<p>If you’re interested in being a criminal defense attorney, I’d go to whereever is the cheapest to minimize undergrad debt. Law school ain’t cheap and going to a tier 3 or tier 4 law school is always a risky proposition…especially in this economy when even lawyers who graduated from the top-14 are having issues with finding gainful employment. </p>
<p>Have you considered one of the SUNYs or even some CUNY campuses? </p>
<p>From what I’ve heard and seen from knowing many lawyers and law students, where you went for undergrad does not really matter except for the top 3 law schools(Yale, Harvard, Stanford) and that around 90% of your law school admission is based on undergrad GPA and LSAT score. </p>
<p>Also, as someone who has worked with attorneys, I’d also recommend doing a legal internship/working in a criminal defense/DA’s office to see what the work is like in your preferred practice area. You do not want to be like the law firm associates I’ve encountered who ended up hating working as a lawyer after going to law school and getting hired at topflight law firms because their source of information on being a lawyer was mainly from what they saw on Boston Legal or Law & Order.</p>
<p>As for transferring schools, if you do really well in your first two years at USC or some other state school as an in-stater, you may find you have more options than Fordham…especially as transfer admissions tend to put much more weight on college grades if you’re transferring in as a junior. </p>
<p>Also, a word of advice…make academics your #1 priority and doing some ECs/fun stuff at a reasonable level so it doesn’t cut into #1. Don’t get too caught up in the “great lifestyle” with the family boat and car. Doing the latter is a great potential road to mediocre GPAs…and in one older cousin’s case…almost flunking out of college altogether.</p>