You see, I have always dreamed of attending Yale Law School one day, so does my friend. One word to describe our friendship is that we are both very competitive. My biggest fear is being rejected from Yale. What if my friend gets in and I don’t? I can’t block out this thought from my head. Notably, I know I am still a freshmen, but I would really like to know what are some factors you guys think I can contribute into my high school experience to increase my chance of getting into Yale?
If your a freshman you won’t be applying to law schools until nearly a decade from now. Relax and stop worrying so much. Enjoy your time in HS. Yale has a sub-10% acceptance rate more than 90% of its applicants are rejected. I know this sounds harsh, but you could do everything right in HS and still get rejected. Please realize that when the time comes you will end up at the school that’s the best for you. Whether that’s Yale or not, who knows. Also, you don’t have to attend Yale as an undergrad to get into Yale Law school.
But wouldn’t law firms prefer someone who went to an Ivy League than hiring someone who just went to a state university. (I have heard this myth so many times)
No company is going to really care where you went for UNDERGRAD. Many people choose a state school for undergrad if it has a lower net price than the elite privates or other schools they applied to once they receive their financial aid packages. If you plan on going to graduate school and cost is going to be an issue for your family then realistically, you should try to not spend to much on an undergraduate education, so those funds can be saved for graduate school. People who go to state schools for undergrad still have a chance of getting into elite schools for graduate programs. Grad schools (I.e. Med and law schools) care more about your undergraduate GPA and MCAT or LSAT scores than your undergraduate university.
As far as being financially secure, I come from a very low income single mom household.
Maybe if you got out into the real world and got the opportunity to talk to attorneys and judges, you would begin to realize that very few have Ivy degrees.
Then you should try to save as much as possible on an undergraduate education. If you do get into an Ivy League university for undergrad (please realize the chances are slim for everyone), then it would probably be financially feasible for you. However, what you can do now is try to maintain a high GPA and be passionate about the extracurriculars you are involved in, among other things. There are plenty of public state schools (university of Alabama has many generous merit scholarships) that offer great merit aid and some of them even meet 100% of need (UNC-chapel hill is one and I believe UVA is another). Also, there is a sticker thread on the financial aid forum about automatic scholarships.
Right now, try to stop obsessing about college before it drives you nuts. Just know, everything will work out in the end as long as you try your absolute best to reach all the goals you set for yourself.