<p>Right now I can either graduate in 3 years with an Economics major or graduate in 4 years with a double major in business and economics. I really don't need a 4th year to finish an economics major, but I heard law school admissions are reluctant to take students they feel to be "immature." </p>
<p>My question is, how will graduating in 3 years affect my chances at law school? (could it possibly help?)</p>
<p>I'm going to have around 3.7-3.8 and I go to Berkeley if thats any help</p>
<p>"Will graduating in 3 years hurt my chances for law school? "</p>
<p>No, a low LSAT will though, at least for a top law school</p>
<p>I disagree. One of the rare exceptions to the numbers-only rule, from what I’ve seen.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/law-school/699679-graduating-early.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/law-school/699679-graduating-early.html</a></p>
<p>I havn’t seen it. </p>
<p>The linked thread has a constant illogical argument, which is 3 years worth of grades. Whether someone gets 120 credits in 3 years or 4, it still is 120 measurable credits.</p>
<p>I have seen no empirical evidence suggesting that someone was denied LS admission because they graduated in 3 years instead of 4.</p>
<p>First off, it’s still three years. Most students who spend four years don’t take the bare minimum number of courses. Second, a lot of students who graduate early use AP credits, which don’t matter to law schools. Third, there’s the absolute age factor as well.</p>
<p>Finally, I readily concede it’s purely anecdotal evidence.</p>
<p>I’ve always thought absolute age played a critical role.
In looking around LSN I encountered this profile tonight:
[LSN</a> :: koopatroopa](<a href=“http://lawschoolnumbers.com/koopatroopa/jd]LSN”>http://lawschoolnumbers.com/koopatroopa/jd)</p>
<p>19 years old girl! interesting :p</p>
<p>I have to agree with bdm here. A student graduating in three years and going straight to law school will be applying to law school with only two years of college grades under his or her belt. AP credits will mean nothing. A student graduating in three years has also had less time to take leadership roles in activities, to gain valuable work experience through summer and term jobs and internships and to develop college-level writing and critical thinking skills. </p>
<p>Most of all, the younger one is when he or she begins looking for a job as an attorney (with the most important interviewing during law school taking place at the very beginning of first semester of the second year, after just one year of law school grades have been completed), the reality is that the more difficult it will be to be thought of by potential employers as mature enough to handle the workload, time pressure and incredibly demanding clients that being an attorney requires. Law firms, in particular, want to believe that they are hiring people who will be able to hit the ground running when they begin as attorneys – people that they can comfortably put in front of clients on day one. There is absolutely some discomfort with putting someone even younger than the average in that position. I’ve been involved in many law firm recruiting committee conversations over the years where younger candidates are denied callback interviews and offers of employment, despite excellent law school grades, on these grounds. </p>
<p>Since law schools value the statistic that shows what percentage of their graduates are employed 6 months after graduation (and by whom) at least as much as they value average LSAT score/GPA of entering class, age of an applicant will likely make some difference. If age doesn’t make a difference in the admissions process, it will during the hiring process.</p>
<p>i am a 3yr applicant in this cycle. for me i would say it did not make a huge difference. i am going to a top5 school where my lsat was at the median, and my gpa was above the 75th. the top5 school i was waitlisted and then rejected at my lsat was a point below their median and my gpa was above their 75th. keep in my mind my ECs were probably not the best, so that may have been it.</p>
<p>^Hrm, this would seem to be evidence against my theory. This is a little worse than I think your numbers alone would predict, but not a lot worse.</p>
<p>I disagree with SallyAwp on this one. A student with few leadership roles, internships, work experience, and a weak courseload will be looked down on whether they spent three or four years in college, it’s just that that’s more likely to be the case for students that graduate in three years.
But that’s not to say that these things are true of all three year graduates. Even without counting my AP credits, I’ll have surpassed the number of credits to graduate by the fall (grades that law schools will be able to see on my transcript). I’ve completed a harder course load than anyone I’ve met on the four-year track to graduation, hold several impressive leadership roles, finished two internships, worked twenty hours a week, volunteered over 200 hours of service in college, and have maintained a 3.7 despite overloading on credits each semester. I have LoRs from profs that attest to my maturity and critical thinking skills. All of these refute the argument that three year graduates are in general less attractive to law school admissions, which you’ve based off of stereotypes and not off of hard evidence that three year graduates are harmed solely because they graduate in three years.
I understand the concerns you think attorneys might have with younger law grads. However, I haven’t experienced this problem in other areas of my life. Based on how I act, everyone simply assumes I’m older than I am, and I don’t actively try to correct them. When people who have known me for awhile eventually learn that I’m two years younger than my accomplishments suggest, their jaws drop.
I’m not trying to toot my own horn here, I’m just suggesting that if it walks like a four year old duck and it talks like a four year old duck, no college is going to reject it simply because most three year old ducks tend to be immature. If a three year old duck looks like a three year old duck, then different story…</p>
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<p>It does no such thing; it just shows that some exceptions exist.</p>
<p>What about attending community college for 2 years, and 3 years at your transfer school? (so graduating in 5 years total). Is that bad?</p>
<p>1happyhippo: what explicit point of sallyawp’s post do you disagree with or find problematic? she did not assert that a student graduating in 3 years will, consequently, have fewer leadership roles, internships, or work experience. merely, she stated that a student graduating in three years would have less time to develop such things. you attempted to disprove a claim (that wasn’t even made) with just information about a specific case: yourself. not trying to toot your own horn? hard to believe…</p>
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<p>I don’t just think that attorneys often have concerns about younger and less experienced law firm applicants.</p>
<p>My statements are actually based upon years of experience as a lawyer (and former law student), a pre-law advisor, a member of the hiring committee at a BIGLAW firm (and an on campus and callback interviewer of law students, particularly from four T14 law schools) and as a practicing attorney. </p>
<p>To the OP, I wish you the best of luck – you seem very confident in your abilities and in your maturity level, and I’m sure that will serve you well should you decide to attend law school and become an attorney.</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone for the responses ! they were all really helpful.
I actually ended up deciding to pursue a double major in economics and business with a concentration in accounting/finance. This way I’ll have viable backup career option in case the lawyer plan doesn’t work out.
and college is fun 
so I don’t mind staying an extra year</p>
<p>I highly doubt that one year makes any difference in maturity. My birthday’s in October so I’m not that much younger than people that are a year ahead of me in college. Six months maybe. I’ve seen older people who are less mature than I am and I’ve seen younger people who are more mature than I am. Age is but a number.</p>
<p>It’s about experience more than age, though the two are often tied together. </p>
<p>Finishing college in three years leaves less opportunity to have experiences that force oneto take responsibility, grow and “grow up,” such as internships, leadership positions in organizations, work experience, and other activities that require one to managing a budget, raise money, be organized, etc. Potential employers like to see that one has been tested in the real world before, in some way, before the employer takes a chance on hiring someone. Otherwise, all of the money spent on salaries and benefits and training won’t be worthwhile for the employer.</p>
<p>The reality is that rushing through the college process and going straight to law school may well put one in a defensive position – having to prove that one is mature and experienced rather than being given that presumption by potential employers, among others. In situations where there is little time to prove maturity, such as job interviews, the assumption that one lacks maturity often wins the day.</p>
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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/480362-let-us-all-bow-our-heads.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/480362-let-us-all-bow-our-heads.html</a></p>
<p>I have a problem seeing how someone who managed one major and two minors in 3 years, has a decent GPA (above a 3.0), decent EC’s, and a couple of internships is somehow less mature than someone who took 6 years to finish and barely finished one major, has a terrible GPA (below a 3.0), no EC’s nor internships. The person in the first instance had 1/2 the time to “grow up” so you say as the person in the second instance, but spent their time a lot more effectively in university. It’s not about how many years you spend in university, it’s about how effectively you spent your time. Frankly speaking, I think university is a year too long. Especially at $55k a year.</p>
<p>Why are those the two options we have?</p>