So I am planning to transfer as a junior to a top 20 school (hopefully). I wasn’t able to as a freshman because I messed up badly in high school due to extenuating circumstances (family matters). I have been looking at a lot of transfer threads and I have been seeing people who get into top schools but mainly because of their work they do in college like research in biology or chemistry, but a vast number of people posting on College Confidential are science-oriented majors. I am planning to do law school afterwards so what could a Pre-Law student do to get into a top school like Cornell, Vanderbilt, Brown,Berkeley, Georgetown(to name a few)?
Hey! I’m also a pre-law student and currently, I am a philosophy undergrad major. Philosophy is a really good major or minor for pre-law students as they get the second highest LSAT scores (second to economics) and philosophy is SUPER interesting. Colleges like the ones you have listed above would more than likely want to see courses like philosophy, some political science, religion etc.
In reality though, there is no perfect track to law school. Just know, law schools want to see very very high GPAs for admittance, so make sure your GPA now AND your GPA at the school you transfer to is pretty high.
In short, get a really high GPA and LSAT score, and consider what major you should take.
@camover While it is true that students in phil major are one of the highest achievers in LSAT, them being the second highest is not entirely accurate. Stats change by years, and I’ve seen many stats saying mathematics (and even physics) score higher than phil. Actually, mathematics and classics have constantly scored higher than phil major, according to many statistics out there. If they are credible, I don’t know. But sure thing is, philosophy does get ranked within top 5, 6 or so. That being said, LSAT really asks how to think logically, so whatever major that helps you practice that helps. Since logic and mathematics are quite similar, studying something that heavily uses math does help, at least tangentially. (And many schools requiee math majors to take a logic class anyways). But I do think philosophy is interesting, and that’s why I’m taking philosophy as well.
And yes, the most fundamental prep for top law schools is getting super high GPA and LSAT. Work experience helps, but it’s nothing without those two.
(Pardon me if I have typos!)
Thanks for all your responses, but I was asking what I could do as a pre-law student to impress my TRANSFER school as opposed to law school.
So you are wanting to transfer to Cornell, Berkeley, Brown etc? Have a high college GPA, great high school stats, great SAT/ACT scores, great teacher recommendations, and great personal essays.
Pre-Law is also a very competitive major at these schools so, you will have to be the best of the best.
Yes I am. Although I may run into trouble with my high school stats. They aren’t pretty bad and that was due to personal matters. Also when I say “Pre-Law” I don’t actually mean the “pre-law major”. I am just talking about my career path. Put that asides, is it possible to make up for high school with stellar college stats? Especially if the colleges I want to transfer to see that I overcame adversity and also sees an upwards trend?
Some transfer applications may ask you to indicate whether or not you are interested in the pre-law, pre-med, or pre-business concentrations, however this is usually an optional field. I personally wouldn’t put pre-law since it is so competitive for admission, that is unless your entire transcript points in the pre-law direction.
You can definitely boost your admission chances with high college stats, but depending on the year you are transferring into determines how much weight schools place on HS stats. If you are transferring as a sophomore, your HS stats will carry much more weight than your one year or less of college. This is why many choose to transfer as a junior so that their college stats will be the biggest factor for admission.
You can mention the overcoming of adversity in your essays.
“Pre-Law is also a very competitive major at these schools[…]” That’s surprising, seeing as “pre-law” isn’t an actual major at any of the schools mentioned… Each of the schools listed offers it’s students information on graduate studies, including law school, but specifically deny having a “pre-law” major. Don’t mean to be rude, just struck me as a really odd comment to make.
OP: Other than that, his/her post pretty much covers it. GPA, ECs, LoRs, essays and such is about all you have to work with. Oh, and having the right skin seems to give you a boost at many schools, so maybe that’ll help you out.
You said you didn’t mean you were majoring in pre-law, which is good. Transferringbud is right in that the correlations between average LSAT score and major aren’t necessarily concrete, but criminal justice and pre-law majors tend to have some of the WORST average LSAT scores.
I think “major” was definitely bad word choice on my part. “Concentration” is what I meant
@rebmob Humanities major is often grouped in with the Liberal Arts program of any college or university? And that’s how universities determine how competitive it is to get into one place. I’m pretty sure (correct me if I’m wrong) that it is not dependent on your major but the college you apply to that determines how competitive it is to get into one place.
Getting high grades in coursework that prepares you for your major and other transfer requirements would be the obvious task for both transfer and law school admission.
I did get your question, and I was answering to the first reply.
I just didn’t think the answer to the question was self-explanatory. Study what you are passionate about, and have a verysolid reason for transferring. It really doesn’t matter if you’re pre-a or not. Most well-known school doesn’t have “pre-law” major. So there is no set way you need to prepare to get into a “transfer school” specifically as pre-law. You can mention your passion for law in transfer essays and show it through some other activities or internships, but that’s pretty much about it. And this thumb of rule applies same for the all other majors or disciplines. Also, get a very high gpa.