Thanks everyone. These are really helpful insights.

Law schools won’t care. Get good grades, do well on the LSAT and don’t go straight from college to law school.

I went to UMD and majored in government and politics. Several of my fellow GVPT classmates ended up going to law school and many got into very impressive schools (Harvard, Georgetown, Columbia, NYU - and these are just some examples among people I’m still in touch with).

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

When I attended, there was a pretty high percentage of W&M undergrads at W&M law school, despite no formal guaranteed admission

W&M

I’m a W&M grad and went to a top law school so may be biased but I think W&M does an excellent job of preparing its graduates for law school. Strong writing curriculum, and I also found the philosophy courses helpful for critical thinking skills. I’d pick W&M over UMD because you can get a more personalized pre-law educational experience.

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).

W&M, especially of in-state.

Do either offer a joint BA/JD option - or offer any advantage in terms of admission to the UMD or WM law schools? Are you in state for either?

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.

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

W&M is notorious for grade deflation.

These are such different schools culturally, and my DC is trying to get a handle on that. But does anyone have info on pre-law type study at either place?

I personally think that W&M would be a better fit for my DC, culturally (smaller school, smaller classes, etc) but DC is leaning toward UMD. I'll stop nudging, though, if I find out that W&M would be weaker for later law school applications. (Current interest, though that could change.)

Thoughts?