UMD or William & Mary for pre-law?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:W&M has a much stronger law school, however, which benefits its pre-law advising and a high Bar passage rate

There is no need for “pre-law advising” and I can’t imagine how anything in undergrad could possibly relate to bar passage rates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it matters much for law school, get good grades in a major that’s a good fit and so great on the lsats.

This. But, I’d give the tip to WM, because you can your kid establish residency in Virginia for instate admissions bump and tuition for UVA and WM. Although, back in the day (so who knows if it’s a thing now) WM offered me an instate tuition waiver applying as an OOS resident. But summa cum laude from Wake Forest and LSATs above 170, so I brought the stats. (Still wasn’t a superstar law student though. It’s a whole different beast than anything I had seen before).

Summa cum Laude and above 170 gets you on UVA law school waitlist that you’ll never get off of now unless you bring something else to the table . Times have changed for law school too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Save your money for law school and go to whichever of these is in-state.

While think W&M is the stronger option of the two, this is very sound advice.

[Anonymous]

W&M is the better undergraduate institution by most measures, which provides arguably better options and more flexibility if law school turns out not to be the path taken. Many kids start out thinking they'll go to grad school and change their minds mid-course, or choose a different type of grad school than initially contemplated when first matriculating as an undergrad.

W&M grads go on to to the full range of law schools, depending on their GPAs and LSATs, which is probably the case at UMD and other undergraduate institutions, too - the students' performance as an undergrad and on the LSAT govern law school admissions much more than the undergrad institution attended. If a kid has the smarts to get in to W&M, they should do well wherever they actually enroll, and consequently will probably be equally competitive for law school admission without regard to which undergrad school they actually ended up attending.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Save your money for law school and go to whichever of these is in-state.

+1 This is the correct answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Save your money for law school and go to whichever of these is in-state.

+1 This is the correct answer.

Yes this- and advise your kid that grades matter!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Save your money for law school and go to whichever of these is in-state.

+1 This is the correct answer.

Or better yet, skip law school altogether. DH is a lawyer, we know tons of lawyers, and none of them would advise their child to follow suit. Not one.

[Anonymous]

Wouldn’t the smaller school give more writing assignments (which I think is an important skill for a lawyer)?

I say that as a professor, because the larger the class size, the less likely you are to assign lengthy writing assignments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:W&M has a much stronger law school, however, which benefits its pre-law advising and a high Bar passage rate

How so? How on earth would your undergrad experience influence your bar passage rate?

signed,

a lawyer

[Anonymous]

Have a freshman at W&M who is taking pre law type classes and is doing the same as she did in HS, mostly a As and one B. Not seeing deflation at all. And she wasn’t the tippy top of her HS class. I think that is a myth. She loves the classes btw. Small classes and interesting ones, great professors, lots of opportunities for clubs and activities.

[Anonymous]

Law schools admissions is largely about LSAT and GPA. They don't really care where you attended. It is a really just a tie breaker.

W&M doesn't have grade deflation. They have grade inflation like pretty much all selective schools and a relatively high average GPA above 3.5.

But if your kid is comfortable at UMD and does well, it will be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Save your money for law school and go to whichever of these is in-state.

+1 This is the correct answer.

Or better yet, skip law school altogether. DH is a lawyer, we know tons of lawyers, and none of them would advise their child to follow suit. Not one.

Why not?

[Anonymous]

W&M. You will be a better thinker, on average, coming out of W&M than UMD. That may not help you that much getting into a better law school or in performing better in law school, but it will make you a better lawyer.

[Anonymous]

UMD has arguably the best pre-law advising program in the country...coming from someone in the law school admissions community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:W&M has a much stronger law school, however, which benefits its pre-law advising and a high Bar passage rate

There is no need for “pre-law advising” and I can’t imagine how anything in undergrad could possibly relate to bar passage rates.

You don't have a clue what you are talking about so I'd shut up. A good college pre-law advisor can make all the difference in the world. I work in law school admissions and can tell you this from daily experience. UMD has one of the top programs in the country and it absolutely makes a difference.