<p>If you are absolutely certain that you are headed for law school, then you need to be ruthless in choosing your college. You will need to conserve your financial resources for law school, which means cutting your undergraduate debt load to the bone. Legal recruiters will not care where you went to undergrad. Most of them will only care about the rank of your law school and how well you did there.<br>
U-Md is a huge school. You may never see your high school classmates. There are lots of great professors and programs there – and if you can qualify for the honors program, that would be a great option. Ask around to find the most rigorous and demanding professors. My husband was one of them for many years, and LOVED working with smart and motivated undergraduates, many of whom ended up attending top-rated professional and graduate programs.<br>
If you work in DC for a year or two between college and law school, you can save $$ for tuition and, if you live in Virginia, qualify for in-state rates at the law schools of U-Va or William and Mary.<br>
If you end up deciding that law school is not for you, you will still have the option of attending other graduate programs, not having taken out huge debt for undergrad.</p>