If I get into both uc Davis (for Econ), and Tulane (for business), and uc Santa Barbara (for Econ), and cal poly slo (for business), which should I attend in order to maximize my opportunity to get into the best law school (Harvard, Yale, Columbia) possibly once I finish my undergrad? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks
Any college where you can get a high GPA (and you will also need a high LSAT score).
That site also has some suggestions for undergraduate study for pre-law purposes:
Hi @lw224466! Love that you’re already thinking ahead to law school! It’s important to have that plan in place early so you can make moves (the RIGHT moves) in undergrad to increase your chances of getting in. And I agree with @ucbalumnus. If you can get GREAT grades in college and also ROCK the LSAT, you’re going to have a good shot at aaaany law school you want.
But I’d recommend going to the highest ranked school on your list. That name brand matters, not only for law school admissions but for life/career in general. (We may not want to admit that, but it is true. The higher ranked the program, the stronger and more connected the network. And that’s very important when it comes to getting into a grad program later, or getting a job!)
Even more, going to the best ranked program means you’re going to be surrounding yourself with the smartest possible people, and that’s going to help you learn and grow and succeed. They’re going to motivate you in ways you can’t even imagine, and that means you’re going to be more inclined and likely do great things in undergrad… which will make for a very strong law school application later 
Hope that helps!
As a current lawyer, my strong recommendation would be to treat your undergrad degree as if it will be the only degree you obtain. Don’t treat your undergrad degree like a throwaway stepping stone. You may need to fall back to a career based on your undergrad degree if the pursuit of law school and a legal career does not work out well for you. This can happen in today’s tough legal market, even for qualified smart people.
Don’t go straight to law school. If you are still considering law school in your senior year, take a job for a couple of years as a paralegal or contracts professional or some other law related profession. See first hand what lawyers really do before committing three years of your life (and three years of lost wages) plus tuition, room and board on a law degree.
Except for patent law (which requires some science/math to become admitted to the patent bar), your undergrad degree doesn’t matter, and you can get in from any undergrad school. The only caveat is that you may need a stronger GPA at a less prestigious school to get into a prestigious law school.
Taking some classes to strengthen your writing, public speaking, reasoning skills and to gain an understanding of basic economic principles will help you later, but you don’t need to be an English/Communications/Philosophy/Economics major.
Before committing to a law school, be sure to check out the Law School Transparency project to see historical employment outcomes for that law school.
@lw224466 I think @ucbalumnus has given you good advice. A high grade-point and LSAT from a second-tier school is better than a mediocre grade-point from a top-tier or rigorous school.
As “prep” for the LSAT, and take whatever logic and reasoning classes you can. You should also learn to entertain yourself with brain-teasers of the “ABCD and E all ride the same bus. A gets off third…” You should also consider taking some journalism courses and writing for your college newspaper. Hard news reporting requires you to learn the art of taking an event and finding what the basic conflict is, and then determining the best arguments on each side. Really good practice for the way legal cases are approached. (Be forewarned that the campus paper can be a grade-point slayer; pace yourself!!!). Also, there are some undergraduate law classes. you should take some of them. Also, take some extra lit classes just because they force you to read.
The demand for stand-alone lawyers is way down. The defense bar managed to push through tort reform in many states and essentially legislated themselves out of their jobs. I think the real opportunity lies in joint degrees, such as being a CPA-attorney or JD-MBA. There are lots of combined programs out there, including engineering and law. If your love is art history, by golly get a master’s in art history and a law degree. You will likely find work with a museum or auction house, and if not there’s always traditional lawyer work.
Hope this gives you some food for thought!
As a practicing lawyer myself, I second the comments of @DevilStick above. @EarlVanDorn’s comments are also on the money.
A major problem with relying on rankings is that they change from year-to-year, sometimes dramatically, because it helps magazines sell more copies. Another problem is that sometimes, at least if you go by standardized test scores, a school’s ranking does not correlate with its selectivity – i,e., some schools have much lower average stats than other schools over which they are ranked higher. So out goes the “osmosis through smart students” argument!
As for your eventual selection of an actual law school, I will throw one more critical element to the mix: geography. You should go to a law school with strong alumni connections to where you want to practice, and usually that correlates with the location of the law school. For undergraduate, geography does not matter nearly as much – although I would pay attention to DevilStick’s admonition to think very carefully before going to law school, thereby implying that undergraduate may matter more than one might think . Among the schools you named, Tulane by far has the most national recognition, but if you are in love with one of the UC’s I would go there. (Cal Poly not so much, at least not to my knowledge, but if that is where you can maximize success and you will have a great time, go for it as well!)
The bottom line is that you should go to an undergraduate institution where you will feel comfortable, in a place that you will enjoy, and where you are most likely to be engaged and succeed academically. The rest will take care of itself in terms of law school. I know it’s not a very exciting conclusion, but it happens to be the truth.