<p>How do selective grad schools weigh where you attend undergrad? If you go to a decent but not fantastic school and maintain a good GPA, complete research/internships, will they even consider your app? Or, do they give precendent to students at their own schools or at other highly selective schools first...?</p>
<p>are you asking about law schools, or graduate programs in general?</p>
<p>mostly law...but grad school in general I suppose.</p>
<p>Undergraduate institute notwithstanding, only the top, like, 10% of undergraduates even have a reasonable chance of getting in to an elite school.</p>
<p>On the other hand, law schools are all about diversity, so they always seek to maintain a multifarious student body, and they accept students from lots of countries and lots of different schools.</p>
<p>Some law school websites (Harvard, Yale) have a list of undergraduate schools represented for the present year</p>
<p>If you are saying only the top 10% of all undergraduates nationally can get into an elite law school, that may well be true. But if you are saying that you have to be in the top 10% of your class at any school to have a chance, it isn't. </p>
<p>A lot of LS admissions depends upon your LSAT. (Different posters on this site disagree as to how much of it does, but I think we all agree that it's very important.) Given a very high LSAT score, you can get into an elite LS without being in the top 10% of your class.</p>
<p>Undergad institutions do not matter a whole lot, in my opinion and from seeing other people's personal experiences. As long as you have a great GPA, have done some good internships and have some extracurriculars, and in law school's case, have a high LSAT score, the place where you attended undergrad does not matter much. The GPA and LSAT score are the most important. If you have a high GPA and LSAT you can get into a good law school even if you went to a small undergrad. I have seen people from top undergrad institutions with reasonably good GPA's and MCAT scores not get accepted into med school.</p>
<p>Ranking of factors</p>
<p>Lsat
UGPA
Diversity
LOR
Personal Statements
Undergrad Insitution
Extra Curriculars/Work Experience</p>
<p>Law admissions is a very numbers oriented game. You could check out graphs of what numbers you need to get into what schools at lawschoolnumbers.com</p>
<p>Harry03, what part of the Harvard or Yale Law school sites allow you to see what undergraduate schools are represented?</p>
<p>vicks546</p>
<p>...and Yale???</p>
<p>I go to BYU and have seen a few generations of students within my family pass through this campus and go on to success at elite colleges. My dad went to BYU and graduated with a ~3.8 GPA and was in the top 10% of his class (but I think it translated into Magna Cum Laude honors (top 5%)). He ended up going to Washington and Lee Law School.</p>
<p>My uncle also went to BYU and after a VERY rough start (he would hardly attend school {one semester he took 46 ski trips including one that ended with him getting a broken leg which hurt his attendance even more}), he went on to graduate high in his class and was accepted to Columbia Law School where he graduated number 2 in his class and ended up getting a Clerkship in the NY Court of Appeals. After his stint there, he ended up in a prominent NY law firm and makes a six-figure salary.</p>
<p>My cousin, similar to my uncle, went to BYU and had a similar rough start (he was even put on academic probation {he had less than a 2.0}). After getting his act together after his mission (like my uncle had done), he went on to have success at BYU and was eventually admitted to Stanford Grad School (I don't believe it was the law school but I am unsure).</p>
<p>Beside my family, I have seen friends go from BYU to Harvard and Stanford graduate schools.</p>
<p>The moral of the story is that graduate schools and law school alike, care more about what you do with the opportunities afforded to you than where those opportunities have been afforded. Even a huge hiccup in your first semesters (like my uncle and cousin had) can still be remedied to allow you admission to great/elite schools.</p>