<p>Im a high school junior and for career options, I'm considering Banking, Big Law, and Medicine(doctor). I know what I need to do to become a banker, but what will I need to do for Big Law? I'll most likely end up at a top 10 school for undergrad but what will I need to do in order to get into Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Stanford or other top Law schools and then get a job at Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates, or Davis Polk & Wardwell? From this post, it may seem like im a "prestige-whore" but I'm just keeping my mind open and I only want the best and strive to be the best.</p>
<p>You will need to have a GPA of 3.6+ for Columbia and the University of Chicago. You will need a GPA of 3.9+ to have a decent shot at HYS. On top of that, you will need to score 172+ for Columbia and UChicago, and 174+ to have a decent shot at HYS. So in other words, it’s hard. Even if you attend Yale or Princeton for college, your chance of getting into HYS for law school is very slim.</p>
<p><a href=“Search Opportunities | Human Resources”>Search Opportunities | Human Resources;
<a href=“http://ucs.yalecollege.yale.edu/sites/default/files/Law_School_Application_Statistics.pdf[/url]”>http://ucs.yalecollege.yale.edu/sites/default/files/Law_School_Application_Statistics.pdf</a></p>
<p>There’s really no top 5 law firms. A lot of NLJ250 firms are BigLaw, and they pay as well as V10 (Vault top 10) firms.</p>
<p>What is it with high schoolers coming on here talking about specific firms? This is just crazy talk.</p>
<p>Why such a big gap in gpa for columbia and HYS? Isn’t Columbia on the same tier?
@LSU, I think it’s good to have specific goals. Those firms are my goals.</p>
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<p>That is just not true. The NLJ250 is based on size of firm only (i.e. number of attorneys). Law firms that are not based in the cities that pay at the top of the market typically do not pay the same salaries as the top-paying firms that are. In fact, there are many large law firms that are in the highest paying cities that either (a) don’t pay the high starting salaries of the top-paying firms or (b) pay the high starting salaries to first year lawyers and then pay lawyers in succeeding years less than the highest paid lawyers in similar classes at the top-paying firms.</p>
<p>Are you the most interested in medicine or law or finance?</p>
<p>
Other than prestige, what do these three fields have in common that interests you?</p>
<p>:) you got me. I actually like the lifestyle. Yeah, I know it’s hard and long sucky hours but I love to know I worked for something. Yeah, I’ll hate myself after working 90+ hours weeks but I’ll still enjoy it at the same time.</p>
<p>Save your thread and read it again in a few years. You’ll see how funny it is when you have a more adult perspective. I wish I was in high school again. The innocence is so cute. </p>
<p>And honestly, I usually try to help. I don’t want to be rude. I think goals are terrific. Go for it, and work your hardest to get great grades. Keep researching all of your possible choices, and take advantage of internships and volunteer opportunities. Remember to build your resume as you go along.The higher your grades and test scores, the more options you’ll be preserving. Until you know your LSAT/GMAT/MCAT scores and your GPA, you don’t know what schools you may get into. You’ve got a lot of years of hard work ahead of you before you can hope to become a drone at Biglaw, and by then you’ll know what you’re really wishing for. Besides, the legal economy is changing significantly and any goals you set for yourself are likely to need to be revised over the next 8+ years. Banking/Wall Street has undergone huge changes over the last few years (the old deal makers have been laid off as a result of the bad economy and banking collapses). Medical careers are under attack through health care reform, litigation and medical insurance issues. Biglaw is being squeezed. If you’re truly smart, you’ll keep options open while you continue to evaluate each industry. Keep in mind that you can work 80 hour weeks at your own business, whether it’s cutting lawns or developing software. If your goal is only to work yourself to death in the hopes of becoming rich, you’ll have lots and lots of options when you’re older.</p>
<p>You don’t need a 3.9+ GPA to get into Harvard Law (though it certainly helps).</p>
<p>~30-35% of the people admitted to Harvard Law have an undergrad GPA of less than 3.8. More than 25% of the class of 2013 had an undergrad GPA of less than 3.8. </p>
<p>You do, however, need high LSAT scores (the highest) and a strong academic record (e.g, a student who takes easy classes and gets a 3.9 doesn’t stand a chance next to a student who takes an intense courseload and gets a 3.75, assuming that they have similar LSAT scores). As always, letters of recommendation and honors (did you write a thesis? what was your class rank? etc) are tremendously important as well. Work experience can help, but it isn’t essential (plenty of students are admitted for the fall following their graduation).</p>
<p>“You don’t need a 3.9+ GPA to get into Harvard Law”</p>
<p>No, but you need 3.9+ and 174+ to have a good shot at HLS.</p>
<p>“a student who takes easy classes and gets a 3.9 doesn’t stand a chance next to a student who takes an intense courseload and gets a 3.75”</p>
<p>This is not true. HYS all have soft GPA floors of 3.8. If you dip below that, you would need URM status, Rhodes, or something else spectacular (177+ LSAT) to make up for it.</p>
<p>“As always, letters of recommendation and honors (did you write a thesis? what was your class rank? etc) are tremendously important as well”</p>
<p>Honors don’t matter at all.</p>
<p>" This is not true. HYS all have soft GPA floors of 3.8. If you dip below that, you would need URM status, Rhodes, or something else spectacular (177+ LSAT) to make up for it."</p>
<p>1) Where do you get this information? I’m not trying to be combative or anything, I’d just like to know. The schools in question all say on their websites that they don’t use rigid numerical cutoffs. </p>
<p>2) If a student takes an easy courseload, including some pass/fail classes, and gets a 3.9, he/she won’t be viewed in as positive a light as a student who gets a lower GPA but takes more advanced and difficult classes, especially if they are of an analytic nature (assuming similar LSAT scores and everything else). But I guess you could argue that neither student would be admitted, so maybe you’re right. </p>
<p>"Honors don’t matter at all. "</p>
<p>If Student A and Student B have equal GPAs and equal LSAT scores, but Student A has a letter of recommendation praising the insightfulness, originality, and analytic depth of an honors thesis, while Student B does not, the admissions committee will probably favor student A (excluding other factors, which we can assume to be equal). So I think that something like an honors thesis can help with law school admission. </p>
<p>I’d also imagine that rank helps gauge what the GPA says about the student given the school that they come from (though I’m sure Harvard has records going back decades for just this, so maybe it’s not as important).</p>
<p>Snickers, here is where you’ll find the answer to #1:</p>
<p>[LSN</a> :: Harvard University - Admissions Graph](<a href=“Recently Updated J.D. Profiles | Law School Numbers”>Stats | Law School Numbers)</p>
<p>Spend some time with the chart and you will understand what Ivy Bear is talking about. Yes, students with less than a 3.8 do get in at H, but these admissions are not common and almost all of them depend on very high LSAT (as Ivy mentioned) or they are URM.</p>
<p>I think Ivy has hit the nail on the head in regard to honors, as well.</p>
<p>Ok, thanks.</p>
<p>I still think that if you put in the extra effort to write a thesis or do research in your major, it will come through in your recommendations and positively affect your application, especially when compared with students who didn’t do those things. </p>
<p>Top law schools want their applicants to put in as much effort into their undergrad work as possible. They don’t want people trying to “cheat” the system by playing a numbers game. That’s all I’m trying to get through.</p>
<p>Honors work, extremely difficult classes, research, etc. should not be discouraged, even if you plan on going to law school.</p>