So, I’m currently in my Senior year of high school, and have decided to pursue a career in law and hopefully go into politics some day. I am applying to various CSU and plan to apply to UCs in the coming weeks. So far the CSU schools I’ve selected are as follows (open for change):
Sacramento: Philosophy- Ethics and Law
Northridge: Political Science- Public Policy and Management
San Luis Obispo: Public Health
San Jose- Public Relationships
My accumulated weighed GPA is 3.81 and unweighed is 3.47. I did a total of 6 APs in Sophomore and Junior Year and 3 more this year. I’ve also completed 4 College Courses (Comm 101, Poli Sci 101, Chicano Studies 47, and Psychology 101) in which I got 3 A’s and 1 B. My SAT score is 1180 and my ACT score is 23 with a writing score of 10 out of 12. Apart from school work I’ve done over 100+ community service hours and was recognized by a California assemblymember for being apart of a committee that produced a community event that promoted family acceptance within the LGBTQ+ community through education. As far as school leadership roles go, I’ve started a club that was short lived and became the Chief Editor of my schools Yearbook team.
I was also nominated for the Posse Scholarship and was lucky enough to become a semifinalist (yet to hear from them my finalist status).
My question is, what are realistically my best options in terms of schools that will help with a career in law, and what are some majors that will help prepare me for the LSAT. (Prefer to stay in California, with the exception being that I get into Northwestern through Posse.)
Any major in which you think and write a lot should help prepare you for law school applications. Minimizing the amount of money you spend on college will also help prepare you for law school, which is very expensive and for which financial aid is limited. Good luck!
i think you will get into all the CSUs you list except SLO. If law school is your target, you need a great under grad GPA and some interesting experience and a strong LSAT . Any of those schools will give you access you opportunities so, go where you think you will excel, in the classroom and out.
You would want a high college GPA for law school. Other than that, choose a major as if you aren’t planning on law school. (What if you change your mind about law school? There are many reasons that might happen, starting with not getting admitted to a law school that is worth the cost. Have a Plan B.) Your college major does not prepare you for the LSAT; you can prepare for the LSAT with a prep book.
I don’t know if there is any predictive data (probably not), but your SAT and ACT scores do not bode well for the percentile of LSATs that would get you into top-tier law schools. Lower-tier law schools are often not worth the great expense unless there is a big scholarship because most of the jobs that come from lower-tier schools are not very high-paying. These are all things to take into account when considering law school as a future plan and whether to let that plan substantially affect your college and major choices. Have a Plan B that is not law school; you can always decide to apply to law school, even after you’re out of college and working for a few years.