<p>Wow I'm reading this board and now I'm panicking about law school now. I will be a freshman at Columbia College next year and I was wondering if my grades from the community college that I have taken with my high school courses will transfer over to my college GPA????? I wish someone would tell me these things sooner. Also, I have read the information about majors, which was VERY useful, thank you very much. I'm considering majoring in French and perhaps concentrating in philosphy instead of poli sci and definitely plan on going to law school after college (yes I'm young but I plan ahead very well). ALSO can someone tell if it is true that it is harder to get into Yale or Harvard for law school if you go there for undergrad, so therefore it would be wise to not go there for undergrad if you want to go to there for law school? AND does your school name not matter that much? Because now I'm worried about busting my butt at Columbia.</p>
<p>1) Whatever classes you took before getting to Columbia, comunity college or High School, will NOT count toward your Columbia GPA, even if you get credit for them.</p>
<p>2) Majoring in French and Philosophy is certainly very respectable. Political Science is also good.</p>
<p>3) Every Law school in the country gives priority to its own undergrads. That is also the case with Harvard and Yale. So no, it is not true that it is harder to get into Harvard or Yale Law if you went there for undergrad.</p>
<p>4) Yes, the quality of your undergraduate insitution does influence your chances of getting into a top Law school. But do not panic, Columbia is one of the nation's top 10 universities and it has one of the nation's top 6 or 7 Law schools.</p>
<p>I would focus on maintain a good GPA (at least a 3.7) and hope for a high LSAT (at least 168) if you want a shot at top Law schools.</p>
<p>I hope this answers your questions.</p>
<p>Yeah, like Alexandre said. </p>
<p>Study something you'll do well in, as your GPA (along with LSAT) will matter far more than major.</p>
<p>While the grades you got in college courses taken in high school will not factor into your gpa at Columbia, they MAY factor into your gpa for purposes of applying to law school. You are trying to figure out how things will be at least 4 years down the road, and rules do change. But right now, my understanding is that those grades WILL count in the LSDAS (Law School Data Assembly Service) calculation, especially if you count them towards the courses required for a degree. </p>
<p>The LSAC --Law School Admissions Council--uses LSDAS so that everyone's gpa is calculated based on the same rules. At some schools, courses taken elsewhere during the summer may count in gpa; at others, they don't. At some schools, if you repeat a course, only the second grade counts; at others, the grades are averaged. At some schools, a B+ is a 3.4; at others, it's a 3.33. LSDAS puts everyone on the same page by using the same methodology. Bottom line: you may have one gpa as far as Columbia College is concerned and a somewhat different gpa as far as law schools are concerned. </p>
<p>I didn't read the majors thread, but study whatever you enjoy and can do well in. Philosophy and political science are both very, very, very common majors for law students. </p>
<p>It is TOTALLY untrue that attending the same school for undergrad hurts your chances of getting into the law school at the same university.</p>