Maybe you could say the same for Latin III, Ancient Greek History, or any of the other classes burning a hole in your transcript and making you feel like you will NEVER, EVER get into the law school of your choice. We understand: You've got the low GPA blues. But you're not alone! And you have no reason to feel doomed. Here are some tips for bouncing back from a low GPA and developing the confidence necessary to take the law school admissions process by the reigns.

Take a Deep Breath and Relax!
Wesley Thorne, a pre-law advisor and assistant director of the Career Resource Center at Wesleyan University, says that he works with students in the low-GPA predicament all the time. While you might imagine the law school applicant pool brimming with 4.0 superstars just waiting to blow your application out of the water, it's not. You're in the company of plenty of people who wish they had performed better during their undergraduate years, and who are now suffering from similar crises of confidence. The good news is that most of you can still get into law school if you keep your cool and approach the process strategically.

Choose a Realistic List of Schools--The GPA Scale is All Relative
Have you made friends with your college's pre-law advisor yet? If not, hop to it! The job of the pre-law advisor is to help you locate a list of schools that will realistically suit your needs and strengths. He or she will be the first to discourage you from having impossible expectations, and will coach you to be flexible. If you think exclusively in terms of top 20 and second-tier schools, there's a good chance you'll be disappointed. And you're probably right to think that Columbia or Cornell won't look enthusiastically upon a 3.0 GPA. But you can get a great education at many schools that will, and your job is to figure out which ones they are. Keep in mind: one school's lower-range GPA is another school's highest.

Do your research: Books such as The Princeton Review's Best 170 Law Schools, and online searches like such as the Advanced Law School Search, will give you a concrete sense of how your GPA and LSAT scores match up with students who have been accepted at the schools you're considering. The Boston College Law Locator Matrix can also provide you with a list of realistic schools to consider based on your stats.

Ace the LSAT
The LSAT is often weighted as heavily as your undergraduate GPA. So get cracking! Aim to score above the median score of your chosen schools. A high score will help you stand out from applicants with equal or higher GPAs.

Communicate with Your Recommendation Writers
According to Thorne, your letters of recommendation are a valuable opportunity to compensate for a low GPA. "Speak very candidly with the professors writing your recommendations. Say, 'My GPA isn't as high as I think it should be, and here are some circumstances relating to why that is the case.' This allows someone with academic credibility to address your concerns, and that can be very persuasive to an admissions committee." If your transcript shows an upward trend, find professors who knew you in the later period of your academic career. They can highlight your strengths and emphasize your progress while acknowledging the reservations you have about your GPA.

The Personal Essay and Addendum
The personal essay is one of your best chances to distinguish yourself as something greater than the sum of your stats. Talk about particularly interesting accomplishments, experiences, aspirations, and obstacles you've overcome. Communicate with personality and conviction, and don't be modest! You may or may not want to address the issue of your low GPA in the essay--while Thorne encourages a candid discussion of GPA in law school applications, he suggests that you attach a separate addendum with a short paragraph containing some justification or explanation of an upward trend. If you switched your major mid-way through college from a hard science to a more appropriate discipline, or if you took time off and returned to achieve a more impressive record, this is your chance to make it clear. Writing a separate addendum will allow you to keep a positive focus in your personal essay.

The Real World
Only an estimated 40 percent of law students enter directly from college. If you feel that you could use some time after graduation to demonstrate your ability in a non-academic environment, you might get an edge over candidates with similar GPAs and LSAT scores. However, Thorne insists, you should resist the urge to take graduate-level courses with the intent of boosting your overall GPA. Law schools won't pay much attention. Instead, find work related to your field of interest and take time to reflect on your career choice.

Law School Admissions Officers Are People, Too
Remember: Your application will be considered by human beings with subjective criteria. Instead of envisioning the admissions staff as a group of heartless automatons eager to toss your application into the proverbial "circular file," imagine them as a thinking body open to seeing the best in what you have to offer. Convince them of your virtues, and trust them to be impressed by your strengths. Contrary to what you might hear, law school admissions is not just a numbers game.