<p>I've been recently accepted to Carnegie Mellon's Humanities and Social Sciences school, and I've also been offered a guaranteed transfer from Cornell's Industrial and Labor Relations School. Cornell guarantees a spot for me beginning in sophomore year if I maintain a 3.3 GPA. I'm curious about a career in business, but I'm very interested in becoming a corporate lawyer as well. So I have two questions:</p>
<p>1.) In your opinion, is it better to go to law school and be a corporate lawyer, or is it easier to just graduate with decent grades and go work as an I-banker at a big firm in NYC? I know I have to ultimately decide which I feel more comfortable with, but if I'm equally as comfortable, which one would you be and why?</p>
<p>2.) Which option should I take if I wanted to get into the top 3 or 4 law schools? Should I go to Carnegie Mellon for 4 years and major in professional writing? (this could possible result in the lowest GPA because the classes are very hard there) Should I go there for 1 year, risk not getting a good GPA, and then transfer to Cornell? Should I go to SUNY Albany (which I applied to, recieved a great scholarship, and should be very easy for me to get a near 4.0) and then transfer to Cornell? ---- What's most important to me is my law school acceptance. What's the difference between a good GPA at Albany vs. a 3.4 to 3.6 GPA at CMU? (that is if I get it) Is it going to matter that my first year was spent at a SUNY?</p>
<p>Anyways, any input would be helpful. I need to make my decision by May 1st so please don't hold back and give me all the input you can. Thanks</p>
<p>ok- I'm just going to touch base with you. I gotta prepare for passover so I have little time for college confidential-</p>
<p>But- just coincidence but my d was contemplating CMU H and SS but decided to go to ILR. She'll be graduating this May and plans to apply to law school in the fall.</p>
<p>quick thought (and I'll get back to you when I have more time). It is my understanding that the CMU grading scale is tough. You NEED to maintain a certain GPA to take advantage of a GT transfer into Cornell.<br>
If you were DEFINITELY going to transfer into Cornell, my gut feeling is for you to seriously consider doing Albany for the year- Get the highest GPA from Albany cause GPA's count for law school.<br>
My kid has to work real hard to get a 3.7 from ILR. Remember every A- is converted to a 3.66 for Law school. And an "A" from Cornell is not that easy to get.
so think about HIGH GPA for your freshman year and then a transfer to ILR.</p>
<pre><code> but CMU has a great creative writing program. So you gotta figure out what interests you. You can take alot of electives outside ILR at Cornell, so you may be able to get your share of creative writing courses in CAS. But I don't know how credit distribution outside ILR works.
</code></pre>
<p>Will spending the year at Albany hurt me though? Wouldn't it be better to get a 3.4 at CMU vs a 4.0 at Albany? Or to schools like Harvard law, it probably wouldn't matter and only the final grade counts?</p>
<p>And just on a side note, does anyone know if EC's matter that much? Will internships during the summers suffice or do I need to get involved in school organizations? I'd rather focus my time on school work than to be bothered by club meetings and such.</p>
<p>law school is based on GPA/LSAT GPA/LSAT GPA/LSAT. If you knew for sure it's freshman year at ____ and degree from Cornell, I'd advise you to get your GPA as high as possible and to me that means SUNY Albany. But others may differ. If there is any possibility that you may not transfer to ILR- I might suggust going to CMU rather than Albany. </p>
<p>you don't need to go overboard with EC's - but try to appear to be an interesting human being. Get involved with one or two campus activities. You like to write- then write for the college newspaper or magazine. You'll grow from the experience.</p>
<p>it's a bit more than that jonri. I think OP has to maintain a minimum GPA in order to get the guaranteed transfer into Cornell. CMU has a tough grading system from what I understand, and that could jeapordize his chance of transferring into Cornell. Also not mentioned, but always a factor for most of us. CMU is pricey vs. SUNY with scholarship. If law school is in the future and finances is a factor, that may be another reason for 1 year at Albany.</p>
<p>For my kid- the decision was an easy one. She really loved the ILR curriculum and knew that was the school for her.<br>
Familiarize yourself with ILR core courses from history of US labor movement- Labor and Employment Law-Collective Bargaining etc.
see what works for you.<br>
Jonri's correct in that law school admittance should not be the deciding factor. You may find out you want to do something else.</p>
<p>bdm- I don't think 3.4 at CMU vs. 4.0 at Albany is that unrealistic from what I understand. But yes- many kids do overestimate their chance of getting all A's.</p>
<p>If I were you, I'd choose Albany (should be relatively easy to get a 4.0) then transfer to Cornell. Try to rack up as many As as possible your first year.</p>
<p>I personally regret not taking easy summer classes at CCs/ and "easier" universities outside of my undergrad school to boost my GPA, but oh well. I didn't realize that law school admissions was such a numbers game until last year. </p>
<p>Top law schools don't really care where your GPA came from, as long as you have a high LSAT.</p>
<p>Berk- I agree. If we knew then what we know now- I too may have encouraged my kid to take a few summer courses at the local community college. What brought up her gpa was a semester abroad. 4.0- 16 credits and 5 months in Italy. Not too shabby. </p>
<p>I guess it's the kids who go to schools like Berkley-Cornell-CMU and other tough grading schools who have to try to "work the system" to their advantage.</p>
<p>Just keep your grades up- and follow all the "instructions" to ensure the GT stays in affect. I'm not that familiar with the GT process as d was admitted as a freshman.
My d loves her time at Cornell- I think she is having a bit of a problem as graduation is so close and she can't believe she won't be at Cornell next year.
who knows- maybe she'll make a return appearance for law school.
Luckily her LSAT's and GPA are within their range.</p>
<p>zhu- you should also check out the Cornell thread if you haven't done so. There is a long discussion about the GT process. There may be some info that would be very helpful to you.</p>
<p>My brother once responded to the joke with the punchline, "a good start" by asking the person who told if he was suggesting that it would be funny if his brother were dead.</p>
<p>To give you some perspective, I first heard that joke about twenty-five years ago. I'll confess to having laughed the first time I heard it. The problem is that I have heard it thousands of times since then. A wag where I work used in a meeting just yesterday.</p>
<p>I remember reading about a basketball player who responded to being asked, "How's the weather up there" for the one thousandth time by replying, "It's raining," and spitting on the head of the person who had the misfortune of asking the questin one too many times.</p>
<p>I guess this is my way of suggesting that this is one joke that deserves a good long rest.</p>