MA male transferring from a community college Forum

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jvquarterback

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MA male transferring from a community college

Post by jvquarterback » Mon Jan 08, 2018 4:00 pm

I'm applying to 4 year schools now and have a 4.0 (I guess close to a 4.15 for LSAC purposes). I'm a DACA recipient so I'll probably stay in California for school. I've been accepted to a few Cal St schools so far and I'm waiting to hear back from Berkeley, LA, SD, Davis, etc.

How much of a difference does it make going to Berkeley or LA (my advisor sounds pretty sure I'll get in) versus a local CSU school (which would cost a lot less because I could stay at home)? What about UC Santa Cruz - which I could probably commute to - would it be a big difference for the admissions committees if I went there versus CSUMB or San Jose St? Either way I'm looking at two semester or three quarters worth of grades from wherever I transfer to before I submit applications to law schools.

I actually have a pretty light load this semester so I'm studying for the LSAT now (June test date) - my first diagnostic was a 155 and I'm scoring in the low 160s after just a few weeks working on games and if I make my goal of a 172 I won't have to take it again.

If you can give me some advice that would be great. Also does it matter if I take my LSAT before I've transferred? I'm hoping to graduate in 2 years of school after transferring so everything I've read says it will be recent enough.

Thanks.

FN-2187

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Re: MA male transferring from a community college

Post by FN-2187 » Mon Jan 08, 2018 4:10 pm

It doesn’t matter if you take your LSAT before you transferred. I’m not sure what the consensus on TLS is, but I think you should focus on keeping your stellar grades. There are varying anecdotes out there for one line of thought over the other, but I think it’s better to maintain that 4.0 and decrease potential debt. If you can keep those grades at Berkeley or at a CSU, awesome, but I think that’s should be the priority. Now, there’s ongoing discussion about whether a 3.5 from a prestigious school bumps URMs compared to a 3.5 from a less presitigous school and the sample size of data is too small for s significant conclusion imo. But I think if you maintain a 4.0 it won’t matter if it’s from a CSU or from one Cal’s prestigious institutions.
Last edited by FN-2187 on Sat Jan 27, 2018 1:19 am, edited 3 times in total.

jvquarterback

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Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2018 3:37 pm

Re: MA male transferring from a community college

Post by jvquarterback » Mon Jan 08, 2018 8:37 pm

Thanks. Definitely going to maintain the GPA (that shouldn't be too hard this semester with a bunch of PE classes and a couple history classes). And I'll do my best whether I go to Berkeley or San Jose St to keep it up. Just wondering if a couple semesters at Berkeley are worth having to move and spending a bunch of money to live up there.

As a DACA recipient I'm going to need a scholarship to pay wherever I go for law school so that figures into the decision as well.

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