Transfer help! Sociology major with Pre-Law emphasis.

I was accepted to UCB, UCD, UCSD, UCR, UCI, LMU, all part of UC choices.
I applied as a sociology major but my top choice is USC since I applied as a Law, History, and Culture major for my first choice. I plan to enroll in Law School right after my BA. I am still waiting to hear from USC and Pitzer though. I am yet to commit to a school because I feel like I’ve lost a sense of direction as to where I should go. I want a campus that provides a great pre-law advisory or offers majors that are related to criminal justice or law and society. I also want to pursue joint degrees and maybe get a Masters in Public Policy. I have USC and LMU as top choices because their law school and internship opportunities are some of the best CA has to offer. Can any sociology major recommend where I should be looking into more? Any help is appreciated!

Don’t you have a deadline to put down a deposit at one of the schools where you have been accepted?

@DadTwoGirls Commitment deadline is June 1st!

Based on your interests in pre-law, USC would appear to be very strong:

https://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/blog/top-lawyer-producer-schools-infographic/

Purely in terms of a sociology major, though, Pitzer should also be a top consideration.

Darlenez, both USC and Pitzer are included in this excellent output ranking.

4 metrics were used:

  1. Percentage entering elite professional schools (for MBA/JD/MD).
  2. Production of “American Leaders”, who are mostly leaders in business, government, and the arts.
  3. Percentage winning prestigious national student awards.
  4. Percentage getting PhDs.

No specific major is required for law school. You may want to read
http://lawschoolnumbers.com/application-prep/choosing-your-major-for-prelaw
http://lawschoolnumbers.com/application-prep/making-undergraduate-courses-count-for-law-school
and other parts of that web site (including GPA / LSAT plots for various law schools).

You may want to go through the on-line course catalogs for the various schools to see what school offers the courses you are most interested in.

@merc81 thank you so much for the input. I am looking to Pomona college thanks to its connections.

@CrewDad Thank you for this information. I know that universities like Cal or USC don’t offer much of diversity in terms of course selection but it’s more the name of the institution that law admission counselors look at. I’m patiently waiting for Pitzer college, there admission decisions come out Monday the 15th.

@ucbalumnus Thank you for sending in that link. I know that some major are more respected than others when it comes to law school admissions. I am looking into course catalogs know.

The Pitzer/Pomona/CMC combination could be excellent for your interests and goals. Let us know how things look as your acceptances come in, @darlenez.

24% Pell grant students at USC, while not as high as UCLA, is still higher than many highly selective private schools.

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/economic-diversity-among-top-ranked-schools

All you need for law school is a good college GPA and good LSAT scores. Honestly all this pre-law bs is peripheral at best.

USC is really expensive. Are you getting any aid? I’d say go to the cheapest one and save money for law school.

First of all, congratulations on all those acceptances. You ought to be proud of yourself.

A high GPA and solid LSAT scores are the two biggest factors needed in order to get into a good law school. So, you should consider going to undergrad at the least expensive school where you can do the best. At the same time, prestige might give you a slight advantage in the admissions process (assuming your GPA and LSAT scores are good). If it were me and financial aid wasn’t an issue, I’d go with USC.

@XCX0501 thank you so much for that. I know that most people that graduate from USC say that their academia isn’t as heavy as people make it seem. It’s more the prestige that’s opens many doors for them. My financial need is not an issue which is why I keep pushing an acceptance towards USC.

It’s often difficult to graduate from a school’s undergraduate program and be accepted into their Law or med school. They wanna mix it up

Start studying for the LSAT early