<p>Hi. I was hoping somebody could tell me how law school admission committees differentiate between undergraduate universities. Just for a quick background, I am currently an undergraduate at Northeastern University in Boston, MA, but am unhappy with the situation I am in there. I applied for transfer admission to two top-tier colleges, but unfortunately did not get into either. I am now left with the dilemma of whether I should stay at Northeastern for another year, keep my gpa high, and try and transfer again next year, or simply transfer to the state university from where I am from (Oregon State) which is by no means prestigious. I would prefer this track at this point for numerous reasons (money, location, etc.) but am scared if I go here, law schools will see that I was not a top school, and look down upon that even if I had a high gpa and LSATs. In short, will top law schools pay close attention to where one went to college if they received a high gpa and LSAT scores? Is this something that I should worry about? Any advice would be appreciated.</p>
<p>they do consider it, and it helps to have the connections you can only get at a top college, but if you're alot better than your competition in everything then you should be fine.</p>
<p>Summary </p>
<p>You: 4.0 GPA 172 LSAT Northeastern
John Doe: 4.0 GPA 172 LSAT Yale </p>
<p>HLS would almost certainly pick John Doe </p>
<p>but if</p>
<p>You 4.0 GPA 172 LSAT Northeastern
John Doe 3.0 150 LSAT Yale</p>
<p>Than you would have a much better chance. </p>
<p>By the way, in your case esp. LSAT is so important because it matches you against students from elite Us</p>
<p>I should hope that he would have a much better chance in the second scenario!!!!</p>
<p>Transfer to Oregon. </p>
<p>First of all, if you consider the money as a four (or five, in the case of Northeastern) year situation, you're remarkably short-sighted. Law school is very, very expensive, and the vast majority of people receive little or no aid and, unless you go to a top school, little or no loan repayment.</p>
<p>Second, if you aren't happy at Northeastern, you aren't going to succeed. Go where your heart is and you'll do better.</p>
<p>Third... maybe this is just me, but I don't think Northeastern is that great of a school. It's certainly good for engineering, but it really isn't "all that" for anything else. The co-op programme is wonderful for the very practical engineers, but is not something that will impress the academic snobs in the legal profession. </p>
<p>There's nothing wrong with going to a state school to save money. Law school admissions see that a lot. In fact, pick up a 2000 (not a 2004) edition of Law School Confidential by Robert Miller and see what the Penn Law dean had to say about such situations.</p>
<p>FYI, Northeastern co-op program is optional for most majors (you can decide to opt out if you want). In other words, if you choose not to co-op, its just like a traditional four year school. There is also a four year option with co-op included. But co-op can be great if you want to build your resume, make contacts, and earn some $$$$. </p>
<p>Northeastern is actually a very good school that it is getting stronger every year and getting more recognition as well. The majority of the faculty went to top PHD Programs (Harvard, MIT, Berkeley, Michigan etc). Plus the student body has gotten much stronger (average GPA/SAT is now 3.6/1250). These stats are basically the same as schools like GWU and American. The Northeastern brand name is now viewed more favorably by top grad schools and will continue to get stronger for the forseeable future. </p>
<p>As for law school admissions, most schools care more about GPA/LSAT scores than anything else. Keep in mind that law schools are wary about the U.S. New Graduate School rankings. They are not going to admit someone with low stats (even a Yale grad) if it will bring their average GPA/LSAT stats down. While the name of undergrad school does factor into the equation, it does not necessarily make or break the student (esp. if the school is tier 1 or tier 2). Now if you go to a tier 4 that's different story. Northeastern is tier 2 which is quite respectable (Second half of "Top Schools" category in U.S. News). I know Northeastern grads who have gotten into Harvard Law, Duke, Michigan, Northwestern, Columbia etc.(this was even before Northeastern became more of a national school).</p>
<p>i was recently at an event that was attended by tons of curent yale law students- the students were from all sorts of schools, ranging from harvard and princeton right down to 3rd, and even 4th tier schools.</p>
<p>I know that UCLA does take top undergrad schools into consideration when they are making there admissions decisions</p>
<p>Look where Stanford Law School students went to undergrad:</p>
<p>Northeastern is on the list.</p>