<p>And remember that because of the five year joint degree, early professional school acceptance and AP respecting programs at Georgetown, that Mercedes can get on the highway a year or even more earlier than that Maybach.</p>
<p>gellino-it would be interesting to see Amherst’s full list as well. Not that many schools actually have the transparency that Georgetown does. I’ve only seen this kind of a sunshine list for Yale and maybe Penn in addition to Georgetown.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that something like 90-95% of all Georgetown grads who want to go to law school are offrered the chance. And, if you have spent any time in the real world, a law suit filed by someone with a bar number they got after finishing George Mason and passing the bar is just as scary as one filed by the gal who got her bar number after having gone to Harvard.</p>
<p>“You’re blaming GPA, when your gf’s primary concern had been her LSAT score. You are correct that the two factors taken together are important, but, ultimately, a strong LSAT score is the only must.” - kwu</p>
<p>I never blamed her GPA. I was clearly blaming her LSAT to begin with. I was just pointing out how important numbers are in the admissions game (both LSAT and GPA). </p>
<p>“You purport to understand how admissions panels interpret (or do not interpret) college GPAs contextually, but unless you’ve worked on a committee yourself, or have read an extensive amount of literature covering law school admissions, it’s unwise to make such generalizations.” - kwu</p>
<p>I am a bit of a georgetown ■■■■■ on both here and studentdoctor.net (I am a medical student), but I also frequent [<a href=“http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/index.php[/url]”>http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/index.php</a>). If you spend 1 hour reading that forum you will see all the stories of how important GPA and LSAT are, and how grade deflation hurts applicants. Law schools are less concerned with the school you went to (within a certain window obviously), and are more concerned with keeping their US News rankings up. They don’t care how rigorous your undergrad curriculum is.</p>
<p>Haha, according to [National</a> Trends in Grade Inflation, American Colleges and Universities](<a href=“http://www.gradeinflation.com%5DNational”>http://www.gradeinflation.com), Amherst is guilty of a bit of grade inflation as well. In 2006, avg graduating senior’s GPA was a 3.48. At Georgetown it was a 3.42. I have been on this website before, but I’m not sure of it’s legitimacy. Can anyone attest to the validity of these numbers? Looks like Amherst may not be as rigorous as you thought 
EDIT*** Just so you crazy forum junkies go crazy that last statement, I was being mostly sarcastic. Obviously the average graduate GPA is not the best indicator of the overall rigor of the curriculum.</p>
<p>At this point, is grade inflation bad for a future law student? Wanna do an official vote? Amherst or Georgetown?</p>
<p>A 3.48 avg GPA at Amherst? At that point, what’s the point of having grades? I’ve always thought of a 3.5 GPA as a very good one, not an average one.</p>
<p>I just found out that transfer students coming into Georgetown cannot transfer within colleges, so I can’t get into SFS even if I wanted to. </p>
<p>I want to go to Amherst, I think…I just want to know I’ll do well on the LSATs</p>
<p>If you test well, not too worry. On top of that, either school will prepare you well including for possible changes in what you wish to do post-grad.</p>
<p>OCCTransfer, did you that you couldn’t transfer between schools as a transfer student from someone at Georgetown or somewhere on these forums. I can’t find it in Georgetown’s undergraduate bulletin. I’m kinda surprised if that is the case. They should change that rule.</p>
<p>ctyankee, I don’t test well, so that’s why Georgetown is so appealing. I can get into a T-14 law school if I can get a good GPA</p>
<p>blackbird, I may have posted it on the Georgetown transfer thread. Yeah, I don’t understand that. It’s like transfer students are not allowed to change their minds.</p>
<p>OCCTransfer, did you talk to someone high up either at the registrar or in the SFS? There is the tendency for Georgetown to have lots of red tape and misunderstood people in administrative positions. I would make sure you speak to someone high up if you haven’t already to make sure, and don’t just ask undergraduate admissions reps.</p>
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<p>Didn’t it turn out that the difference between the average G.P.A. at the two schools was pretty marginal, if anything favoring Amherst? </p>
<p>Perhaps others can comment on whether you can get into a Top 14 law school without stellar LSATs. I don’t know. Certainly others in this thread have mentioned that you have not understood the full importance of the LSAT in the selection process so I’m wondering whether you are chasing something that is unlikely. If that is the case, go where you want to go to and let the chips fall where they may.</p>
<p>go to Amherst College</p>
<p>ctyankee, Georgetown Law accepts junior students from Georgetown who have gotten a 3.8 and does not require the LSATs. That’s what I mean. I know how important LSAT & GPA scores are for law schools.</p>
<p>OCCTransfer FYI, the Georgetown Law Early Acceptance program for Gtown Juniors is not a guarantee for juniors with a 3.8 or up. A 3.8 merely allows you to apply to the program, I believe competitive applicants generally have a GPA around 3.9 and even then it’s nothing of a guarantee as they look at multiple other factors.</p>
<p>I doubt that they are turning down too many kids with a 3.8 G.P.A. A blog mentions that getting kids with that G.P.A. puts Georgetown way a head of the game compared to law schools ranked higher. But for sake of argument, let’s assume a 3.9 gets you in. </p>
<p>The Early Assurance program may have merit for you particularly as you don’t see yourself as a strong LSAT tester. If you like the challenge it might be a very good idea. If, however, maintaining the ‘magic’ G.P.A. number is just going to be very stressful for you, particularly at a new school … maybe not so good. </p>
<p>Let’s say you are a junior transfer. That means only one semester at Georgetown before you apply (March deadline). Thus if you have a 4.0 say with 16 courses and you take 4 courses Fall term and get 2 A’s and 2 B’s (close to Georgetown’s average). That would be a 3.9 G.P.A. exactly. </p>
<p>If your G.P.A. is lower than 4.0 … well you can do your own math. Either way, we have come a bit afield of your first post where you said that academics and networking were of primary importance to you.</p>
<p>Since this thread has been tragically revived, I’ll answer Gellino’s criticism of Amherst:</p>
<p>“A 3.48 avg GPA at Amherst? At that point, what’s the point of having grades? I’ve always thought of a 3.5 GPA as a very good one, not an average one.”</p>
<p>Grade inflation at a number schools considered Amherst’s peers:</p>
<p>Columbia (2006): 3.42
Pennsylvania (2004): 3.44
Harvard (2005): 3.45
Wesleyan (1998): 3.46
Pomona (2007): 3.51
Yale (2008): 3.51
Stanford (2005): 3.55
Brown (2007: 3.61</p>
<p>LSAT and GPA are both important for law school admissions, but your GPA will be considered relative to the average GPA of other applicants from your alma mater. For example, the GPA of the average Swattie who applies to Harvard is a 3.3. The GPA of the average kid from Stanford who applies to Harvard is a 3.8.</p>
<p>They are going to pay attention to your GPA in the context of your institution.</p>
<p>The emphasis on critical expression at Amherst will prepare you well when you decide to study for the LSATs.</p>
<p>On an unrelated note, you assume that you can earn a GPA as high as 3.8 at either institution? You’ll be hard-pressed, at either Amherst or Georgetown, to do so well.</p>
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<p>For many master degree programs that is true. For Law School admissions that doesn’t appear to be how the game is really played. USN&WR Law school rankings have several weighted factors. None involve any assessment of undergraduate programs and G.P.A. is strictly a calculated number based on admittance records. Thus, someone admitted with a 4.0 from some tragically low ranked college gives a law school a higher rank than a 3.9 from a Harvard student. Naturally, any law school needs to ensure that an admitted student is capable of success. However, the way things are calculated, taking candidates from tough schools that don’t give out high grades easily works against the law school’s ranking. </p>
<p>Georgetown’s early assurance program (Michigan has one too) does allow Georgetown to ‘game’ the rankings a bit. Getting any substantial change in peer reviews may take decades whereas LSAT and G.P.A. improvement can make a difference in one year. So, if Georgetown admits juniors with only really high G.P.A.s and with no LSAT to report - they just improved their score and potentially their ranking versus other schools without such a program.</p>
<p>Congrats on your acceptances. Whether you choose Amherst or Georgetown, I’m sure you’ll excel. Good luck!</p>
<p>“On an unrelated note, you assume that you can earn a GPA as high as 3.8 at either institution? You’ll be hard-pressed, at either Amherst or Georgetown, to do so well.”</p>
<p>That’s… encouraging.</p>