<p>hey there, i was just wondering if i'm taking the right steps to make myself a competitive candidate for a top law school (HYS, etc.). i know that i'm jumping a bit ahead of myself, but i love politics and the law and i can't wait to become a lawyer. </p>
<p>currently, i am a senior in HS and next year i will attend The George Washington University's Elliot School of International Affairs and double-major in International Politics and International Economics with a minor in Chinese Language and Literature (I am not a native speaker). </p>
<p>just for grins, lets say i end up with a 170 LSAT and 3.8 GPA - what EC activities should i get involved in to bolster my resume? internships, student goernment, study abroad, etc.? ultimately, what ECs can really make my application stand-out? do ECs even matter in the law school application process? </p>
<p>doesnt matter. get the 3.8 and 170 and you'll be good. EC's do help, but nothing in specific. Fulbright/Rhodes Scholar wouldn't hurt, but don't worry if you dont get it. </p>
<p>If you would look around the forums, you would see that most of us conclude that law school is very numbers oriented.</p>
<p>While most of LS admissions is about the #s, that's less true at Yale and Stanford. I'm not saying it's impossible to get in without any ECs, but not many people coming straight from college who don't have ECs get admitted to Y or S. </p>
<p>And, at the margins for all top LSs, things other than #s are considered. </p>
<p>That said, there is no magic list of things to do. Do whatever you do and do it extraordinarily well, and it will help. Get a 4.0 and a 180 and avoid any character issues and you'll get into any LS except YHS. Do ANYTHING at all, even if it's something very run of the mill, and you'll get into Harvard if your #s are perfect. If you've got perfect #s, you probably need at least mediocre ECs (or work experience) to get into Y or S, assuming you aren't URM and don't have legacy status. The better your numbers, the better your odds and the less outstanding your other factors need to be.</p>
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<li><p>Real life doesn't begin when you become a lawyer. You have the rest of your senior year of high school ahead of you, plus four years of college, and (if you discover nothing about your interests and aptitudes that leads you to chose another path) three years of law school before that happens. That's ten percent of a typical life span; some would say it's the best ten percent. Don't spend these years yearning for them to be behind you. That will happen soon enough in any event.</p></li>
<li><p>There's something to be said for law school admissions being mostly based on the numbers. There are other organizations that base selection decisions mostly on who your parents are, or who you know, or how much money you have.</p></li>
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<p>As a parent, I like admissions based on mostly on numbers. At least you know where you stand, and it eliminates a lot of stress trying to figure out how to package yourself to overcome hooks you don't have.</p>
<p>I just transferred from GWU and here's a few things-</p>
<p>1) Int'l politics and int'l economics don't count as two majors- they're both under one major (int'l affairs). Instead you'll have two concentrations under int'l affairs but your diploma (and maybe your transcript) will only say int'l affairs.</p>
<p>2) GWU is known for subpar academics so if you switch out of int'l affairs (its best program) you'll need above a 3.9 to look competitive.</p>
<p>However, GW's also amazing for EC's so while HYS may look down on GW's academics you can get some great amazing internships during the school year. I know people who got internships in congressmens' offices their second semester of freshman year. You can intern with the State Dept summers (usually the one after junior year, but they also accept some people post sophomore year). Then there's the regular locations like World Bank, IMF, other businesses, etc. </p>
<p>However, the competition will be tough for you. HLS only has 8 GW alums in all three years. (So every year they only let in 2-3, and 1-2 of those will be with some work experience). I doubt Yale or Stanford lets in any more.</p>
<p>But if you screw up your grades a little, GW's law school gives a slight preference to GW undergraduates.</p>
<p>yeah, i <em>think</em> the reason that there are so few GW grads at top law schools is because the school is so one-dimensional (i.e. who really goes to GW for english, chemistry, or any other non-international affairs related subject?). Not to say that GW is a shabby place to get a degree (it does have a highly-selective 37% admit rate), its just that GW invests most heavily in their political majors - they know their strengths and capitalize on them (so, if we were to standardize those numbers for law school enrollment at HYS just for the Elliot School of International Affairs at GW which has a graduating class of roughly 350 individuals, its not such a strikingly low ratio). </p>
<p>on that note, though, i went and bought an LSAT prep book today ;-) i'm also a state-champion debater...would continuing this at GW (as I plan/hope to do) help bolster my resume for an adcom? </p>
<p>Buffithemaster, I think you need to slow down a bit. I'm a 3rd year in college and I'm now starting to study for the LSAT. You've got time, and honestly law school is something you really need to think about. I had a thought as a freshmen in college that I might want to do law school, but I was not really sure up until this year. College does tend to change people, you might find something completely random that you would rather presue. Keep law school in mind, but for the first few years just working on getting the best grades you can.</p>
<p>Okay, look at it this way..there are TWO numbers that matter for law school. LSAT and GPA. You can always take a summer and study for the LSAT or even take it after you graduate and take at least one gap year--which almost every attorney I know recommends anyway. </p>
<p>You'll start working on your GPA next fall. Want to know one of the barriers that keeps a LOT of applicants out of the very top law schools? Freshman year GPA. Yep, your whole 4 years will count in that GPA. It's not like certain colleges that don't look at 9th grade or weigh it a lot less. So, right now, the best thing you can do to help yourself is to focus on the skills you need to succeed out of the starting gate in college. I know zilch about GW's requirements, but if you have to take a math course and that's a weakness, brush up on math. If you read slowly, take a reading course. (Reading quickly and well is one of the KEYS to doing well in law school and it will help with the LSAT if and when you take it too.) Even a typing or key boarding course may help if you are going to be required to type a lot of papers--and, if I need to tie it into law school, many law schools let you take exams on your computer. Being able to type more material in the same amount of time as your classmates is an advantage. </p>
<p>Being able to effectively touch type was one of the best skills I learned in high school. I have at least a couple friends who can't type without looking at the keyboard, and I'm definitely of the opinion that it adds on a significant amount of time to their paper writing.</p>