<p>Well i am a senior in high school and i have been accepted to many schools and i have narrowed it down to the University of FLorida and Cornell University. I was wondering what you guys think would be the better place to go for an undergrad degree. If i go to UF i can go for practically free and have no loans whereas if i go to Cornell i will probably accumulate a good amount of loans when i graduate. When applying to get into law school would it be better to have a higher gpa at UF or a lower gpa Cornell. ANy help is greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>UF free >>>> any school + money.</p>
<p>It won't make a difference for law school admissions. Just keep in mind that you'll probably rack up a lot of debt going to law school.</p>
<p>An Ivy or a second tier school???. Cornell of course.</p>
<p>I'm personally one who thinks that you can get comparable educations and opportunities anywhere (however, you may have to claw for them one place, while they're handed to you on a silver platter at another, which is not necessarily to say that either will be the case at UF or Cornell). Your experiences at the two schools will certainly be VERY different, though. The thing that most strikes me is that a student who can get into Cornell could also get generous scholarships to a lot of schools that might be better fits than UF, so if you go to UF and things don't work out this year, transferring could be a viable (if not preferable) option, even with financial constraints. </p>
<p>Note also that the difference between how law schools will look at the two degrees is minimal (provided that you do very, very well at UF. If you do slightly less well at Cornell, you might be allowed some slide. This is just a guess, but Cornell has a well-known reputation for grade-deflation. UF, regardless of what it's policies are, might not enjoy the same benefit of the doubt). However, if you change your mind and decide against grad school, then the difference between these two degrees becomes much bigger (if only temporarily). If you want to stay in/around Florida, it won't be a big deal, but a Cornell degree will carry you farther more easily.</p>
<p>That said, if you don't want debt, you're set on law school, and you think you could be HAPPY and do WELL at FU, then it seems the very obvious choice. Good luck!</p>
<p>You can probably do just as well at UF, but just know that students from Cornell, statistically, have a much better chance of getting in to top schools and most especially Ivies. This is probably due to the fact that Cornell generally has a better quality of students overall but just keep this in mind.</p>
<p>You can still get into any t14 law school from UF, you will just have to find something that differentiates yourself from the candidates from higher ranked schools.</p>
<p>And, of course, you will have a much higher GPA at UF than at Cornell, that's a feather in UF's cap if you want to look at it from that angle. Considering that 90% of admissions at top law schools is LSAT+GPA then that's what you need to concentrate on.</p>
<p>"And, of course, you will have a much higher GPA at UF than at Cornell..."</p>
<p>I know nothing about UF, but be careful of assuming that your GPA would be significantly higher there. It's not uncommon for schools with high acceptance rates to have very harsh curves and grading policies. One of the most intelligent people I know--literally, a brilliant student--has a 3.5-3.6ish at a school with a 99% acceptance rate, and she works her tail off (which is not to criticize a 3.5, but this is coming from a girl who's used to a 4.8). Not having to prove yourself so hard to get in can mean that you have to prove yourself harder once you're there, if that makes sense. </p>
<p>What I intended to say in an earlier post was that Cornell is definitely known for grade deflation, but law schools will know this fact (and may or may not choose to take it into account). <em>Regardless</em> of whether or not UF also deflates or grades harshly, I doubt you'll have much chance at similar leniency. Your law school report does make some attempt to contextualize your GPA, though, so maybe it's a non-issue.</p>
<p>ANYWAY, the point that I'm hiding behind way too many words is just to be wary of making the quoted assumption.</p>
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An Ivy or a second tier school???. Cornell of course.
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<p>Uh, UF is tier one (by the actual standard, not your delusional one). </p>
<p>But it really doesn't matter, you can get into a top law school from virtually any school. I'd rather go to a school that's almost free and fun while getting great education. Save some money, you're going to need it. I</p>
<p>GatorEng23,</p>
<p>By my "delusional" standards and by all rankings (USNEWS, etc) Cornell is far better than UF. HLS and YLS accepted many more students from Cornell than UF. Is that also delusional?</p>
<p>Um, can you show me where I said that UF is better than Cornell? I was simply correcting your statement that UF is a tier 2 school.</p>
<p>EDIT: And by "delusional," I meant that you are one of those kids who think tier 1 is the top 20 or so, which would explain why you label UF as Tier 2. Now that I have read a good number of your past posts, I believe that's right.</p>
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tier 1 is the top 20 or so
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<p>Top 20 would already be generous according to some of the standards I see floating around these boards. Goodness, I had a kid call Duke a second-tier school a couple weeks back.</p>
<p>Isn't it crazy? I remember one board that asked to state colleges with the best/worst names. Many people listed University of Pennsylvania as a bad name. Why? Because it sounds like a state school! lmao.</p>
<p>UF is not a bad school, no one is saying that, it's just that coming from Cornell you will have less to prove than at UF. If money is a central issue I think it would be silly to rack up massive amounts of debt when you could be going to a good school for next to nothing.</p>
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You can probably do just as well at UF, but just know that students from Cornell, statistically, have a much better chance of getting in to top schools and most especially Ivies.
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<p>I'd love to see these statistics. Because I think all you have to go on are the absolute numbers of Cornell grads enrolled at a few law schools, which means absolutely nothing.</p>
<p>"This is probably due to the fact that Cornell generally has a better quality of students overall"</p>
<p>Because of the above, I wouldn't be surprised if the statistical claim were true. The average Harvard student probably has a higher chance of getting into a top law school than the average Kansas State student. Because law schools look more kindly on Harvard than on Kansas State? No idea. But the average Harvard student is probably more likely to have top grades, high LSATs, and "elite" ECs. This says nothing whatsoever about the average 3.8/175 Harvard student vs. the average 3.8/175 Kansas student. For that matter, hey, the latter offers geographic diversity!</p>
<p>I've seen the many, many, many "Ivies send more students to top law schools" threads here, and all of the debates on what this means and doesn't mean, so I'm not trying to start that again here. Just noting that the quoted poster did say a little more, although perhaps not enough to really clarify his claim.</p>
<p>Thank you student615, that's exactly what I was referring to. By definition a highly selective school will have students who have a history of spectacular academic achievement therefore those students are much more likely to have stellar grades in college. And this isn't even taking into account networking at the Ivy or better overall opportunities.</p>
<p>I, of course, have no statistics to back this up but if you are trying to say that the quality of students is the same at UF vs. Cornell or any other Ivy school then I'm afraid you are mistaken. I'm not saying there are not students that could have done great at Harvard or Yale, just talking in generalities.</p>
<p>I too wonder whether or not the fact that top law schools, and especially Ivies, enroll many more students from prestigious programs is because those students are more qualified or if it is blatant favoritism. I suppose we will never know.</p>
<p>"I'd love to see these statistics. Because I think all you have to go on are the absolute numbers of Cornell grads enrolled at a few law schools, which means absolutely nothing."</p>
<p>Oh, they aren't the be all and end all, but I don't think the statistics mean "absolutely nothing" either. From LSAC, I know that a total of 1196 U of Florida students/grads applied to ABA-accredited law schools in the 04-05 admissions cycle. I also know from LSAC that 696 Cornell students/grads applied during that same cycle. Now, I'll admit upfront that there may be some UF students who want to stay in Florida and thus only applied to law schools in the state of Florida, even if they had the #s for HYS. But still, given the total # of students from UF and Cornell applying to law schools, if Cornell is better represented at the top law schools, doesn't that mean something?</p>
<p>Personally, I don't think anyone should use the odds of getting into a top law school as the reason for matriculating at a particular college or university. But, I do think it's harder to get into a top law school from UF than Cornell. If the UF student blows away the LSAT, it won't be much of a difference. But for those who aren't stellar standardized test takers, I do think that, e.g., a 3.8 from Cornell would be viewed somewhat differently than a 3.8 from UF.</p>
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This says nothing whatsoever about the average 3.8/175 Harvard student vs. the average 3.8/175 Kansas student. For that matter, hey, the latter offers geographic diversity!
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<p>This is not the question. The question is whether a high school student with a 2100 SAT and a 4.0uw GPA (or whatever) should go to UF or Cornell. This person will have a lower college GPA at Cornell than at UF. The question is whether law schools under/over compensate for that. Now, I would think that it doesn't really matter...the admission people will see a lower GPA from Cornell and compensate for it. However, I think the monetary factors reign supreme, and therefore UF should be chosen.</p>
<p>(1) It was not intended as an answer to the OP. </p>
<p>(2) It's not safe to assume that GPA will differ vastly between the two schools.</p>
<p>(3) I don't think that monetary factors necessarily reign supreme, provided that Cornell can be <em>reasonably</em> managed. The schools are as different as night and day (schools aside, there is a lot about Ithaca that a Floridian might not fall in love with...or might!), and it is up to the OP and his/her family to decide which environment is preferable, and, if Cornell, whether it's sufficiently preferable to warrant the cost difference. The answers to these questions will vary student to student and family to family.</p>