<p>Okay I have been quite a bit of research in this section of the board and I have ascertained that a lot of these admissions factors are numbers-based as opposed to the top schools. I was wondering is if anybody on here might have some hardcore information on two schools: Cornell and Northwestern. I am talking about things specifically like are the "lower T14" schools just numbers based and what else can one do besides having a great GPA + LSAT (obviously the most important) to stand out? </p>
<p>I am a bioengineering major with an english minor at Lehigh University and I am still very early into my college career. I can't estimate an LSAT score, but my GPA is a 3.8. Do things like internships, extracurricular research, and volunteer work play any type of marginal factor to these schools? If there are any hints I could use to help make myself distinguishable in my college career it would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who replies.</p>
<p>Northwestern is known for its preference for work experience ... in other words, the average age of a NU law student is higher than the average at other T14 schools (or so I have been told). I assume that if you are coming straight out of undergrad, you would have to compensate for that lack of work experience, perhaps with an LSAT score and GPA above their 75% percentile, but that is only an assumption and I'm not sure. </p>
<p>NU is also the only T14 law school that requires an interview, which would indicate that they are perhaps more concerned with personality and people skills than the other schools. </p>
<p>From what I can tell, extracurrics play a small part of the admissions process unless you are being weighed specifically against someone with the same credentials, in which case anything that can tip the scale in your favor would be an advantage. But you should definitely make an effort to be involved in at least one or two activities regardless, more to prove that you're not a hermit than anything else.</p>
<p>Your technical background combined with an English degree makes you a great candidate for a practice in patent law. Northwester, as written above, favors work experience and emphasizes group projects, hence the importance of the interview.</p>