<p>I'm only a sophomore at Columbia but I'm already thinking about law school. From what I've heard, GPA and LSATs are the most important factors, then essays and recommendations. </p>
<p>From the research I've done, these are the two law schools which interest me most. My freshman year GPA was a 3.97 (it was at GW I just transferred to Columbia this year) and I tested well on SATs (1550/1600) so I'll probably do alright on the LSATs too. </p>
<p>What should I do to further my chances at these schools, besides the obvious "get good grades and score well on LSATs." Are extra-curriculars/internships helpful? </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Step one, maintain that 3.9+ GPA. Step two, aim for an LSAT score in the 99th percentile (that means a 172 or higher). If you can do both of those things, then you're pretty much a lock at HLS. However, you still should get involved in some extra curricular activities. That doesn't mean you need to go save the world or do something extraordinary, though. Join a club, get a summer job, etc. As long as you demonstrate that you did something other than hole up in the library for four years at college, you should be fine. Stanford supposedly focuses a bit more on the "intangibles" like the essays, recs, and activities, but numbers still dominate the process. To really have a strong chance at Stanford, the LSAT should probably be a 173-174 or higher.</p>
<p>Also, depending on what you plan to do with the JD, spend your summers accordingly, i.e. doing something valuable towards that end. </p>
<p>For example, if you desire to go the BigLaw route (not sure why you would want to go that route, but to each his own ;) ), spend your summers doing M&A Investment Banking (M&A preferrably) and/or Management Consulting with a top firm. Wachtell for instance is supposed to value previous experience in financial services very highly (and although this is probably the case if you have done banking full time; in any case, the experience will serve you well). And coming from Columbia with that GPA, you should do fine (despite the fact that some firms have imposed hiring freezes for the next year).</p>
<p>If your goal is to teach law, then spend your summers doing scholarly research at prestigious research university (Princeton, Yale, Stanford...or Columbia--but the contacts at a different school might serve you well in the future).</p>
<p>And so on, based on what you want to do. NGOs or Gov't if you want to go that route, etc. You can also try to get experience in several fields to help you make up your mind.</p>