<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I'm going to be applying for transfer admission in the spring of 2011, and I'm looking to go to law school after my undergraduate work. I'm a sophomore, spent my freshman year at Purdue University and now I'm at junior college around my area because I decided to do liberal arts and wanted to get all the gen eds out of the way on the cheap after wasting money at an out of state public.</p>
<p>My question is, what liberal arts colleges in the Midwest would best prepare one for law school? What liberal arts schools typically send the most students to good law schools? I'm open to any suggestions; my stats are pretty good. I have a 3.9 GPA with around 40 some credits from Purdue and my CC, I'm in Phi Theta Kappa and another honors society, and I have a 30 ACT. By spring my application should only get better.</p>
<p>My plan is to transfer to the University of Illinois (I live in Illinois) but I also need backups. Right now the only three on my radar are Illinois Wesleyan, Knox College, and Augustana College, and I know very little about these even. The only public I'm really considering is U of I, because any other publics in Illinois aren't particularly reputable. Thus, besides U of I I'm really leaning towards the good liberal arts colleges in the Midwest.</p>
<p>I understand the vast majority of getting into law school is GPA and LSAT, and it doesn't really matter too much where you go for undergrad as long as these are stellar, but I'd like to go somewhere that has a program with a history of putting undergrads in good law schools. </p>
<p>I'd like to have a shot at U of C, Northwestern, and University of Illinois law schools. I feel like I should be able to keep my GPA up without much of a problem, and I have a history of doing particularly well on standardized tests and have already begun doing work for the LSAT.</p>
<p>Thanks very much in advance.</p>
<p>If your matches are Knox, then I would add Denison, Wabash, DePauw, Kenyon and Ohio Wesleyan. You don’t really state what you want as an undergraduate major, but each program has good history, classics, etc. Wabash has a Rhotoric major, which is wonderful for trial.</p>
<p>It probably doesn’t qualify as an LAC, but I was very impressed with Creighton University’s campus.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies!</p>
<p>For undergraduate, I’m just trying to do political science with pre law curriculum. My biggest concerns are getting in, paying for it, and then keeping my grades up to get into law school.</p>
<p>Looks good; they look comparable to Augustana and Knox. I’m really confused as how to make a decision on a liberal arts school. I’m used to going by what I hear about the big universities, comparing rankings, etc. , but I know absolutely nothing about liberal arts schools and how to compare them besides looking at US News, and a simple number doesn’t do much for me other than give me a general understanding of where the school stands relatively. </p>
<p>Thanks again.</p>
<p>For a true LAC, look at U Minnesota - Morris.</p>
<p>do you need financial aid or will your parents pay for wherever you go?</p>
<p>If you need FA, then choose your schools carefully. Most schools do not give good financial aid to transfer students.</p>
<p>Do you know what your FAFSA EFC is?</p>
<p>What state are you in?</p>
<p>Are you borrowing much for undergrad?</p>
<p>I’ll need financial aid; I’m hoping I can get enough to where I can actually attend one of these schools.</p>
<p>I’m trying to borrow as little as possible. My parents’ income has changed for the worse so if I file a new FAFSA the government might be more generous this time around. I’ll also hope for something merit based on my GPA. It’s to my understanding private schools tend to offset their higher costs with higher aid/scholarship money. </p>
<p>I’m in Illinois, and I don’t know what my FAFSA EFC is but it was something ridiculously high that my parents would never pay in a million years.</p>
<p>If your FAFSA was high then you have very little chance of getting financial aid. As a transfer you have very limited opps to get merit aid. You would do well to look at your in-state publics. What about one of your directional Illinois colleges? Pre-law is just learning to think logically.</p>
<p>Yeah, like I said my parents’ income has gone down quite dramatically in the past 2 years so I’ll see if that helps any. Other than that, I know Augustana offers up to 15,000$ in merit aid. Combine that with even a little Federal aid, add in a part time job (hopefully) and it could be manageable.</p>
<p>Still, I’m hoping to get into the U of I so I don’t have to worry about this. I’m trying to get into a good law school (lot of horror stories about coming from a tier 2 or 3 law school as far as jobs are concerned), and so I’d rather not take my chances going to a directional college here. I’m not sure what kind of bearing your college has on getting into “x” law school, but I can’t say I’ve heard about too many folks going from Northern Illinois to University of Chicago law school.</p>