<p>Hi, I’m a rising sophomore at Georgetown University, and this spring/summer, I was lucky enough to be accepted into UChicago and Columbia (Fu) as a transfer. Currently I am deciding whether I should transfer or stay at my current institution, and I was wondering if you guys could give me some help. I was able to achieve a 4.0 at Georgetown my first year, and my goal after graduation is to go to law school. If I go to Chicago, I will be majoring in econ, and if I attend Columbia, I plan to major in financial engineering. What I am worried about is the low gpa in both Columbia and Uchicago, and that it could hurt my chances at a top notch law school. I am aiming for Harvard, Yale, and Stanford. However, attaining a 4.0 at georgetown has given me some confidence that maybe I can do just as well at Chicago and Columbia. Is this true? I know that Columbia gives out A+'s, which convert to 4.3 in the scale. How does this factor in the law school admission process? Also, Columbia was generous enough to give me a 25k Grant, so I would be paying about 20k less at Columbia than at Georgetown. The fact that Columbia is located in New York City and that many friends attend the university relative to Georgetown, where I struggled to adapt socially, is a huge plus for me.<br>
Also, it would be great if you guys could give some stats for law school applicants who come from an engineering background. (it should be clear by now that im deciding between columbia and georgetown) Does the fact that there are less applicants with engineering backgrounds more than compensate for the slightly lower gpa’s they might have relative to their humanities counterparts? Thanks so much.</p>
<p>Georgetown is not easy by any means, but you’re comparing it to Chicago (known for it’s very tough grading) and Columbia Fu (engineering), both of which I would guess are harder. Georgetown has better law placement than Chicago and Columbia (Fu), though if you keep your grades up you’ll do fine at any of these schools. </p>
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<p>Schools will likely compensate for an engineering major applicant, though I wouldn’t expect it to be more than 2 tenths of a point. This often is not enough.</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply. What would you do in my situation?</p>
<p>I’d go to Columbia. I think you can handle it (a 4.0 at Georgetown shows this much) and it seems like that’s where you’d like to be. Columbia’s also my personal favorite of those three.</p>
<p>If you didn’t go there, I’d stay at Georgetown. Excellent placement into HLS in particular.</p>
<p>Well what about GU prompted you to apply for a transfer? Was it the social atmosphere? Do you think Columbia could fill that need?</p>
<p>I live 15 minutes from Georgetown, and I do want to move away from my comfort zone. The fact that Georgetown was not my target school coming out of high school played a big factor in terms of my attitude of the school, and even though my dislike for the school may have been self brought, I would like a change of scenery. However, I applied to Columbia (Fu) because my math professor at Gtown saw my fondness for math and econ, and recommended that I apply there. Though social reasons played a part in my desire to transfer, I liked Georgetown much more during the second semester. That being said, what I meant was that I have some very close friends from high school who attend columbia, which is a plus for columbia but doesnt necessarily count against georgetown.</p>
<p>I would go to Columbia if I were you. 20k cheaper (per year?), friends, NYC, prestige, a chance to move out of your comfort zone. The only concern is the risk of a lower GPA given your law school aspirations. Talk to the people at Fu. Ask professors for a copy of their syllabi and samples of other course material, talk to students about the worklaod (you might’ve done these things already). If you’re reasonably confident you could maintain a GPA 3.7 or higher, go for it.</p>
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<p>edited…</p>
<p>Law schools are very number focused. They look at GPA and LSAT first and foremost. Chicago is known for being grade deflationary, and officers take this in to account. But if you are applying towards the end of the admissions cycle, and its time for them to increase their numbers so they can maintain their median scores then that could hurt you. A 4.0 from Georgetown, and a 170+ LSAT would basically guarantee you a spot at any law school you want. However, Georgetown is known for its grade deflation, but either way that is not going to diminish your impressive 4.0. With that said, I still think you should go to Columbia. They are giving you money to go, and it seems that you are ready for change. Even though it seems like if you stay at Georgetown it is a done deal in terms of law school placement, that isn’t to say that you won’t succeed at either place. Plus Chicago and Columbia have better law schools, especially if you want to go into academia or get a clerkship (this is where Chicago succeeds). For that reason alone (plus its high ranking…below HYS I believe) I would consider Chicago, but I would look into whether or not going to their under grad school will help you or not.</p>
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<p>It should be noted that Columbia is not very incestuous at all. Attending Columbia for undergrad doesn’t help you get into CLS, as some might assume.</p>
<p>^^^^
I did not know that, but I did hear that there is a program for GU undergrads where they are guaranteed admissions to their law school without taking the LSAT (granted they meet some type of GPA requirement or something). That could you save you a lot of stress if you were interested in going, but from the OP’s first post I guess she is not.</p>
<p>yes, there is the early assurance program at Georgetown. If you have a greater than 3.9 gpa, then you are guaranteed admissions into the law school without having to take the LSAT. although georgetown is a great law school, a school which i believe is underrated in the rankings, i would still like to aim for the three schools i mentioned in the first post.</p>
<p>^^^
As for your engineering question, I remember it being briefly discussed in Ivey’s Guide to Law School Admissions (this is a great book if you haven’t read it…its written by the former dean of admissions of UChicago Law School). She basically said that they are very familiar with the deflationary grading curves of engineering and pre-med students. In this case you would write an addendum to put your GPA in a better context. You would basically state what the average GPA in your major is, and then compare it to yours. You might not even have to include this in the addendum; it could just be in your resume. </p>
<p>So suppose you go to Columbia’s website, and you look up your major. They state what the average GPA there is (or you can just email someone in the department and ask), or they might have a list of students who are currently in that department who are willing to answer your questions. From there you can get an idea of how the grading is, and you will know what type of GPA you can aim for. Then go to the LSAC website, and they will have profiles of the ~200 law schools there with a breakdown of the LSAT and GPA they accept. </p>
<p>But I don’t think you will have a problem maintaining a great GPA, where ever you go. I would just go to Columbia. Even if your GPA does go down, you will still get a better boost in admissions (I think the institution you go to is factored in your admissions index). I don’t know how much of this you knew already, but I hoped that helped.</p>
<p>Another thing. I live in Fairifax, and I was wondering if you comute to D.C. for classes. Are freshman required to live on campus?</p>
<p>Oh yeah. Another site that could help you a lot is <a href=“http://www.top-law-schools.com%5B/url%5D”>www.top-law-schools.com</a> and <a href=“TestMasters LSAT Prep Course | Live and Online Classes”>TestMasters LSAT Prep Course | Live and Online Classes;
<p>edited…</p>
<p>You can go to a better school (Columbia) at less the cost? Why is there a question?</p>
<p>definitely go to columbia :]</p>
<p>true columbia has more prestige, but georgetown places better than the Fu Foundation in terms of top law school placement…
no, i did not commute. im not quite sure whether one can commute during his or her first year, but traffic on 66 is terrible in the mornings, and i didnt want to miss out too much on the campus atmosphere.</p>
<p>are you sure that’s not b/c less people apply from Fu? Did you compare stats for the overall school?</p>
<p>I would stay at Georgetown. </p>
<p>I don’t understand your decision process at all. You know that the single most important factor in admittance to law school is your GPA. You are right on track for the law school you want to go to, and now you want to go and change things for some reason that is totally unclear to me. You are happy at your school, you are doing well there, the money is not really an issue (apparently), but yet you want to change things–why? </p>
<p>I think you are suffering from the “grass is greener” syndrome. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that if you are planning to go to Columbia or Univ of Chicago so that you can get independence from parents or friends, this may tempt you to start partying more, taking more chances in your social life, etc. You just said that you would have to move (and I presume have to start doing a lot more of your own chores and cooking also). Also, don’t think that there won’t be a new social “adjustment” period at Columbia. </p>
<p>While you need to move out and be on your own eventually, why take the chance of doing anything to “screw up” your 4.0 GPA. Don’t get me wrong. I agree that you need this in your life--------eventually. But not now.</p>