<p>I'm a double major at UC Berkeley in economics and history, going into my junior year. I may also minor in music because i take the courses for fun. I am going to stay an extra semester so I'll finish in 4.5 years.</p>
<p>I work at a law firm 20 hours a week, intern elsewhere 6 hours a week (related to the law as well), and have music practice 4 hours a week, thus summing to about 30 hours a week of extracurriculars on top of taking full courseloads each semester. (I also did dance for a semester at Berkeley.)</p>
<p>(I plan on doing the URAP--research program, if I can get in, some time in the next 2 years.)</p>
<p>I want to pursue international corporate law, or something along those lines.</p>
<p>Given these stats, and assuming that I can manage a 3.75+ GPA in 4 years, along with a decent, at least upper 160 LSAT score, can I get into a top 15 law school? (Knock on wood, hoping i'm not being too presumptuous) Should I do some more "socially aware' extracurriculars like Habitat for Humanity? I feel as if I'm not doing enough so to speak. Please offer any criticisms or advice!</p>
<p>ok, call me a moron--or I'll just call myself one, but *** is MAS? Basically you're saying because I haven't taken the LSAT yet, you can't tell me anything?</p>
<p>Gotcha. With a score upwards of 160, you should be in the running. You make need to put a compelling application that will minimize your weaknesses and, with some good marketing, maximize your strengths; but you should definitely have a shot.</p>
<p>If the LSAT is 165+, I'd definitely say you are in, in at least one school.</p>
<p>Its very difficult to tell because so much is dependent on LSAT, it represents 50-60% of your index at all the top schools (except for Boalt). There has also been inflation in the last few years as more people are taking the LSAT. A 3.9 and 174 would make you safe for harvard before with decent EC's. Nowadays, you need a 176 to be safe. It has fluctuated over the years. Your chances will be dependent on how rare a good LSAT score is and your score relative to the general distribution at top schools.</p>
<p>That could change significantly in the next 2 years. From 2000-2005 alone there was about a 37% increase in the number of LSAT takers alone. With the good economy that could go down and a 165 will be good enough to cut it at more top schools.</p>
<p>"Should I do some more "socially aware' extracurriculars like Habitat for Humanity? I feel as if I'm not doing enough so to speak. Please offer any criticisms or advice!"</p>
<p>I'm just speaking on principle here, but don't bother doing "socially aware" extracurrics if you're just doing them to get to law school. As I understand it, law schools don't take EC's very much into account anyway. You'd serve yourself better by following the advice of the above posters in getting a good LSAT score--after that, we can tell you where you stand a lot better.</p>
<p>So basically, my LSAT score will determine everything. </p>
<p>Regarding my current ECs, I'm actually interested in them...I guess if I did H&H, I'd probably just to do it to balance out my ECs. But yeah, I'll just focus on my academics and current ECs then.</p>
<p>Regarding Boalt, the rumor is it dislikes Berkeley undergraduates for some odd reasons--despite it being part of Berkeley, which means I probably won't get in there. (I also don't want to stay in the same place for 7 years.) Indeed, I also really want to go to the East Coast, so I just hope I have a shot at those ones.</p>
<p>"Regarding Boalt, the rumor is it dislikes Berkeley undergraduates for some odd reasons"</p>
<p>Yes. Diversity. But I don't think it's odd. The idea is to have a diverse class of students. If all incoming students come from Berkeley undergrad, well, the class would be pretty homogenous academically. I believe most top law schools, with the exception of Harvard, think this way. And I, for all that matters, agree.</p>
<p>I don't really think it's 'diversity' when the average entering GPA to boalt is a 3.8 and for Berkeley undergrads going to Boalt it's a 3.9 or something around that. It's a bit unfair.</p>
<p>"I don't really think it's 'diversity' when the average entering GPA to boalt is a 3.8 and for Berkeley undergrads going to Boalt it's a 3.9 or something around that. It's a bit unfair."</p>
<p>Again, it all comes down to your definition of "diversity." I'll be blunt: they don't want the same people hanging around the same university for three more years; thus, they seek to "diversify" the student body. Get it? It's not about being fair or unfair.</p>
<p>Actually, diversity or not, a lot of top 14 schools admit many students from their undergraduate schools; the admits frequently outnumber admits from other schools. Harvard is not the only example: Yale and Georgetown also practice this (especially because we have the early assurance program for the latter, there is no doubt they prefer Georgetown undergrads). If more data were available for other top 14 schools, I would not be surprised if the same held true for them.</p>