<p>My question is simple: do the top law schools care where you go to school for undergrad? I'm talking like, is it possible to go from the University of Illinois for undergrad to UChicago for law school? Or even like, from a decent Liberal Arts College to UChicago? </p>
<p>All this, of course, assuming one does very well on the LSAT.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance</p>
<p>law schools don’t care with the only exception being a small boost for hyp grads</p>
<p>Harvard Yale Princeton I assume?</p>
<p>I figured the LSAT is used as an equalizer, but I wanted to make sure.</p>
<p>Undergraduate prestige isn’t a huge factor, but it can play a role.</p>
<p>Still, I would not recommend going to an easy school just because you want to get a high GPA for law school.</p>
<p>“small boost for hyp grads”</p>
<p>I don’t think that’s accurate. Yale undergrads get a boost at Yale Law, and Harvard undergrads get a boost from Harvard Law school. Other than that, I don’t think undergrads at other schools (not Princeton, not Stanford, not Dartmouth, not MIT, not Columbia) get special boost at any law school (including their own law school).</p>
<p>Like everything other than LSAT and GPA, the prestige of your undergraduate school usually only come into effect for marginal applicants (if you are on the edge).</p>
<p>^^^ like all of these other soft factors, it’s hard for us to know. But this is just some anecdotal type experience and a glance at lsn may suggest that. But either way it’s marginal.</p>
<p>Law schools generally do not take those with lower GPAs even if they come from an Ivy because then that will reduce their US News rankings. Coming from an Ivy will only help if there are 2 candidates with the same crednetials, but one went to Princeton and the other went to an unknown school. But going to Princeton is not going to erase the sins of a low GPA or a low LSAT score.</p>
<p>It’s possible to get into U of Chicago from any accredited 4 year university if your GPA/LSAT are high enough. It is not even remotely as important as you think it is considering your U of I/decent liberal arts to UChicago idea.</p>
<p>I would be interested to see how a University of Phoenix graduate would be perceived by top 14 schools, but it’s probably something that doesn’t come up to often.</p>
<p>From my own, albeit anecdotal, experience it can matter a great deal in job placement - not law school acceptance. I’ve known of people getting interviews through fraternity alumni at a prestigious school or through networking at their city’s Harvard or Yale Club.</p>