I’m currently a freshman undergrad at UC Berkeley, with hopes of pursuing a law degree from one of the T14. (Shocker, haha) Although I have a while before I should start worrying about my applications, I’m rather stressed about being accepted. So, College Confidential, I turn to you…
In particular, I’m wondering:
- Are there any undergraduate experiences that would help me stand out as a candidate?
- When should I start studying for the LSAT?
- Do law schools look at the rigor/reputation of your undergrad when accessing your law school app?
- If I can’t get into one of the T14, is it even worth going to law school?
- Should I apply to law school after graduating from Berkeley, or should I pursue an internship/job first?
I’m sorry if these questions have been answered countless other times, or if they seem rather naive/ignorant. I just recently realized I wanted to go to law school. Any and all insight would be much appreciated!
Thank you,
Concerned student
@bluebayou @Demosthenes49 Thank you both so much for all of your insight! It has cleared up a lot of my confusion and I appreciate it greatly. 
Take a break after undergrand and intern at a law firm or a legal clinic to boost your resume. Your LSAT should be at most 3 years old for law schools to consider you. Some law schools require an LSAT score to be no older than 5 years old. But in general, the more recent it is the better. While you intern, study for the LSAT and get a high score in 170s or at least upper 160s to be considered for T14.
@Yulifus Thank you so much! You have provided much helpful clarification I appreciate it!
The best post-undergraduate legal job available, I think, is to be a paralegal. You actually see what it means to be a lawyer and the law schools to which you are applying can read your application in the context of someone who knows what it means to be a lawyer. In the case of those who work as paralegals in the biglaw world of NYC or other similar large cities, being a paralegal can mean long hours doing less than intellectually-stimulating tasks and often a two-year commitment. The good news is that it pays pretty well, overtime is a thing, and you will see from the inside what these kinds of lawyers actually do on a day-to-day basis.
As for the LSAT, I’ve never seen anything that indicates that a school looks more or less favorably on the score depending on how old it is as long as it’s within the 5 year timeframe when the score is active. The advice I do agree with is to get the highest LSAC (go the LSAC website for the definition - generally speaking it includes ALL grades achieved prior to the receipt of your first undergraduate degree) GPA and LSAT score you can if your goal is the T-13/14.
@runnersmom Thank you!! I appreciate your help very much and it makes this process seem a little less daunting. I’ll be sure to look into paralegal jobs after I graduate Thanks again!
I’ve never understood the infatuation with needing to get into a T14 school. Way too mu emphasis in my opinion.
^^
- job prospects to pay off debt
- mobility
- incredibly competitive jobs (clerkships, legal academia, ACLU, DoJ)
That being said, all of the above can be had from a top regional law school, but the odds are much, much less
I agree with bluebayou. Law is generally a field in which educational credentials matter–more than I’d think they’d matter in business. The whole point of going to law school, for most people, is to get a job, and the higher-ranked the school (generally), the better the job prospects from it are.
Can I join the chorus? Given the cost of law school (can be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars) and the availability of jobs that will pay enough to service that debt, the T13-14 schools are the preferable option for most students. As I’ve said before, if a student has ties to an area with a strong regional law school and intends to live and practice in that area, then the equation is different. If you need data, look at each school’s employment reports and see how many students are employed in JD-required positions after graduation and, if it’s important to you, see how many are employed in law firms (of varying sizes and pay scales) or clerkships (federal or state). Further, as @bluebayou notes above, these results can be achieved at other schools, but usually require the student to be at the very top of the class, something that just cannot be predicted anywhere. And, as @HappyAlumnus says, in law the value of the credential is often, right or wrong, tied to the name of the law school.
one other really relevant point: every year, the US graduates 2x as many lawyers as the market can absorb. In other words, ~50% of the newly-minted JDs will not find a job requiring their degree within ~a year of graduation. Since the T10 have a very high job placement rate, a TIII will have a very low one.
Thank you all for your insight! It has been very helpful and I appreciate all of your comments immensely. I completely agree and, somewhat in response to Watch37, my interest in the T14 isn’t because of my desire to go to a “prestigious” law school but rather what the market necessitates to find a job after graduation. Again, thank you all for continuing to provide such valuable information!!
Just to pile on, there’s nothing wrong with prestige. Anything that helps you get a job…
https://www.lstreports.com/schools/ suggests that employment outcomes for law school graduates are highly dependent on law school ranking (more so than for many other types of employment).
http://lawschoolnumbers.com/ may be helpful as a pre-law student. Includes charts that may help you with what GPA and LSAT score to target for top-ranked law schools.
Since you are at Berkeley, https://www.berkeleytime.com/ may be helpful in selecting courses that historically had more grade inflation.
@ucbalumnus First, let me just say Go Bears! haha. On a more serious note though, I just checked out those links and they have some great information. Thank you so much!!