Asian female; US citizen; GA; Suburban high school/perceived as a high performing in the state
History as intended major; want to attend law school eventually
Weighted GPA 4.0; UW GPA 4.63 (Current), graduating GPA around 4.75, in the top 1% of the class (class rank #2 in Spring this year). SAT 1480 (Will try one more time before applying).
Completed 8 AP classes (includes AP Chem, Calc BC both with score of 4) until now; will have several more (8 more) before graduation; Taking AP Spanish currently; will have taken all AP Social studies classes available; also will graduate with AP Capstone research
Bronze medal in National Spanish Exam; AP Scholar with distinction;
Interned at a history center in summer
Have been a champion in Public Forum debate at a national tournament (in addition to other state level awards in speech/debate)
Leadership roles in Mock Trial (Vice President); Club that I started at school (President of Students against trafficking); and Middle school program co-ordinator (initiated a speech/debate club at local middle school as part of speech/debate team).
Volunteered with Juvenile justice peer court for the last 2 years
Have tutored 1x week since 9th grade
Currently in a part time job at Starbucks
******Cost not a factor; Need help making a list - especially targets/matches and safeties; open to all options; would like a bigger co-ed school with a good balance of academic rigor and fun activities *****
Most any flagship or similar in the US would be targets and safeties.
Bigger co-ed and rigor can be had anywhere.
Do you have a geography or weather or are you into sports or greek life or anywhere else?
Does money matter? You say it’s not a factor but if I told you that U of Arizona would be $25K a year and U Wisconsin $60K a year - in essence the same thing - would that impact your parental decision on $$?
Is large 30K or 10K.
Do you prefer cities vs. suburban vs. rural.
Help us out so we don’t give you a list of 1000 colleges.
UGA will be my first choice (not sure about Emory given the recent competition). If out of state then - Cold weather preferred; liberal town/state preferred; cost does not matter; looking for a school which will also have a good law school if I like the town. Big cities are preferred, but with a campus (not spread around a city). Thanks!
For top law schools there’s an advantage to attending some undergrads (think Ivy+/Nescac/7Sisters and similar) but outside of this very small group any flagship will work out.
Since NESCAC&7Sis are out (as per your criteria) and you can find the others easily, let’s focus on the others:
UGA Honors obviously
Emory
UVA, W&M, UNC-CH, Pitt, UMD-CP
Georgetown, GWU, AU, JHU, NYU, Brandeis
Beside History, look into a Hispanic Studies minor since you can focus on historical issues.
I think the LSAT and GPA will be what matters. Today work experience too. Harvard has 174 schools represented in its class - from the likes of Georgia State, Fairleigh Dickinson, Cal State Long Beach, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Oakland, Nebraska, WVU and many more.
I remember at W&L - we met a poli sci prof on campus and he was gloating about a student who got the 99th percentile on the LSAT. I asked - where will they go? He said anywhere they want. I think more kids go from more elite schools but that’s because they were elite to begin with - and had higher test scores vs. most going to your typical flagship.
The right answer is UGA due to the scholarships the smart kids get. You say money doesn’t matter but check with your folks - if they can spend $15K at UGA, do they want to spend $60K or $80K elsewhere. U Arizona - you’d be about $25K.
But based on what you’re saying and not accounting for $$ - and forget if the law school is good - colleges that could work might be (and they likely all have law schools) - all are big schools in blue and big cities - and all have some or lots of cold weather.
Arizona - purple state but very blue area
GW
Maryland
Minnesota
New Mexico
NYU/Columbia/Fordham types
Pitt
Rutgers
Washington
Wisconsin
I left off UCB and UCLA for weather purposes.
But you should have a frank monetary discussion with your family - and if they’re like go anywhere, these meet what you described. But the UGA deal is too good to pass up - or how bout Ga Tech?
I’d have included UVM - but it’s not a big city.
If you are looking for a safety school in a city school with a campus, Loyola Chicago might be worth looking at. You will be admitted, it has campus life and rigor. For selective schools in the area - Northwestern and U of Chicago - neither are safety choices.
I have a kiddo at Vanderbilt - it’s mild weather, with all 4 seasons, and although Tennesee is not liberal, Nashville and Vandy are. It’s got a good balance of academics and socialization. Also not a safety.
Flagships come to mind as safeties and targets. I think UGA is a good option. What about schools in DC?
I will discuss the 5 students I know who are either currently in law school or recently graduated.
My colleagues daughter attended an Ivy League school for undergrad. She was offered a full ride at this same school for law school and turned it down. According to her mother, the reason why she turned it down is because it was contingent upon practicing a certain type of law, which she was not interested in. Her mother told me that it is more common now (and desirable) to work before attending law school. This student worked for a well known financial institution for 3 years before applying to law school.
My friends kids attended two different well known east coast flagships for undergrad. They did not work after graduation, went straight to law school, and were happy with their acceptances (they both attended law schools at public flagships- different schools than the schools they attended for undergrad). One received substantial merit, one did not, 2 different schools. Both recently graduated and are employed.
My daughter’s BF transferred out of his Ivy League school (undergrad) to attend a “regular” school. He was looking for merit for law school and was very successful. He completed a competitive program after he left college, followed by working for a well known financial institution for 2 years. He is currently in law school.
One went to an LAC, worked for 3-4 years, and is starting a law school that I believe is ranked within the top 20.
It seems to me that for law school, gpa and LSATs are important. I also think work experience is very beneficial.
For law school GPA and LSAT are the most important. If you are going outside of the big prestige law schools, there is significant benefit in attending law school in the state where you would like to practice law, in terms of bar preparation, law firm on-campus interviewing and networking, etc.
That said, it doesn’t really matter where you do undergrad, as long as you do well there, but even if cost were not an issue, law school is incredibly expensive, so spending less on undergrad may make some sense.
(I am a lawyer that majored in History and it prepared me very well. As a History major all of my exams were essay and my upper level classes all had paper requirements. I ended up writing more than my English major friends. It was very good preparation for what I do now.)