<p>I got accepted to UCLA yesterday and i am waiting for Berkeley, which i think i will get into also. My goal is to become a lawyer, so which scenario will prepare me better for my career, also factoring in the social atmosphere of the school? I have never visited either campus so i dont know what to expect. Thanks allot cuz i feel Friday night will be the most important decision of my life so far.</p>
<p>what are your stats like? you would be better off with poliscience in my opinion. if you do your research on law schools, you’ll find that they specifically point out that they prefer non-prelaw majors. e.g. stanford and yale’s law school admission page both mention that.</p>
<p>it might also be interesting to know that “prelaw” undergraduates have the lowest lsat scores out of all applicants. good luck. plus socal is just better, duh.</p>
<p>3.74 gpa. I have lived in the greater LA area all my life so although i already no the area change and new scenery is definitely a benefit. It really is a stalemate decision. But i dont really know what legal studies covers in the classroom also with job opportunities in the future</p>
<p>i agree with jcohen - majoring in legal studies wont give you any leverage in applying to good law schools…most of the stuff you’ll learn as a legal studies major you’ll already learn at law school…which is why law schools frown on it. </p>
<p>but this doesn’t mean you still can’t go to berkeley. you get admitted by college so you can always petition to do political science, history, philosophy etc once youre there (as long as you have the prereqs out of the way.) philosophy majors have historically done best on the LSATs. one suggestion is to look at the potential law schools you want to apply to and look at the statistics of their current JD students…you’ll find that many law students have majored in other fields like poli sci or philosophy…some even in technical fields. so your specific major isn’t as important when applying to law schools…grades and LSAT scores are weighed heaviest when applying.</p>
<p>What social atmosphere would you prefer? Generally I’ve found that kids at UCLA are better looking but Cal kids are slightly smarter/ school oriented. Of course, this is a huge generalization, as they are both great schools, but perhaps one atmosphere will suit you better. Both have pretty large Greek systems too and have amazing school spirit. They do have different “vibes,” however. At UCLA there’s the socal, maybe more preppy vibe, with traditional college brick, in a very wealthy neighborhood, warm weather, beachy, etc. Berkeley is more hippy/liberal/protesters protesting about protesting, old looking buildings, very academic/ open-minded, parts of the town is a little jenky but I personally love it- some pretty cool/unique bookstores and coffee shops. Personally, I prefer Berkeley because I find it slightly more welcoming/open/intellectual… though I’ve heard people say that they find UCLA more welcoming. But hey, who knows, definitely visit the campuses! Honestly, if I were you, I’d go to the school I think I’d like going to better. Both have great reputations so I’m sure you’ll be fine career-wise either way=)</p>
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<p>Jennifer, a better social atmosphere at a school has nothing to do its kids being “better looking” than others at another school. You sound like an unintelligent, shallow and judgmental loser.</p>
<p>and you had all your prereqs done for legal studies? i have an important reason for asking…ill tell you after you reply</p>
<p>First off, if you want to get into a decent law school drop the legal studies major!!! And in all honesty, I wouldn’t take ANY law classes during your undergrad. Law schools absolutely frown upon any legal exposure in regards to classes in your undergrad. </p>
<p>Keep this in mind, since your goal is Law school- your LSATS are the most important thing, followed by your GPA. Both are great schools. Go to the school you FEEL you can get the strongest GPA at. You will learn a lot at both- as they are great universities. So it boils down to 1. where you can succeed the most and 2. where you will be happy.</p>
<p>@cherryvaseline</p>
<p>no, at berkeley independent majors (such as legal studies) cannot change to anything that’s not independent. other major departments won’t accept them.</p>
<p>LOL speaking of judgmental …he said that he had never been to either school before…so I was just telling him what I’ve noticed about both schools. I never said he should go for that reason, nor do I think that would be a good reason… ahem “atmosphere” is the sum of something’s smaller units, it was just something that came to mind when I was describing the schools.</p>
<p>and you had all your prereqs done for legal studies? i have an important reason for asking…ill tell you after you reply</p>
<p>@Jennifer: You’re definitely right about the definition of atmosphere. But the fact that you mentioned the kids being better looking as the very first thing gives off a shallow vibe about you. Oh well, hopefully college will change that. =/</p>
<p>ok, sorry about, i always thought legal studies was an interdisciplinary studies major - not an independent major.</p>
<p>@jchonen1989
I have all the pre reqs done for legal studies, history 6, ethics, micro and macro economics. Dont know why any political science classes werent required considering its a law major. What do you guys think is an easier school to maintain a gpa at coinciding with the major? Just a note: i have never gotten anything below an A in all poly sci classes so i am beast mode with ps</p>
<p>i say ucla poli sci. as much as a fan i am for berkeley, i think legal studies wasnt something you should have applied to. plus, i thinkk a poli sci degree would be much more flexible in the future.
i was torn between legal studies and history, but i just loved history so i went with that. good luck with berkberk though!</p>
<p>Thank you so much for validating my definition! I’m sorry next time I will word things in a manner so you can make accurate judgements after reading one sentence.</p>
<p>But anyways, this obviously isn’t helping the poster…</p>
<p>"Law schools absolutely frown upon any legal exposure in regards to classes in your undergrad. "</p>
<p>Why?</p>
<p>wouldnt some knowledge of the legal system be a good thing? why would that be bad thing when it comes to graduate school?</p>
<p>For majors that do well on the LSAT and prep you for law school or grad school in the humanities and many social sciences, Go with Cal.</p>
<p>For majors that prep you for any health career, Go with UCLA.</p>
<p>My guess for the legal studies deal is that law schools want to shape their students/ want their students to have a blank state regarding the subject so that they can mold them from scratch. Other than that, my guess is as good as anyone else’s</p>