<p>Hi-</p>
<p>I am eligible to graduate from undergrad a semester and possibly a whole year early. Do you think this would affect me positively or negatively in the law school admissions game? (I'm only a freshman, but have a solid GPA thus far. For now, let's assume that I will perform reasonably well on the LSAT)</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>From anecdotes collected on discussion boards, this DOES seem to hurt a LOT. I don’t pretend to know why, although I have my theories. For sure, the lack of grades will hurt you (i.e. the applicant have 50% fewer grades than somebody applying beginning of senior year).</p>
<p>This can be mitigated by taking a year off after college.</p>
<p>Hmm…Thanks for the input. My rebuttal would be that the ability to fulfill graduation requirements in three years shows a rigorous attitude that top law schools might desire, and plus I attend a top university… but you’re right as well. It’s going to take some serious thought. Any other opinions?</p>
<p>While your logic does make sense, it simply does not appear that law schools agree with you. Empirically, the results of such applicants appear to be much worse than you would expect for numerically-similar candidates.</p>
<p>So while I think your argument may hold some water – I disagree on balance but can see where you’re coming from – at the end of the day, my opinion isn’t the one that matters.</p>
<p>Are there actual stats on this? Or are you just going by ‘anecdotes’?</p>
<p>As mentioned in post #2, this is only a collection of Internet anecdotes. It’s a fairly numerous and dramatic collection, but – as I did in the very first words I uttered – I do readily admit that that’s all it is.</p>
<p>My take on this is also anecdotal. If you take off a year after college, so that law schools have 3 years of grades to consider (just as they would for students who apply senior year who are taking the traditional 4 years to graduate), then it’s not a problem.
Apply with only 2 years of grades from a college, and it seems to be. </p>
<p>The top 14 school which was friendliest towards students wanting to go directly on to law school after only 3 years of college seemed to be UPenn, which allows its own students to “sub-matriculate” and count first year of law school as last year of college.</p>
<p>Do T14 law schools have an official policy regarding early graduation? </p>
<p>Also, how big is the effect of graduating early on admissions? How many(approximate, of course) spots in the rankings could it push you down?</p>
<p>–No.</p>
<p>–I’ve seen it have a huge effect – like pushing a solid Columbia candidate out of the top-25. There were probably other things at work here, but I’m not sure. (This is the problem with anecdotes, is you’re never sure what exactly is involved.)</p>
<p>The thing is… It’s not like I’d only have “three years worth” of grades. I’d still be fulfilling the 128 credits required to graduate, just in a shorter period of time. 128 credits roughly divides to 4 classes / semester for 8 semesters (4 years). I have AP credits that fulfill a semester’s worth of credits and will take a 2 class summer and a 2 class winter term to fulfill the other “semester”. And by the way, this scenario is only if I fulfill my Economics major. I’m toying with the idea of either double majoring in Econ and History, or minoring in Business. If that’s the case, I’d just spend the 4 years. And if I’m fortunate enough to keep my GPA at around where it is now (~3.75), I’d be looking at top-tier law schools.</p>
<p>AP credit certainly doesn’t make up for the lack of college-level courses. Summer and winter courses are usually considered to be lightweight, and you’d also lose some EC’s that summer.</p>
<p>Again, though, I’m not the one you have to convince. </p>
<p>Maybe law schools are actually worried about that year in age. Maybe they’ve seen that kids who tend to rush through college tend to have other traits they don’t like. I don’t know what the underlying reason is. I’m just reporting what I’ve seen; and yes, I’m perfectly aware that it’s only anecdotal evidence.</p>
<p>Hmm… true. I’m not too worried about ECs though… I’ve held 2 internships over the course of this year and am continuing the latter one next fall. This summer I’m probably going to be working in my hometown government’s economic development department. I can afford to take classes next summer if necessary. </p>
<p>Anyways, chances are that I’m going to spend the full 4 years here and pick up a minor or something…</p>
<p>but the thing is that my father said that he’d help me pay for an apartment or something if I save him a year’s worth of tuition. Oh so tempting…</p>
<p>EC’s during the school year don’t replace being able to really bury yourself fully in one over the summer. Nor does it work the other way around, since doing EC’s during the school year shows an ability to juggle that is very valuable too.</p>
<p>I have to agree with bdm and jonri here. The general wisdom (again, nothing empirical) is that applying to law school with only two full years of college grades under your belt seems to be detrimental in the law school application process.</p>
<p>Though I’ve said it here before, it bears repeating: Finishing college early and heading straight to law school is also likely to be detrimental to you during the recruiting process (when you find law firm or other legal employment for your summers and after graduation from law school). Being perceived as too young (at least, by comparison to your classmates, who at many top law schools, will have worked for at least a couple of years after college and before law school) and too inexperienced (again, never having had time to hold at least full-time summer jobs. let alone post-graduation full-time positions) hurts your chances.</p>
<p>
If the applicant has a non-horrible GPA, say 3.0+, do you think law schools actually care about the person’s “ability” to do well?</p>
<p>It sure as hell appear that they only want the raw numbers to boost their prestige, as seen by how 2 points on the LSAT could be worth as much as 0.5 GPA. I’ll link two examples, but this trend is found at most law schools.</p>
<p>[LSN</a> :: Cornell University - Admissions Graph](<a href=“http://cornell.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/?whichCycle=0809]LSN”>http://cornell.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/?whichCycle=0809)</p>
<p>[LSN</a> :: New York University - Admissions Graph](<a href=“http://nyu.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/?whichCycle=0809]LSN”>http://nyu.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/?whichCycle=0809)</p>
<p>hmm those graphs are interesting… but yeah as I said I’m most likely just going to stay for the four years anyways, but I was just interested to see what people thought of graduating early… thanks for the input guys.</p>
<p>Going along with this topic…</p>
<p>I am currently a second-year and have a similar question.</p>
<p>What if I am graduating two quarters early? (My school is on a quarter system)
And I am applying, just like the rest of my graduating class, during fall of my senior year. It’s just that I’ll be done with undergrad by December. Will this be detrimental?</p>