acceptance rate. 

Thanks!

UMPI is a great option for you! They accept students with GPAs from a 1.75 and upwards: https://www.umpi.edu/yourpace/admissions-requirements/

People here have had great success going to law school after graduating from UMPI. It's totally doable. I may be wrong about this part, but I do recall individuals in the past discussing about if one's GPA is lower than that, there is another step in the process to evaluate your readiness for the program. 

There are other ways to boost your GPA through alternative credit sources, such as with ASU Universal Learner if there are any roadblocks (my mom started her first college course here at 59). 

But as always, we recommend that you do Sophia first to knock out your Gen Eds followed by Study.com for electives not found there and major/minor requirements. Good luck!

[Jonathan Whatley]

It’s possible! You can likely pretty much only improve your GPA, and you can prep to improve your LSAT score.

But note that some subjects most DFers take through alt-credit like Sophia, you will likely want to take in graded credit from an accredited college, which will improve your LSAC GPA. Alt-credit will not affect your LSAC GPA.

[bjcheung77]

@HonuDiver - You're in the middle and in the mist of things, it can be a far away dream, but it is possible... Anyways, it really depends on multiple variables, especially since you've got a baby. Baby boy or girl? Did you ever finish the Pierpont BOG AAS? Do you have at least 40+ technical credits?

One thing to note, you want to have a good undergraduate overall GPA, it's not the main thing institutions look at, but an overall list of prerequisites or variables. You need to have 60 graded credits at least. Going the UMPI route would be your cheap, easy, fast option to get the required GPA bump.

[Charles Fout]

Law school has very strict time limits/completion requirements among other things.

As always, I recommend you network and find yourself a mentor. Someone who has been there and done that.

All the best in achieving your goals.

[HonuDiver]

@HonuDiver - You're in the middle and in the mist of things, it can be a far away dream, but it is possible... Anyways, it really depends on multiple variables, especially since you've got a baby.  Baby boy or girl?  Did you ever finish the Pierpont BOG AAS?  Do you have at least 40+ technical credits?

One thing to note, you want to have a good undergraduate overall GPA, it's not the main thing institutions look at, but an overall list of prerequisites or variables.  You need to have 60 graded credits at least.  Going the UMPI route would be your cheap, easy, fast option to get the required GPA bump.

If I am self pay - can I take more credits than on the credit path? Which would give me that bump? Like if I retook everything and then some.

[ss20ts]

In order to really kick your overall GPA up, you would need to retake the same courses at the college you took them at the first time. Even by doing so, the lower grades will always be on a transcript, but aren't always calculated into the GPA when the course is repeated.

How long ago are we talking about this GPA? 2 years? 5 years? 10 years? 20 years?

[Jonathan Whatley]

In order to really kick your overall GPA up, you would need to retake the same courses at the college you took them at the first time. Even by doing so, the lower grades will always be on a transcript, but aren't always calculated into the GPA when the course is repeated.

Ah, but both the original and the repeat grades if they are transcripted are included by the Law School Admission Council, which generates the standardized GPA used by law schools.

So for law school admission a retake at the original college has no special advantage unless that college removes old grades from their transcript upon successful retake.

Transcript Summarization (Law School Admission Council)

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If I am self pay - can I take more credits than on the credit path? Which would give me that bump? Like if I retook everything and then some.

UMPI tuition is basically an “all you can eat” subscription. For $1800 per 8-week session there is no upper limit on the number of credits you can complete. There is a limit on how many courses you can be enrolled in at one point in time. There is the constraint of turnaround times for instructors to return draft comments or final grades to you. There is a deadline late in the 8 weeks after which you can’t add any additional course, and there is the constraint that you don’t want to leave any courses incomplete or poorly completed at the end of the 8 weeks because that would hit your GPA.

[HonuDiver]

In order to really kick your overall GPA up, you would need to retake the same courses at the college you took them at the first time. Even by doing so, the lower grades will always be on a transcript, but aren't always calculated into the GPA when the course is repeated.

How long ago are we talking about this GPA? 2 years? 5 years? 10 years? 20 years?

I have a bunch of Fs and was on academic probation 10-15 years ago from different schools. Then another time 5 years ago. Recently I completed 2 semesters in a CC. The first semester I ended up with good grades but dropped too many courses. And then this last semester took 6 courses. Failed 2 and then got a C in one and then got as or bs in the others.

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@HonuDiver - You're in the middle and in the mist of things, it can be a far away dream, but it is possible... Anyways, it really depends on multiple variables, especially since you've got a baby.  Baby boy or girl?  Did you ever finish the Pierpont BOG AAS?  Do you have at least 40+ technical credits?

One thing to note, you want to have a good undergraduate overall GPA, it's not the main thing institutions look at, but an overall list of prerequisites or variables.  You need to have 60 graded credits at least.  Going the UMPI route would be your cheap, easy, fast option to get the required GPA bump.

we have a baby boy. We have a 5 year old. I have made mistakes and have learned from them. I want more than anything to show my kids that they can achieve their dreams. I’ve been doing a ton of Sophia and study.com but this is a far away dream but I figured I would see if it’s even feasible.

[Jonathan Whatley]

I’ve been doing a ton of Sophia and study.com but this is a far away dream but I figured I would see if it’s even feasible.

Sophia and Study.com can get you closer to graduating with a bachelor’s degree which is one important step for you, but they’ll have no effect on your LSAC GPA. LSAC just counts them as pass/fail.

Check with the Registrar’s Office of any prior school at which you both got very low grades, and could retake courses now (either you still live in the area, or they have the courses online) to see whether if you retake a course there, they will omit the older or lower grade from your transcript.

If they say yes, you’ll get by far the most value retaking low grades there.

They’ll probably say no. In that case, face forward, you can shop for courses from any accredited college. Good choices have been named already above.

Important: The LSAC GPA only counts courses completed before you graduate with your first bachelor’s degree. Much of the advice on DegreeForum is for people who want to accelerate their bachelor’s graduation and who want to generally maximize what they do with lower-cost providers like Sophia and Study. This is almost opposite from what you want to do. Defer graduating with your bachelor’s degree until you’re ready to lock in your LSAC GPA permanently.