<p>My son is a rising HS senior who really wants to go to W&M for poli sci. Excellent HS grades, SATs, etc. He is figuring that he'll need to go to law school at some point in order to get ahead in government service/politics, and recent posts about impossible A's at the College have spooked him. He's starting to think that it might be better to go to a school where he can get a higher GPA in order to secure a better law school slot. How does W&M do with law school placements?</p>
<p>this might be helpful: [Outcomes</a> Info](<a href=“http://career.wm.edu/CFM/OutcomesIndex.cfm]Outcomes”>http://career.wm.edu/CFM/OutcomesIndex.cfm)</p>
<p>search by JD</p>
<p>also, there are plenty of careers in government that have no need for a JD</p>
<p>W&M"s law school placement is quite high…namely due to W&M’s outstanding national reputation. And that includes students who don’t have all As. Have your son contact our Pre-Law Advisor, Professor Nemacheck. She’s a great resource.</p>
<p>This may be anecdotal, but in my son and his gf’s experience, your LSAT score is MUCH more important than GPA in law school admission. They both went to same undergrad and had same major. One had a 3.9 GPA, was Phi Beta Kappa but had a 150 on the LSAT. The other had only a 3.4 but a 161 on LSAT. The one with the higher LSAT got in everywhere applied to except UVA- and this included two other top ten law schools. The one with the great GPA (and tons of great community service) only got into two lower ranked (not top 50) schools.</p>
<p>I’ve read a lot about law school admissions and certainly the conventional wisdom says that LSAT trumps GPA; also that the combined LSAT-GPA factors far outweigh any other aspect of the application. As far as GPA goes, most of what I’ve read says that what matters is the number, not the major, course load, or institution. The so-called “soft factors” apparently become important when comparing candidates with similar numbers.</p>
<p>I went looking for a reliable source about the importance of the LSAT, and this was the best I could come up with on short notice: [4</a> Myths About the LSAT<a href=“not%20that%20PR%20is%20really%20objective%20about%20testing%20issues”>/url</a> :
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<p>Law school admission is very much by the numbers, which is something of a relief after the undergrad holistic process at many schools. You should have a pretty good idea of where you’ll get in by running your numbers: [url=<a href=“http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com/wp-content/uploads/Law-School-Predictor-Full-Time-Programs.htm]Law”>http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com/wp-content/uploads/Law-School-Predictor-Full-Time-Programs.htm]Law</a> School Predictor: Full-Time Programs](<a href=“http://www.princetonreview.com/law/lsat-myths.aspx]4”>4 LSAT Prep Myths Holding You Back | The Princeton Review)</p>