I am currently a high school senior and I’ve known for a while that I want to go to law school after undergrad. I want to go to a top ranked law school so right now as I make my choice for where to attend undergrad I’m wondering if where I go to undergrad matters. Would where I attend undergrad even matter when law schools are reviewing applications? Right now I’ve narrowed my choices to GW Honors, UCLA honors, Rutgers, UMD honors, NYU (but I got admitted into a core program so I don’t get a major right away I have to switch into one in two years), UNC Chapel Hill. I want to attend UCLA and my parents are completely fine with paying the tuition amount, but I am starting to wonder if it even matters anymore where I go.
I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the schools on your list. I would strike Rutgers but the rest are all great schools. Go where you think you’ll have the best fit and then work hard. Congrats!
It’s not where you go, it’s what you do when you get there. Schools that are marking you as one of the ones we expect great things from (i.e. honors admits and other special programs) are good bets. Honors programs tend to set aside special advisors to help with your success.
When considering your options, do consider costs even if your parents are OK with anything. Since you are planning graduate study, the total costs of your education are going to be high. If you are in-state for any of those, those also deserve a second look.
If you are a NJ resident and Rutgers is the best financial option, consider taking advantage of that and saving for law school which is VERY expensive! As @AroundHere said, it’s what you do when you are there that matters for law school admission. Top grades and a strong LSAT are the keys to T-14 admissions.
As long as your undergrad is at a reasonably respectable school, you can get a good GPA and be well prepared for the LSAT, it doesn’t matter. All of the schools on your list would be fine. Go where your parents can afford and you would be happiest.
I’m going to throw this out with the disclaimer that this may very well start a correlation vs. causation debate. One of the reasons my son chose UChicago is that he would like to consider going to Law School in the future and their most recent data is “87% of those applying to Law School after graduation were accepted to a T14 Law School.” No the debate is “would those students have been accepted if they would have went elsewhere? Is it the university’s education that better prepared them for the LSAT? Did reputation have anything to do with it?”
I, like the above posters, agree that the schools you list will not hurt your chances. There are a couple of Law Schools (Yale and Stanford) that publish where their students did undergrad. There are plenty of resources in the internet that will breakdown undergrad representation at T-14 law schools. I’d make sure all the ones you list are referenced. I think they are, but it’s been 9 months since I did that work. There is information out there that not only tells you what schools are represented, but how many from that school which can be helpful. 1 from Rutgers won’t be as cool as 10 from a smaller liberal arts school.
Ok, my S went to Harvard Law School and my D went to UChicago Law School. Both attended UChicago undergrad. Each had classmates who went to the schools listed above and to many others ranked far lower. Their peers attended large universities and small liberal arts colleges, many of which you have heard of and some you probably haven’t. What they had in common were strong GPAs and high LSAT scores. That is really what matters. Really.
@momofsenior1 why did you say
Is Rutgers that bad in comparison to the other schools?
If money isn’t an issue, I don’t think Rutgers is quite at the same level as the others on the list, but honors college could make up the difference.
Are we talking about quality of undergraduate education or whether the undergraduate institution impacts your odds of attending a T-14 law school? If it’s the former, fine, debate the quality of Rutgers over UMD or UNC. If the latter, it doesn’t matter. Really.
@letmeinplsibeg1 the schools that you list are all probably the same in terms of what they would do for you to get you into a top 10 law school. Pick whichever one you like the most.
Agreed. Paying OOS tuition for UCLA is a total waste, IMO. Law school admissions is 95% GPA+LSAT. Sure, maybe a small plus for HYPS, but those aren’t in the equation.