Will my UG school's reputation hurt me? Forum

[Opie]

Okay, I know that a UG school's reputation is very important, that's not my primary question. My question is this: I don't know my UG school's reputation, and I go to a distance learning "college for working adults" campus of a traditional small private university. I'm sure that the adcomm at the law school I want to get into will know the university, I'm just not sure if the fact that I go to the working adults program will hurt me. Any thoughts?

[duckmoney]

Okay, I know that a UG school's reputation is very important, that's not my primary question. My question is this: I don't know my UG school's reputation, and I go to a distance learning "college for working adults" campus of a traditional small private university. I'm sure that the adcomm at the law school I want to get into will know the university, I'm just not sure if the fact that I go to the working adults program will hurt me. Any thoughts?

It might work slightly against you, but if you do well on the LSAT the adcoms won't care. It's much more about the numbers than UG prestige.

[chem]

Okay, I know that a UG school's reputation is not important, that's not my primary question. My question is this: I don't know my UG school's reputation, and I go to a distance learning "college for working adults" campus of a traditional small private university. I'm sure that the adcomm at the law school I want to get into will know the university, I'm just not sure if the fact that I go to the working adults program will hurt me. Any thoughts?

Fixed

[Opie]

Good. That has been my number one fear. It's not Kaplan or anything, but it is one night a week and I personally think the grades are a little inflated. I'm nearly 30 and have worked AT LEAST 40 hours a week all through UG (with some time not in school of course), so this is the best I can do right now. I'm not planning to work during law school of course, but I can't afford to not work full time during UG. My LSDAS GPA is 3.54 and I have a few classes left before graduation to bring that up a bit. My degree gpa is a 3.615. I take the LSAT in October, but have been testing at 167. I am only trying to get into Drake (which I am confident I can do), but I really need some scholarship money to be able to afford to not work. Being nearly 30, I have a wife and two kids, and a house payment. Not working is not an option without good scholarships.

[Opie]

Okay, I know that a UG school's reputation is not important, that's not my primary question. My question is this: I don't know my UG school's reputation, and I go to a distance learning "college for working adults" campus of a traditional small private university. I'm sure that the adcomm at the law school I want to get into will know the university, I'm just not sure if the fact that I go to the working adults program will hurt me. Any thoughts?

Fixed

So it isn't important at all? This is contrary to what I had believed all along.

[chem]

Good. That has been my number one fear. It's not Kaplan or anything, but it is one night a week and I personally think the grades are a little inflated. I'm nearly 30 and have worked AT LEAST 40 hours a week all through UG (with some time not in school of course), so this is the best I can do right now. I'm not planning to work during law school of course, but I can't afford to not work full time during UG. My LSDAS GPA is 3.54 and I have a few classes left before graduation to bring that up a bit. My degree gpa is a 3.615. I take the LSAT in October, but have been testing at 167. I am only trying to get into Drake (which I am confident I can do), but I really need some scholarship money to be able to afford to not work. Being nearly 30, I have a wife and two kids, and a house payment. Not working is not an option without good scholarships.

Get to a 170 and you can get schollies to a lot better than drake.

Law school is a numbers game. The higher a schools rannking, the better/more applicants will apply, the more money they can charge, ect ect. Ranking does not factor in UG institution at all, just GPA and LSAT. You are even better of then kids straight from a prestigious UG, because law schools are really looking for work experience now

[Opie]

I'm trying to get to 170, but time keeps getting me.

Really, unless I get unbelievable money, Drake is my only option. I can't afford to uproot my family for anything short of a full ride to a great school, so I'm pretty much stuck with my hometown school.

I have 15 years of work experience though, much of it is management. I'm a licensed insurance agent (which I think is nice for an app). Am from Des Moines (where Drake is) and intend to stay here. Have an LOR from a professor who is a retired university administrator from my UG school and has a PhD in Education from Drake, and a possible LOR from a local prosecutor who I took a class from. He went to Drake. I think I'm pretty well in, but even at the $54k scholarship mark it will be hard to afford cost of living without my work income.

[KevinP]

Your UG's reputation won't hurt you. This is due to the fact that U.S. News only considers the GPA without regard to factors such as major, where it's from, etc.

However, law schools do sometimes give slight boosts for certain undergrads, e.g. Harvard tends to give a slight boost to its undergrads. The boost is not a game changer though, it is more of a tiebreaker than anything.