<p>Okay, I'm at a small college right now, and I plan on transferring to a bigger university to get my Bachelors. I want to go to Columbia Law School, but my long shot dream is Harvard. I live in Georgia and I was thinking about transferring to Kennesaw State University, but it didn't even make the list of the top schools in the country. I was also thinking about Georgia State University and Georgia Southern University (which are Tier 4) and University of Georgia (which is ranked 58). I plan on going to one of those universities since they aren't that expensive, and I plan on getting my ug in Georgia. Do you think Columbia would prefer one of those schools over the other? Because I kind of want to go to Kennesaw State University, but that school is almost unknown to anyone who does not live in the state. Does it matter where I go in my situation? I am also a minority (first generation African American) if that will change anything.</p>
<p>This is the site where I got the colleges.</p>
<p>[National</a> Universities Rankings - Best Colleges - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/national-universities-rankings]National”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/national-universities-rankings)</p>
<p>It will make no difference. UG School is a soft factor, and seeing as how you are a URM African American, as long as you do well on the LSAT and get a good GPA at any University you will do fine. Note however that YLS and SLS have a reputation of weighing UG reputation more heavily in their holistic approaches to admissions, and as a result coming the schools you mentioned here you would have a much smaller chance at attending those schools. </p>
<p>However, with URM status + good numbers you will have a good shot at HLS.</p>
<p>Thanks, but I’m a Sophomore and my gpa is a 3.24. I’m getting mostly A’s this semester, so it will keep going up. However, since I’m a URM, it wouldn’t matter which university I go to? Even though the school I want to got to (Kennesaw State University) is not even on the list? I won’t even worry about the LSAT until I graduate in two years, but I’m transferring now. And I would be going to a state school regardless. I just wanted to know if it mattered if I went to the highest ranked one (UGA) or one that is not even listed. The main schools that care about UG is Yale and Stanford, but I don’t want to go to either school. I hope CLS takes an array of kids like Harvard does, though. Have you seen the link below? I just found it and it kind of repeats what you’re saying. All those schools are listed, but some of them are Tier 3 and 4. So I may have a shot with my school out of nowhere.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.law.harvard.edu/prospective/jd/apply/undergrads.html[/url]”>http://www.law.harvard.edu/prospective/jd/apply/undergrads.html</a></p>
<p>It doesn’t matter where you go to undergrad. Improve your GPA to 3.6 or thereabouts, and get a mid 170’s LSAT.</p>
<p>I could get into Harvard with a 3.6 too or is that only a safe bet for Columbia?</p>
<p>Fighting shot at Columbia, no way in hell at Harvard. For Harvard, aim for a 3.9+/175+.</p>
<p>When you look at those numbers for Harvard Law, remember that there’s a huge self-selection bias. Fewer students at T3/T4 unis want to go to Harvard Law in the first place.</p>
<p>A 3.9+/175+ is totally unnecessary for HLS if you’re a URM. Mid to high 160’s is sufficient if you have a decent GPA.</p>
<p>Mid 160’s is definitely a reach for harvard even as a URM but say 3.6-3.7 168-171 could get you into harvard as URM. Also realize that if you are struggling at a small school which is likely a lot easier then many other undergraduate schools you are REALLY going to struggle at any of the law schools you are talking about. And just getting into harvard or columbia is not enough to get a good job. You could end up finishing last in your class if you are way over your head, and then you will have a hard time finding meaningful employment at all.</p>
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<p>I don’t know if this is correct either, but we can all agree that futurenyustudent is wrong.</p>
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<p>This is also incorrect. Futurenyustudent: find a new day job.</p>
<p>I’d write a meaningful response, but you’re not worth my time.</p>
<p>Agreed. If you want a chance at the top schools, you’ll need to work very hard on the LSAT. If I recall, your practice scores have been extremely low. I hope this motivates you to stop providing inaccurate advice.</p>
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<p>Sorry I didn’t meant to imply that UG school isn’t a factor at all, but out of the options you have listed there would be no difference in law school admissions that I would foresee. </p>
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<p>I would most definitely agree that you do not need a 3.9/175. If you have a 3.8-3.9, I think a high-160 would suffice, but seeing as that is not the case, with a 3.6 I would assume you would need somewhere in the 170-173 range, assuming AA URM is worth 10-12 LSAT points.</p>
<p>^ Well, I was also thinking about Berry College (which is a very good liberal arts college). About my first list, I was thinking that HLS or CLS would prefer UGA, Georgia State University or even Georgia Southern University over KSU because Kennesaw State University didn’t make the list. KSU did make the up and coming schools in the south, but that’s it.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if I exactly buy the whole where you go to undergraduate school doesn’t matter argument. Its true that it probably doesn’t matter much but from experiences from people I know at my school as well as friends I have at other schools and just watching lsn it seems that there might be a slight bump. Of course you can get into harvard from anywhere, but my gut is just telling me you may need an extra lsat point or so if you go to Kennessaw State instead of Northwestern. Also, I am sure that there is some value to going to a better school that will help you achieve more on the lsat and do better in law school. But then again I don’t haven’t gone through the process myself yet so I could be wrong.</p>
<p>there certainly is a bump, just not a large one and one that isn’t worth paying for in terms of what it gets you in the process.</p>