Unlike medical school which might require prerequisites, law school does not. A college degree in any field, an LSAT score, and probably an essay are it. My law school class included a prior magician. I would not consider whether there is pre-law advising in making a decision on which college to attend.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People always say it's about GPA and lsat but I don't think think that's fully the case. There are too many people with very high scores on both. Law schools also want to see engagement-- extracurriculars, summer work experiences and, increasingly, interesting jobs in the gap between college and law school. Unlike a decade or two ago, it's really, really common for students to work a couple of years before law school. Some is to make money to pay tuition, but a lot of it is to demonstrate to the school that you're likely to be successful upon graduation.

Ehh. My smart but lazy nephew breezed through college, and then spent 5 years laying around his parents' house. Truly, has done nothing. No jobs. No volunteer work. His only activity is a kickball beer league. He got a great LSAT score and was accepted to every law school he applied to and will start this fall. Convinced me that nothing but grades/scores matter.

Yep. GPA and LSAT are 95% of it. Law Schools are not holistic except when it comes to work experience. That matters.

Pre-law is not a thing.

Anonymous wrote:People always say it's about GPA and lsat but I don't think think that's fully the case. There are too many people with very high scores on both. Law schools also want to see engagement-- extracurriculars, summer work experiences and, increasingly, interesting jobs in the gap between college and law school. Unlike a decade or two ago, it's really, really common for students to work a couple of years before law school. Some is to make money to pay tuition, but a lot of it is to demonstrate to the school that you're likely to be successful upon graduation.

Ehh. My smart but lazy nephew breezed through college, and then spent 5 years laying around his parents' house. Truly, has done nothing. No jobs. No volunteer work. His only activity is a kickball beer league. He got a great LSAT score and was accepted to every law school he applied to and will start this fall. Convinced me that nothing but grades/scores matter.

Keep in mind GPA is considered in the context of the undergrad(yes 3.7 from a top school is often more impressive than 3.9 from a T50-100 ish school, more impressive than 4.0 in some cases).
A+ = 4.3 when law school admissions recalculate.
The LSAT is the equalizer. The 3.7-3.8 at the ivy/elite almost always has a higher LSAT (probably 167-170) than the 3.9 or even 4.0 at the average public depending on grade inflation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How common is a full ride to an Ivy law school? I have heard that with a certain gpa and lsat that it is a possibility. Is this true?

Common? About as common as flying monkeys. As with undergraduate the Ivies focus on need based aid, not merit. They also consider parent income/assets for applicants below certain age limits, i.e. for HLS unless over 29.

When 40% of Harvard law students are on GRANTS as most of their need-based aid it is not as dire as you make it. Another chunk have all-loan aid because they are not as needy.
The rest of the ivies are similar.

PP asked about full ride, that is not loans or partial grants. . . .

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How common is a full ride to an Ivy law school? I have heard that with a certain gpa and lsat that it is a possibility. Is this true?

Common? About as common as flying monkeys. As with undergraduate the Ivies focus on need based aid, not merit. They also consider parent income/assets for applicants below certain age limits, i.e. for HLS unless over 29.

When 40% of Harvard law students are on GRANTS as most of their need-based aid it is not as dire as you make it. Another chunk have all-loan aid because they are not as needy.
The rest of the ivies are similar.

Aid:

Almost all T-14 have need based aid.

All T-14 but HLS, YLS and Stanford have merit based aid. The most merit aid is found below the T-14.

Law schools have not ratcheted up the merit as fast as med schools have, though the average debt considering 3 rs not 4 has always been lower.

Anonymous wrote:People always say it's about GPA and lsat but I don't think think that's fully the case. There are too many people with very high scores on both. Law schools also want to see engagement-- extracurriculars, summer work experiences and, increasingly, interesting jobs in the gap between college and law school. Unlike a decade or two ago, it's really, really common for students to work a couple of years before law school. Some is to make money to pay tuition, but a lot of it is to demonstrate to the school that you're likely to be successful upon graduation.

All true and also true that undergrad reputation matters: T-14 is fairly easy with an above-average but not elite gpa(3.75-3.90) from an ivy/T15.

Dc-25's GF and other friends were prelaw at an ivy, they had great advising and they had access to tables with national GPA-vs-LSAT admissions for different tiers of Law school as well as individual schools. More than half the "prelaw" graduates from this ivy go to T14. 3.93+ gets you into T5 range. There are many majors that pre-law students do, and EC's matter. specific faculty advisors help some though much is done through talking to upperclassmen. The advisor role is to encourage each student maximize their chances. Applying to Rhodes, Fulbright etc are common paths for those chasing T5, or those who are targeting options like HLS 2-year deferral program. The ivy helps them apply as I am sure all top schools do. Pre-screening starts Feb-March of Junior year.
Dc's friends are going to HLS, YLS, Chicago, Penn, Columbia, UVA and many other great law schools. Most took one gap.

Anonymous wrote:How common is a full ride to an Ivy law school? I have heard that with a certain gpa and lsat that it is a possibility. Is this true?

Common? About as common as flying monkeys. As with undergraduate the Ivies focus on need based aid, not merit. They also consider parent income/assets for applicants below certain age limits, i.e. for HLS unless over 29.

Look at t20 law, 3.9-4.0 and 168-172 are avg entry stats. 300k of debt....in AI era seems risky bet.

Anonymous wrote:People always say it's about GPA and lsat but I don't think think that's fully the case. There are too many people with very high scores on both. Law schools also want to see engagement-- extracurriculars, summer work experiences and, increasingly, interesting jobs in the gap between college and law school. Unlike a decade or two ago, it's really, really common for students to work a couple of years before law school. Some is to make money to pay tuition, but a lot of it is to demonstrate to the school that you're likely to be successful upon graduation.

Not really. There aren't going to be "too many" with 99th percentile LSAT scores.

People (usually the hopeful mommies) repeat the same stuff over and over around here, whether they know what they are talking about or not. Schools don't need to see someone at a random job for a couple of years to see if one is "likely to be successful upon graduation." Plenty of people who have had jobs before are not successful lawyers, and plenty who haven't ever worked before become legal stars. Y'all just repeat what you have heard on the internet, whether you know anything about the subject matter or not. Blah, blah, blah.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My alma mater (a SLAC) has a pre-law advisor, so I was assuming that’s what OP was asking about—the advisor shares resources and advice, but there’s no official pre-law major or track.

Yes - this is what I meant .

DP. You can learn all the pre law advising you need in a 5 min Google search.

Anonymous wrote:How common is a full ride to an Ivy law school? I have heard that with a certain gpa and lsat that it is a possibility. Is this true?

Lol, lol, lol, lol...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My alma mater (a SLAC) has a pre-law advisor, so I was assuming that’s what OP was asking about—the advisor shares resources and advice, but there’s no official pre-law major or track.

Yes - this is what I meant .

Oh, OK.

Well, I wouldn't even consider this in trying to decide where to go to college. There isn't that much to it.

-- a lawyer