<p>Is undergrad school that important? Can I go to a california state university and still get into a decent law school as long as my grades and lsats are good?</p>
<p>Yes, but it is all in how you define "decent." Just look at the feeder schools for UCLA, USC, and Loyola in the LA area. Or Stanford, UCB, Santa Clara in NorCal, and you will get some idea of where you would stack up.</p>
<p>It's important to remember that you will be competing against students from UCs and top privates for spots at top 15-25 law schools. Not saying it can't be done, but the difference is noticeable.</p>
<p>When I went to Boalt a quarter century ago, I'm pretty sure there was only one CSU graduate in my class. There were a couple of other classmates I recall off the top of my head who had attended comparable schools in other states (Portland State, and Cleveland State). The Cleveland State graduate was a good friend; our LSAT scores were virtually identical (within a single point on the old 800 scale); he had a single B on his college transcript, and A's in everything else. I had a 3.4 combined GPA from a couple of "top privates" in those somewhat less grade inflated days. We had virtually identical results on our law school applications.</p>
<p>We used to hang out with a Penn grad who had a perfect 4.0 as an undergrad, and an LSAT score about 80 points lower.</p>
<p>The point of this anecdote is that you have less margin for error at a CSU if you're aiming for the most selective law schools. Perfect grades (or near perfect grades) from a CSU plus a very high LSAT score will put you in the running at these schools, but good grades and a good LSAT probably aren't enough for the most competitive programs. Points for "degree of difficulty" probably led admissions committees to cut me some slack for my below-average (for Boalt) grades, and to cut my friend some slack for her below-average (for Boalt) LSAT score.</p>
<p>On the other hand, you can go to any ABA-accredited law school and learn what you what you need to know to be a good lawyer. The most competitive schools are probably overrated in some sense. That's probably why so many people want to go to them: because they're overrated by potential employers.</p>
<p>Thank you very much everyone. As far as the feeder schools go, any ideas about sonoma, chico, or sfsu for Boalt at UCB? If not how hard is Pepperdine to get into, I know its not top 25, but I'm sure it is still a hard school to get into from a CSU. Sorry Im going on and asking so many questions, but any ideas on other really good schools that aren't the very elite(Calfornia would be good)</p>
<p>Davis, Hastings are both good schools that aren't as hard as Boalt to get into. Pepperdine is much easier to get into than Boalt. You can look up the admissions rate to law schools at <a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/law/brief/lawrank_brief.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/law/brief/lawrank_brief.php</a>
I looked up Boalt and it has a 10% admissions rate vs. 25% for Pepperdine.</p>
<p>Boalt and Stanford are difficult for anyone. Look also at USF, Santa Clara and Kennedy.</p>
<p>There are many law schools in California, including Whittier and USD.</p>
<br>
<p>The point of this anecdote is that you have less margin for error at a CSU if you're aiming for the most selective law schools.</p>
<br>
<p>This is a very good nutshell. If you're confident that you can get an excellent GPA at your CSU, and it has the programs you're interested in, then by all means go to CSU. Just be aware that you can't slack off one semester and get away with it the way you might be able to at a more prestigious college.</p>