Should i go to a 4 year straight away or attend CC first if I plan on going to law school?

College Search & Selection
1

Money is top priority for me. I feel as if I would enjoy any university experience, but I’m not entirely certain I should jump into one. My goal is to get into law at a really good law school, possibly spending a lot of cash in the process.

I know I’m capable of much more than ive done in my high school studies, but regardless my sophomore grades are what they are, and they aren’t very good. I’ve been putting off meeting with my counselor about my csu app for weeks now, and as I stand here in mid-November, I don’t feel all that motivated to fill any apps out aside from the local uni that is sdsu (where I’m a long shot for sure.) I feel like if my university doesn’t look too good on my law app, I’m going to need near perfect lsat scores and a perfect college gpa to be considered for a good law school. At the same time, both my sisters have gotten stuck in community college and I feel like a university would put me on a direct path to law school and I would stay focused and studious as a result.

Currently I’m considering applying to: sdsu, uc riverside, chico st, and fresno st.
CSU GPA: 3.29
ACT:29
34 ENGLISH
32 READING
25 MATH
25 SCIENCE
12 WRITING
If I get into sdsu I will go for sure, and I’ve chosen linguistics as a low impact major to hopefully help my chances there, but my chances are probably unrealistic. I was very lazy with my high school coursework as you can probably tell (even when it came to testing, i didnt study once, even for my second time taking the act. I got a 28 the first time.) and my gpa is mainly bogged down by sophomore year when I had no ambition or academic interest and let my honors Chem grade sit at about 40% both semesters.

All in all, I think ill probably make it into fresno or chico at least with a low impact major, but I don’t know if that’s worth it if I want to pursue a career in law. I am a master procrastinator, but when I snap out of it I become quite invested in my studies. Would it be worth it, if I want to go to a place like u of Virginia or the like for law school, and keeping on track in college is second only to price on my priorities, to go to one of these 2 schools for an undergraduate degree; or should I instead just attend community college and attempt to transfer into sdsu or a uc?

2

You know what you need to do, so now it’s up to you to do it.

  • CC to raise your grades.
  • Transfer to a UC if possible
  • For law school--get top grades, do great internships duirng college and after, practice your LSAT and score in the top 98%tile to get into a UVA or other top school. Yes you can start practicing your LSAT now. It will seem impossible at first, and then you will become an expert at this.
  • To reduce your debt, look into schools that offer loan forgiveness for public interest or government work. The top law schools have these programs. Otherwise you will have considerable debt. The other way you can pay off that debt is by scoring a job in a Big Law firm that pays $160K per year and diligently paying off your debts in one to two years. Living small during that time to do so. If you want to stay on at that job, then great but most people want out because it's hard work--like there is no time off. To get a Big Law job, you will need to attend a top 14 law school. The higher up that list the better.
3

If you attend Chico or Fresno and do well, and score well on the LSAT and show an interest in the field with internships, clubs, etc, you will have a shot at a top law school. I’d consider adding Sac too - their location gives students access to lots of internship opportunities.

I’d say, get into a couple of schools, then make the decision in the Spring.

4

Law school admission is heavily college GPA and LSAT based. See http://schools.lawschoolnumbers.com/ for more information.

Law employment tends to be heavily based on the prestige ranking of one’s law school. See http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/ for more information.

5

I don’t think it matters. If you want to do a CC first to save money and then transfer, that’s fine too. You can still get into a top law school as long as you reform your ways and study! (You also don’t need to transfer to a UC, although that could help a little, perhaps.)

The thing you really need to change is your study habits. Law school admissions are driven almost wholly by GPA and test scores, so you need to do really well if you are aiming for somewhere like Virginia.