<p>Hey guys,
I'm new to posting at this site, have been looking at it for a bit now - wanted to see what you guys thought my chances were. </p>
<p>I am currently a first year at Berkeley - however, I am graduating next year because of a tremendous amount of AP credits that parlayed into me being able to graduate in two years. (Berkeley has a liberal AP policy that works in my favor).</p>
<p>I am majoring in Economics, and have taken some upper division (for non-Berkeley students, major courses) courses in Economics, and next semester will be working with a very distinguished professor on Independent Economic research. </p>
<p>I have an overall GPA so far of 3.767, which I hope and expect to rise to 3.8-ish by the end of this summer with two summer courses I am taking.</p>
<p>I have worked at Morgan Stanley this past semester and am now an employee at Citigroup Smith Barney in financial advising, and if I do not get into one of the good law schools, I will probably pursue a career in investment banking.</p>
<p>I took the LSAT (today) and expect my score to be between 169-173, probably on the upper end of this spectrum.</p>
<p>Let me know what you guys think my target schools should be - and how important the fact I'm graduating in two years and the only-one-year GPA will be when colleges evaluate my application. I would like to go to Yale, Stanford, Harvard, etc....but I know these are ridiculously competetive....honest opinions on these and other top schools would be appreciated!</p>
<p>why such a rush to get out of college? I feel like you could represent yourself better with at least another year of grades, and could get more out of your undergraduate education. Do you have a personal statement that explains the circumstances?</p>
<p>Do you not have friends? Why would you want to graduate two years early?!?! I understand not wanting to be there more than four years, but you must be socially awkward if you don't want to be in college.</p>
<p>thanks, guys, im clearly a social retard. i have plenty of friends, and i enjoy my life. there is just nothing more that berkeley - its grade deflation, crappy location, the hobos, the crap apartments - has to offer me. i like the courses that i am taking, and i know i wont enjoy any other ones. but anyway, lets not get into semantics or side topics here - just take it at face value that i enjoy college, just not 4+3 years worth of it, esp. the first 4 at berkeley. </p>
<p>by the way, to the one useful comment (the first one)....i know it will probably not be positive - there is less grade point basis for evaluation. how serious do you think the effects of this compressed timeline will be on their evalutaion - after all, it is still a post-junior standing GPA?</p>
<p>....lol, i feel a need to go back out and party more just to prove to you guys (myself) that i have a social life.....maybe by the fact that all my posts are done when i get back home from being out....aka, 3am pacific time.....should convince u i have more than enough fun.....anyways, guys, i look forward to some advice</p>
<p>My only concern is that you'll not fit in well socially at law school. Still, Volokh did well-enough at UCLA and was young, so I suppose you'll be alright.</p>
<p>Have you considered getting some work experience under your belt? It may help you go from competitive at top 20 to competitive at top 14, as well as give you more of a social edge once you get there.</p>
<p>I agree with UCLAri's suggestion that you consider getting some work experience; and if a traditional job is not what you have in mind, perhaps working for Teach for America, or something like that might suit you. You should also consider changing schools (since you seem to dislike your current school so much) and getting a master's degree in an area of interest to you. Unfortunately, I fear that even if you get into a top law school, your job prospects may be few since you will be so young coming out of law school. Whether or not it is accurate, your age may give employers reason to be concerned about your maturity and seriousness.</p>
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Whether or not it is accurate, your age may give employers reason to be concerned about your maturity and seriousness.
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<p>Definitely.</p>
<p>My chaplain-in-residence last year was a patent attorney; she could not emphasize enough how much it is necessary for undergraduates to take a year off before law school, even to the extent that she preferred job-applicants who did as such.</p>
<p>With that in mind, I really wonder what firms and law schools will think of merely two years.</p>
<p>Also note that, in my opinion, college work in general prepares at least minimally one for law school. Merely by working on a different schedule and doing coursework, one understands and appreciates what it is to write scholarly and substantive material. Believe it or not, the AP does not adequately test how one performs in college-level courses, and it definitely is not a surrogate for college-level coursework; take this from a person who took AP/GT courses throughout high school.</p>
<p>These guys know what they're talking about. I'd take them up on their advise, sounds realistic. But I do agree with you about Bezerkely. I'm not a big fan either.</p>
<p>Many law school applicants have worked or taken a couple years off before they actually applied to law school. On top of that, most of these applicants completed their undergraduate degrees in the average of 4 years. I feel as if you having graduated in 2 years may be looked down upon. For instance, I have enough AP credits to graduate in 2.5 years, but I am taking a variety of elective courses and will graduate in 4 years. I am also an Economics major. If you dislike your school, you can always transfer. I will be attempting to transfer from my current school to another UC after my first 2 years are over, instead of staying and graduating early. Maybe think about double majoring or minoring in some subject. </p>
<p>hey guys,
thanks for the advice. i actually did consider transferring seriously - but if i can graduate in two years taking not-particularly-taxing classes (to me, at least, because I like them) and that is the minimum timeframe to transfer to the schools i would want anyway - the upper Ivies - there is no benefit to me. actually, i took the LSAT on a whim just to see how i would do, and i was baselining around the 95-98% percentile so i figured there was no downside to taking it and having a score in the bank. i have by no means decided that i am definetley applying to law scohol for the 2007 fall semester - i would just like to know if i did, which schools would be within my reach and what wouldnt.
thanks for all the advice!</p>
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i took the LSAT on a whim just to see how i would do, and i was baselining around the 95-98% percentile so i figured there was no downside to taking it and having a score in the bank.
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<p>These lines are so common here. What is it with high school graduates scoring into the 95th+ percentile? Is this really happening? Are high school graduates somehow demonstrating that they are more logically capable than the 94% that took the test?</p>
<p>I do not care that people are scoring high. It is wonderful that high schools are inculcating their students with the virtues of logic, such that graduates are immediately aware of its principles and such. </p>
<p>Sarcasm aside, I really wonder whether some of you graduates are telling the truth, and how is it that CC is graced with the presence of such brilliance.</p>
<p>Actually a well designed test is indicative of intelligence insofar as the sample size is large enough and the test has a normal distribution. At the very least it gives a very reliable indication of how well you perform relative to other people in the types of criteria the test is designed to measure.</p>
<p>I highly doubt all these posters on CC posting they made 180's and 175's and whatnot on the LSAT. Lots of people are capable of making perfect scores given infinite time, but its far more rarer to make a perfect score within the time constraints given during the actual test.</p>
<p>I also find it laughable that so many investment bankers wannabe post about how they want to do law. I seriously doubt their commitment to law and I seriously doubt they would stick to the long hours required when the opportunity cost for law is so great.</p>
<p>If you want to make money, which is what most of these posters are implying just pursue a career in business. There are many routes in business just as safe as law that require much less commitment.</p>
<p>lol,
guys, i have no incentive to lie to you about my LSAT scores. i dont know any of you, and you dont know me - and i just want advice, as it seems you guys are pretty knowledgeable crowd. my LSATs scores, i hope, will be as I said, knock on wood, and the practice tests i took were all under the time constraints.
also, i really do like law - i was thinking about it before i went into college, but it just came up again now.
does anyone have any advice on what colleges i have a shot at, without questoining my scores - like honestly, if i was gonna lie to try and impress you i would just say i got a 180 or something - so please realize im just trying to see what you guys think i should do, and im not tyring to BS you here.
thanks</p>
<p>Hypothetically, with a cursory glance of your stats, you could pursue top 15 schools. However, I don't condone your law school soughts just yet. Although you have astoundingly impressed me, I feel, along with others, that you are not ready yet. You have no ample classroom experience from college (you wouldn't adapt readily to a law classroom environment, which will hurt you); you have not taken enough courses to allow yourself some leverage (The rigor of AP tests don't equate to the rigor of actual, semester long courses); etc. etc. There are more setbacks to mention, but I presume you understand our points.</p>
<p>Take a look at the LSAC website. It will give you a good idea of the schools where your assumed numbers would be competitive. However, in your case I would be inclined to discount the results there by some percentage for a number of the same reasons others have stated.</p>
<p>take a look at lawschoolnumbers. you can look for yourself how people fare with your kind of numbers and sometimes your background (early grads).</p>