Hi,
I attended a highly ranked private university and transferred into a community college for personal reasons. I want to practice law and my GPA is looking good, as of now. My three choices are NC State, UNCW, and ECU as far as saving money goes. Would going to one be better than the other? Say would a 3.5 from NC State be better than a 3.7 from ECU? Also, I’ve applied to schools out of state. If I am considering practicing law out of state would it be beneficial to attend anther small private school if the aid’s good enough? I’d be transferring into either a Florida or California school in this case, and they have great law schools.
How well you do in college and how you score on the LSAT will count far more than exactly which college you attend. It doesn’t really matter which choice you make – go with what makes financial sense and feels right to you, and where you think you can succeed. I transferred as an undergrad and wound up with my degree from an unheard of college, but got into a top 20 law school with good grades and very high LSAT score. Research what you’re getting into before choosing to go to law school though. The industry has changed a lot and is highly competitive, with many new law grads unable to get fulfilling jobs.
@yoyomaaa: Law schools care about GPA and LSAT. They do not care about your undergrad. More importantly, how do you know you want to practice law? Have you interned in a law office or otherwise gotten first-hand experience?
agree with the above posters, but since the discussion is on undergrads, I would submit that connections do play a part in finding a job.
Someone from Texas or the deep south or the midwest is better off attending at least one of undergrad or law school in that area. In other words, instate undergrad, OOS LS, or OOS undergrad, instate law school.
Attending say, Brown undergrad and then Cornell LS is not going to impress too many folks in Birmingham, Ala or Houston, even if originally from one of those areas…
I would pick NC State (more highly ranked, I’d guess, and in a larger metro area and with good engineering and grad schools), but they’re all pretty similar.