Money is always a factor 
But fortunately not a big factor in our case. We’ll consider the bottom line. But I doubt it will sway us much one way or the other.
So where would you put Elon in comparing it with the national universities? Would it be in the Top 100?
By entering factors Elon compares to top-100 universities such as UC-Boulder (92nd in USNWR):
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-610-smartest-colleges-in-america-2015-9
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yes, law schools care about scores and grades as you say, but there is typically much higher representation from higher ranked undergraduate schools at the top law schools.
Those law schools get lots of applicants with very good LSAT scores grades and the institution is often the tie breaker.
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Where is your proof that the name of the school is the tie breaker?
There’s a reason why many top law schools have students from top undergrads…it’s because top undergrads tend to have mostly students who can test amazingly well.
Colleges can either over-perform or under-perform over four years in relation to entering factors. The quality of the collegiate academic experience should not be dismissed with respect to its influence on LSAT scores.
Literally All that matters is GPA and LSAT(main factor) for Law School admissions
Ironically, I think coming from a school that is underrepresented may actually HELP you (more diversity of institutions represented). The reason you see “top” schools overrepresented in top law schools is because these schools tend to attract kids who can get high standardized test scores in the first place.
@Juliette, perhaps I didn’t express the second part clearly, because your response doesn’t align with what I meant. What I was saying is someone who tests well on standardized tests will do so regardless of where they go to college. So the LSAT will not be impacted by college choice. The other part of the equation, though, is undergraduate record. All I am saying is most successful applicants to top level law schools will have both high LSATs AND high GPAs. I think the same GPA from a higher ranked school will carry more weight in the decision than from a lower ranked school. And, since many high ranked schools actually have high average GPAs, they aren’t a bad bet.
WildestDream has a point that they do look for some diversity, so that may be a countervailing factor, I still think higher ranked is generally the better bet assuming it is a good fit for you and you do well.
@mom2collegekids , I can’t prove the school is the tie breaker. It is just my view. I don’t think I’m out in left field with this view, though.
The USNWR national university rankings, at least for the top schools, corresponds fairly well to a simple test score ranking. Elon’s cumulative average SAT M+CR+W score is about 1800. That seems to correspond to scores for private universities in the bottom quarter of the top 100 (e.g. Clark, Marquette, University of Denver, University of Tulsa, St. Louis University, Drexel).
However, I doubt that this pecking order (for whatever it’s worth) has a measurable, significant impact on law school admissions.
All very good schools, but UVA and William and Mary would be the best choices for someone aspiring to law school.
Are you instate in Virginia?
I understand that GPA and LSAT score are the main criteria. And certainly the higher scores will tend to come from the better/best colleges. So the majority of those admitted will be from the better/best colleges. That stands to reason. I’m really only addressing the effect that choosing the college may have for law school admission. In other words, how the ranking and reputation itself of the college comes into play.
Izzo, that ingenius link is great. I also think most law schools have connections with certain undergrad colleges and tend to draw most heavily from those schools. If two applicants have identical GPA and LSAT scores, an admissions counselor is naturally going to pick the one coming out of a college with which he/she is most familiar. But then that diversity thing does come into play.
So it sounds like Elon would fall into the 75-100 category if ranked nationally, based on SAT rankings only. Thank you. That helps.
One other concern I have is the ‘technical school’ vs ‘liberal arts’ school categories. I am just not familiar with how strong the various departments at these seven colleges may be, or the connections that faculty at each college may have with the law schools.
Choosing one of the top 3 choices you guys have indicated (not necc. my daughter’s top 3), UVA, W&M, Boston U, is (for me) easier than choosing from the next 4. Choosing between Clemson and Elon, for example, seems tough. Or between NC State and South Carolina. Or NC State vs Clemson. Any guidance there? Again, keeping in mind that law school is the long goal.
D liked all of the schools she applied to. She did not apply to those she didn’t care for during the visits, and there were several of those. So from the aspect of likeability, these seven are reasonably even. Of course, she has slight preferences. And then the other factors… cost, distance from home (or support within a reasonable distance), choice of undergrad major, etc. And that annoying little detail of an acceptance letter!
I am not in-state Virginia.
Not being instate for Virginia is a huge difference.
For law school, I’d pick Elon over Clemson. Clemson is stronger for STEM but Elon is stronger for writing and traditional liberal arts.
For USC Columbia, if she applied to the honors college and got in, it’d be a great achievement and would be a strong choice for a pre law student as it’s recognized in the top 10 nationally.
Re: Virginia… is that a good huge difference or a bad huge difference? I know they take a large % of in-state applicants. But have also heard that all colleges are hurting financially and are looking to increase their % of those paying the higher out-of-state tuition.
It’s much more difficult to get into UVA if you’re an out of state student. Last year 41.3% of instate students were accepted while 23.7% of out of state students were accepted. http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2016/03/university-releases-admission-decisions-for-class-of-2020
Spending more for out of state undergraduate tuition would leave less money for expensive law school.
D is a sophomore at Notre Dame also focused on Law School down the road. I’m sure where you go for undergraduate is a factor in Law School admissions but the impression I get is that an extremely high undergraduate GPA and very strong LSAT scores are far more important than your undergraduate pedigree. If your daughter wants to go to a T14 Law School or if she wants a significant merit scholarship, her GPA and LSAT scores will matter much more than where she went to school for undergraduate. As noted above by others, the fact that Ivy League or other top undergraduate schools are disproportionately represented at top Law Schools probably has more to do with the intellectual horsepower and work ethic that got them admitted to Ivy League schools or highly selective undergraduate programs to begin with. If you are in-state Virginia than certainly either W&M or UVA would be very good options
GPA and LSAT scores are the most important factors for law school admission, but at the most elite Law Schools, the tiebreaker often is the rigor of the undergraduate program.
That is why tiny Amherst College has 18 of its graduates at Yale Law School right now, while very good state flagships that are 10-20 times larger have one or two (or usually zero) of their students at Yale. It can’t be just because Amherst students do better on the LSAT. On the average they do, but large state schools have thousands of students with qualifications that might have made them competitive for Amherst. Amherst, with a graduating class of 450 students a year, has more of its graduates currently at Yale Law than the entire Southeastern Conference (with well over 400,000 college students).
http://bulletin.printer.yale.edu/htmlfiles/law/law-school-students.html
I admit that I think this only holds true for the very top handful of law schools, where some tiebreaker is necessary because of the sheer number of applicants with top GPAs and LSAT scores.
Thank you to all who posted responses. It has been a big help.
One more question… I’ve been focused on the USNWR rankings thus far. I also looked thru the Forbes rankings. How can they be so different? Are there other rankings I should consider? Or is that just going to confuse me further!!! Should I just focus on USNWR and forget the others?
The rankings are only useful if you look at groupings - roughly, top 10, top 25, 26-55, 56-86… that gives you an approximation of similar selectivity/similar quality colleges, although the environment and fit may be very different.
Law schools won’t distinguish between UVA and W&M for instance. They WILL distinguish between those and VCU or Randolph Macon, and between those and Virginia Wesleyan or Emory/Henry. USNWR minutiae won’t matter.
Another difference isn’t rankings, but breadth and depth of offering in her chosen major. Look at how many profs there are, for instance. Do they offer mostly gen eds or do they offer advanced seminars? Look at their biographies: what are their research interests?