<p>Which school can better prepare me for law school.
Also can someone describe to me the social dynamics at Emory?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>The average graduating GPA of Emory College graduates is 3.38 (2012), while undergraduate GPA at UMich 3.2 (in 2010). These are really the best statistics I can find on that… So it would seem that as far as keeping your GPA up, Emory’s the better choice.</p>
<p>In 2011, 97% of Emory’s students who applied to law schools were accepted, versus UMich’s 85.5%, so it seems that Emory’s the better choice in this regard as well.</p>
<p>I’d pick Emory, unless you want to go to a T14 school but think that realistically you’ll have no chance… In which case you should go to UMich, because it’d be much easier to get into UMich’s law school from UMich – for a time (though not anymore) you could get in without even taking the LSAT! If you don’t want to spend 7 years at Michigan, though, then go to Emory.</p>
<p>The reason more Michigan kids go to Michigan Law is the same reason that more Emory kids go to Emory Med School. They already go to the school, so when they’re applying to professional schools, they’re already intimately familiar with the school, and thus apply. </p>
<p>Law school stats can be easily manipulated, and especially with regards to law school admissions, it’s worth noting where the students were accepted into. Anyone can get into Willamette Law, but very very very few people get accepted into Yale Law. You can probably get a decent law job coming out of the latter, but it’s much much much more difficult to even be considered if you graduate from the former. </p>
<p>Also remember, that law school is EXTREMELY expensive, so it’s best to keep the undergrad debt to a minimum. Besides, prestige has been shown to play a relatively small part in law school admissions. </p>
<p>Though Michigan and Emory are both good schools, they are extremely different. UMich has D1 sports, while Emory competes with such athletic power houses as UChicago, Case Western, and Brandeis. Emory is located in suburban Atlanta, while UMich is in Ann Arbor, a true college town. Both schools have a relatively high percentage of Northeasterners and Californians, but Emory has more geographic diversity, simply owing to the fact that Michigan is the flagship state school, while Emory is a well known private. There’s also the enormous size difference. Emory’s entire undergrad population is about the size of Michigan’s entering freshman class. Both school’s faculty are excellent, but owing to Michigan’s status as the state flagship, Michigan will offer more majors than Emory. Emory’s weather is much nicer than Michigan’s, unless you’re a fan of freezing your *** off.</p>
<p>Thank you both for your responses.
Does Emory have a list of law school acceptances and percentages?
I do intend on going to a T14, but my first law school choice would not be Michigan.</p>
<p>Here’s that list – well, lists (one for each of the last 3 years).</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.career.emory.edu/prelaw/advising/acceptance_stats.html[/url]”>http://www.career.emory.edu/prelaw/advising/acceptance_stats.html</a></p>
<p>And it appears the 97% I mentioned in regard to Emory was the percentage for seniors – not sure who the 85.5% represents, in regard to Michigan (I couldn’t find a full list).</p>
<p>@EliKresses thank you. Those numbers are really high.</p>
<p>Can anyone else give me some imput?</p>
<p>As an Emory alum now in law school, your question is pretty silly. Not because it isn’t valid, but because the answer is that it just plain doesn’t matter. </p>
<p>No, seriously. If you are planning on law school, it doesn’t matter. There are only two factors that determine whether or not you will get into law school: LSAT score and GPA. Nothing else. Not extracurricular stuff, not your undergrad university (unless a top-tier Ivy or something, in which case it might matter a little but still not very much).</p>
<p>If law school is your goal, I suggest you go to whichever of the two is most affordable, so that you’ll be in a position to take out loans for the best law school that offers you admission. Focus on getting a high GPA (even if it’s a really easy major) and honors. Take an LSAT prep course your junior year, and study your ass off for that test. That’s all you need. Trust me, you’ll thank me for this advice in 4 years.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about “preparing” for law school. You don’t need any kind of “preparation.” The only preparatory experience I would suggest is that you work as a paralegal for a year after you graduate to see if you REALLY want to be a lawyer. But that’s it.</p>
<p>@EmoryAlum what are the easiest majors at Emory?</p>
<p>Same ones that are easy everywhere else – sociology, anthropology, English, religion, etc.</p>
<p>@EmoryAlum what about history, political science, psychology?</p>
<p>History is fairly easy if you don’t mind writing really, really long papers that may be graded on a very subjective level. In other words, some professors are dicks.</p>
<p>Poly-Sci isn’t hard, but same thing as history – some profs make a point of screwing you on minutiae. </p>
<p>Psychology is a harder because there are a lot of data-driven courses in that major, some of which you need to graduate. A lot of students use psych as their PreMed major. </p>
<p>I’d stay away from poly-sci/history just because that’ll be everyone who applies to law school and you may get shafted in one subjective class, thus ruining your perfect law school GPA.</p>
<p>If you want something different, check out the “Classical Civilizations” degree offered by the Classics dept. Both easy and interesting.</p>
<p>But like I said, you really need to think about the price if you’re not rich. If you really want to go to law school and you’re a Mich resident, I’d go to Mich in a heartbeat. Even if you’re not a Mich resident, honestly. You can just apply for residency after a year and minimize your loans. Your debt burden will become very important when you’re choosing law schools. What’s your home-state?</p>
<p>EDIT: Also, when I say “easy” major, I mean easy in terms of subject matter. There’ll always be some easy major classes where there’ll be a ton of reading or the professor is really picky, etc. You’re going to need to stay on top of all that, starting your first semester. Gun hard for the A in every easy class. If you’re doing a fluff law-school major, there’s no excuse for your GPA not being 3.8-4.0 by the time you finish. A lot of people pick an easy major and then coast because they just suck like that or because they’re indecisive or have pipe dreams about being an artist when they have no real talent. You? Don’t do that. Stay on top of the reading every day, avoid too much partying, blah blah blah.</p>
<p>@EmoryAlum home state - New South Wales, Australia. I have 61 credits right now with a 4.0. So I really just want to keep my GPA around 3.9+ so I can devote time in extracurricular activities and LSAT studies. But I also want a major that, by chance I don’t get accepted into a good law school, will allow me to find a job at a decent salary.</p>
<p>Ah, an international . . . </p>
<p>Two things.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>None of the traditional pre-law school majors are guaranteurs of a job. If you really want to hedge your bets, the best way to go would probably be econ, but it’ll likely be more difficult to maintain a super-high GPA in that major. You need to decide what you want to do – commit 100% to the pre-law track or keep the possibility of a non-law job alive. If you try and have both, you may get neither. That’s life. </p></li>
<li><p>If you’re an international, am I right to assume that your financial situation is pretty much set? Or is money an issue for you? Because if your future is paid either way then go wherever you feel like.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>@EmoryAlum Emory is giving me really good aid, Umich - not so much. I’m trying to decide between the two schools.
If I major in Psychology, couldn’t I get a job if I fail to go to law school (t14)?
Do department/program ranks matter if I want to get a job with just a BA? Like uMIch is ranked 4 in Political Science and 5 in psych?</p>
<p>So go with the cheaper option. We have a good psych program here, and for non business/econ programs, departmental rankings don’t matter that much. Psych majors don’t have the best job prospects right now, so that means you’ll probably have to network and try to get into other fields.</p>
<p>Are you an American citizen? I’m surprised that Emory gave you aid.</p>
<p>I mean yeah, if you had a psych degree, you could theoretically get a job. But if your goal is law school, do you really want to work as a clinical psychology lab assistant for mediocre pay? Does that sound relevant to your interests? What ARE your interests, exactly? It sounds like you need to decide.</p>
<p>Emory does not have a good record on its students getting into top law schools. It’s pretty pathetic for a top 20 school. Many years there are no students that get into Yale Law. The pre-law advisor Rodia Vance doesn’t have a good reputation. You should ask if you can speak to her before you decide on Emory.</p>
<p>The thing about the difference in financial aid between Emory and UMich reminds me of this article:
<a href=“On Long Island, SAT Cheating Was Hardly a Secret - The New York Times”>On Long Island, SAT Cheating Was Hardly a Secret - The New York Times;