Numbers vs. Soft Factors?

<p>I have a couple of questions regarding which soft factors can be regarded as being stronger than others, and how being a transfer student as an undergraduate can affect admissions decisions.</p>

<p>The soft factors I am referring to are being involved in:
1. An international honor society in which I will be president in this upcoming year.
2. An international law fraternity for 2.5 years by the time I graduate, in which I will be philanthropy chair for 1 of those years.
3. A community service fraternity for 2.5 years, in which we dedicate about 20-30 hours of our time quarterly to community service and also in which I have joined several different committees and stayed in good standing.
4. An internship lasting two quarters in the upcoming academic year at a law firm.</p>

<p>I just received a second "B" as an undergraduate at a university, bringing my GPA down from a 3.885 to a 3.837. I haven't taken my LSAT yet, but I am also a transfer from the local junior college here. How are transfers treated in the admissions process? </p>

<p>Please tell me how the soft factors will likely affect my application/admissions process, and what measures I can take to make my GPA appear "better." I know I should stay away from P/NP classes, but since I have taken 2 research classes, and the two law firm internships are also required to be P/NP, they are unavoidable on my transcript.</p>

<p>Sorry, let me reiterate; I meant to say president of my chapter of the international honor society.</p>

<p>Your activities are absolutely fine. Your GPA 3.8 is great. Don't sweat the GPA. Even a 3.7 + is held in high esteem.<br>
- at this point your LSAT score is going to be the deciding factor. So you really won't have a solid idea as to which schools to apply to until you have that score. Your EC's are solid enough- but will not be a deciding factor regarding admission.</p>

<p>If you plan to apply to very competitive law schools
- another factor to consider is the timing of when you are applying to law school. If you plan to apply directly from college, the law school will have 2 years of your junior college GPA and only 1 year GPA of your 4 year school. It may be better for you to have 2 full years GPA from your 4 year institution than than just the one year. So think about graduating, apply the cycle after you graduate and get a year work experience.
Of course if you get 170+ on the LSAT, then apply when you wish. That's just my opinion.<br>
A 3.8 and a 165 LSAT will get you into a very solid law school.</p>

<p>Can you define what a solid law school is? I'm from California and wish to remain in California for law school, so I'm aiming for Berkeley (ideal) and UCLA (likely). What would I need to balance out my GPA for either school? And what would be a good kind of place to work right out of college? </p>

<p>I've taken a total of 68 units already, another 12 this summer, and hopefully another 16 by the end of fall quarter (grades still pending at the application deadline for Berkeley I think). Do you think that's enough units for the schools to get a good grasp of my university experience? Or do the last 28 units matter a lot? I was originally planning on seeing how my LSAT goes in October, hopefully be able to raise my 3.837 to a 3.85 at least, and decide then when I would be applying; this year or next. If my GPA can't go up by that much, then I was planning on waiting to apply again. </p>

<p>The main qualms I have with taking a year off school is that I will become complacent with a 9-5 job as I see many of my friends do after taking a year off before applying to graduate school, medical school, and law school, and never really getting around to it. I want to just be able to dive head-on into law school.</p>

<p>Berkeley and UCLA are both "solid." Usually the most solid schools are the T-14, as they are nationally marketable. </p>

<p>I'd say you need a 168...UCLA has been really strict this past admissions cycle, and have waitlisted 170/3.7 applicants. Berkeley is somewhat unpredictable. They tend to weigh GPA more, but their average LSAT is still 167/168. The difference between a 3.837 and a 3.85 is very minuscule and probably irrelevant for admissions purposes. You should decide on when to apply by your LSAT score as it is by far the most important aspect, so you should rock the test. (And by this I mean I know of people with 3.6/176 getting into Columbia and others with 3.95/160 rejected at every T-14.)</p>

<p>Also the majority of law students took a couple years off so it is more common than you think. In fact most adcomms recommend gaining work experience and schools like Northwestern do not admit you unless you have work experience. So don't worry about taking a year off, just make sure to take the LSAT before you work full-time or whatnot, as people lose test-taking abilities after they get out of school. </p>

<p>Also, in regards to work experience, do whatever you enjoy. The only jobs that get a true boost in admissions are jobs such as the Peace Corps, Teach for America, and humanitarian jobs....besides those work experience is weighed about the same.</p>

<p>Since UCLA isn't a t-14 law school, does that mean it's somewhat less marketable due to the fact that it's ranked 16-18? Would you happen to know whether Berkeley values work experience, despite the fact that most law firms don't offer a genuine "law" experience, and generally those newly graduated with BA/BS degrees are confined to administrative or clerical work? Also, I will be graduating with a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in Law & Society. How will having a double major impact admission?</p>

<p>1.) Yes, somewhat.
2.) Yes, a little.
3.) Not all jobs are in law firms.
4.) It won't.</p>