How do you get into a top law school?
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Anonymous
| Is it all about GPA and LSAT? Does it matter where you got your ungergrad degree from? |
Anonymous
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It’s LSAT > GPA >>>>> everything else. I had really terrible softs and an unimpressive undergrad and got in everywhere you’d think given my LSAT/GPA. And there is lots of data to support that.
For URMs I think GPA is more important than for ORMs/white people but it’s still basically the same race on a different track. |
Anonymous
| Yup, GPA and LSAT. Go to the best law school you are accepted into if you want to get a job. |
Anonymous
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My sister got into basically all the best law schools (Harvard, Stanford). She went to a state school, had good grades, did student government and debate, nailed her LSAT (over 170), and worked legal and government internships during the summers.
You can 100% go to a state school and get into a top law school. |
Anonymous
The process has changed a lot. A 170 is no longer “ nailing it” and it is difficult to get a clerkship or good job out of a state law school unless its UVA or UCLA. |
Anonymous
| These days, job experience post-college is more important than it used to be. Most law students at top schools do not go straight through any more, and the admissions offices are interested in what the applicants have done. |
Anonymous
This person doesn’t know what they’re talking about. The median LSAT at Harvard and Yale was 173 last year and it drops from there. https://www.ilrg.com/rankings/law/ Also, Michigan, Berkeley, and Texas are all state law schools in the top 15 (with Michigan and Berkeley ranked higher than UCLA) and have excellent results for clerkships and jobs. Even though that’s not what PP was referring to — PP was saying students from state undergraduate schools can be admitted to top law schools, which is true. |
Anonymous
DP but I guess you didn’t ace the reading comprehension portion of the LSAT like PP’s sister probably did. She didn’t go to a state law school, she went to a state undergrad and got into Harvard and Stanford Law. Agree that these days you need more than a 170 for those admission results, but then everyone test preps now and the LSAT is a very beatable test if you are adept at the areas it tests. Meaning if you could score a 170 a decade ago, you can probably boost that to a 175 or higher with additional prep, especially if you are willing to retake, which many people do now. And you can absolutely get clerkships out of a state law school, btw. But you will need to be top of your class. That’s a major advantage to going to a top law school is that even the vast middle of the class at a school like Harvard or Stanford can score things like federal clerkships. And even the bottom of the class can get jobs at major law firms. But if you go to a state school that isn’t UVA, UMich, Berkeley… you need to do very well in school, land excellent summer jobs, and know how to network. You also often have to accept some regional limitations. |
Anonymous
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You are asking the wrong question.
The question should be, Why should I go to law school? |
Anonymous
| LSAT > GPA > prestige of UG / extracurriculars >>>> everything else. |
Anonymous
| Law school will burden you with massive debt with slim chances of landing a top firm post graduation. Avoid law school. |
Anonymous
It's all about where you go to law school. If you go to one of the best law schools (the T14), it's relatively easy to land a top firm job if that's what you want. Then, you pay back your student loans in 4-5 years and are free to go do whatever you want from there. But don't go to law school unless it's something you actually want to do (i.e., it's not a fallback plan like it was for a number of my classmates). |
Anonymous
15 schools had a 170 median for this year's incoming 1L class https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Oxg1daKToiMystD7rGrbpnHNO-JXdc2ugQMrR0YR7aQ/edit#gid=0 There is a lot of evidence that moving the test entirely online last year (and eliminating a section) resulted in a spike of high scores so maybe they will go back down a bit. As others have said, GPA and LSAT is almost everything - applicants with a 4.0 at a state school are more advantaged than those with a 3.75 at a "prestige" school. Because GPA and LSAT are the only metrics that matter for US News rankings The one exception to this rule is Yale, where applicants need to have something else special on top of LSAT and GPA - YLS accepted only 16 students direct from undergrad last year. |
Anonymous
| Doing very well at a lower ranked undergrad helps you more than doing just okay at a top undergrad. Law schools care about your numbers most of all, so if everything else was equal a 4.0 at NC state, or whatever, is going to get you admitted to Yale Law over a 3.5 at Princeton UG. Being an underrepresented minority also helps a lot. Everything else like activities and awards counts only at the margins. |
Anonymous
| DD's friend (not in Law school yet) got perfect LSAT (180 is it?) but DD says her college GPA isn't very good. Smart kid - one of those marching to her own drum beat - kinda kid. How do LS see kids like that? |