Junior Level Undergrad with questions...

silver00v6 · March 19, 2005, 12:47am

I'll be transfering to one of the UC campuses in fall 05 (UCB as primary, UCLA as secondary) as a history major. I would like to attend law school after earning my bachelor's degree and was wondering what I should keep in mind while I'm still an undergraduate. I would like to make myself an attractive candidate at some of the more prestigious law schools in the country (Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc...). Should I attempt to double major? Should I join any particular clubs/organizations? Is there community service I should be doing? Basically, when it comes time to apply for law school I want to feel prepared and that I've done all I could to be a competitive candidate.

Thanks in advance and please tell me a bit about your background. (Where you currently attend or if you're in the process of applying to law school which ones and where you got your bachelor's)

Again, thank you for the help

Cardozo · March 19, 2005, 4:08am

Check out some of the other threads dealing with these issues -- they've been pretty well covered.

fmstyle · April 15, 2005, 6:39pm

I'm almost in the same position...can someone answer those questions...and do you also believe it's better to transfer to a less prestigous school where you're likely to get a higher GPA such as UCSB and UCSD or go to a more prestigious school where you might get a lower GPA like UCLA or UCB.

Thanks.

bump

dadofsam · April 15, 2005, 7:14pm

To make yourself the best possible candidate for these law schools, there are really only two things that you have to do:

<ol>
<li>Get the best damn grades that you can</li>
<li>Get the best damn LSAT score that you can</li>
</ol>

Everything else is very very secondary.

Mican · April 23, 2005, 1:59pm

"To make yourself the best possible candidate for these law schools, there are really only two things that you have to do:

<ol>
<li>Get the best damn grades that you can</li>
<li>Get the best damn LSAT score that you can</li>
</ol>

Everything else is very very secondary."

Greetings. Would prestige be one of those "secondary" things that law schools don't really take in consideration? I'm really curious about this because I am to decide between Notre Dame and UIUC for undergrad really soon. Thanks in advance.

sakky · April 23, 2005, 5:02pm

Mican, your question has been debated many times on these threads. I think that the majority opinion is that prestige of the undergrad program plays only a minor role. Far more important are your grades and your LSAT. In other words, I would be wary of trading higher grades to get more prestige. Obviously, if you could go to the most prestigious school and get perfect grades, you would go for that. Most people can't do that. You are then better off getting the highest grades you can even if it's at a no-name school.

tired_student · April 23, 2005, 7:13pm

haha this thread just reaffirmed the need for an FAQ to answer all the questions that have been asked ad nauseum.

mradio · April 24, 2005, 11:58am

I think the FAQ is a great idea, but many people on this board are forgetting something. This is a message board, a means of communication. If you came to your academic adviser / guidance counselor to ask a question and he/she gave you a book and said "read it," most likely you would not be very happy. Also, nobody's question is exactly the same, just like no case in law is ever the same. Everything must be put in context, including various questions about law schools. Don't get me wrong, I think the FAQ is an awesome idea, but some people need to think before they criticize someone for simply asking a question.

tired_student · April 24, 2005, 1:28pm

FAQ would just give prelimiary advice or answers and then if you still dont understand you can ask again.

mradio · April 24, 2005, 2:24pm

You're kidding me?!

dadofsam · April 25, 2005, 12:41pm

Mradio: the fact is that a lot of questions on this board are repeats of previously asked questions - either just about exactly the same or very close, even though an individual poster may think that his or her question is different. The moderatopr of the Medical Schools board set up a "read me first" post at the top of the board that answered many questions in advance. A series of FAQs or general statements of information at the top of this board would answer a lot of the questions - and, hopefully, prospective posters would read them before posting.