chelssd32

I'm a senior in high school and I am very torn between going to a school which has a good reputation where I will have a better chance at getting good grades or going to a school with a very prestigious national reputation where GPAs are known to deflate. My life goal is to attend law school, so which one would it be better for me attend? If I get more money to the not as prestigious school is it worth attending? Please help!

happymomof1

GPA.

I can't find the link for you, but there was a long thread about just exactly that issue recently. Try working your way through the law school forum and you might hit on it.

Not to mention that law school is fiendishly expensive, and there is no guarantee of employment upon graduation. If your undergrad can be cheap, and you have some pennies left over to help pay for law school, you will be well ahead of the game.

tk21769

The conventional wisdom on College Confidential is that GPA and LSAT scores matter far more than undergraduate institutional prestige in LSAT admissions.

Here's a profile of the Yale Law School's entering Class of 2015:
Entering Class Profile | Yale Law School

Notice that 68 undergraduate institutions are represented (including Albion College, Clemson, Gonzaga, Seattle University, and many state universities). The median GPA and median LSAT score are both very high.

It's true that at YLS, Harvard Law, and other famous, prestigious law schools, graduates of famous, prestigious colleges are represented heavily. I think the most plausible explanation is that those colleges, in their own admissions processes, cherry-pick highly motivated, capable students who are also good test-takers, and who may be very inclined to apply to famous, prestigious law schools.

muckdogs07

GPA. Admission to law school is much more formulaic than undergrad. Generally, the formula is weighted 40% toward GPA and 60% to the LSAT. Going to a strong undergrad can help at the margins (typically law schools take more from their undergrad institutions, all things being equal Hopkins > Salisbury State), but only at the margins.

chelssd32

Thank you so much for all of your insights! It is genuinely extremely helpful seeing as I am in the process of selecting an undergrad school and I'm one of those kids with a multi-year life plan which definitely includes law school.

ucbalumnus

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