Top Law Schools

Hey everyone, I am currently majoring in Paralegal Studies at a local community college. I am finishing my Associates in the fall and have changed my mind and decided I want to finish my bachelors and then go to law school. Regent University in Virginia Beach offers a Government: Pre Law B.A. and I'm interested. I've done a ton of research on colleges and I like this one because it is conservative (I am a staunch Republican), it's cheap (I don't have a lot of money), and the campus is very nice and it's a dry campus, (previous alcohol problems.)

I know about all of the controversy surrounding the school and I really don't care. I know it's Pat Roberston's school, yada, yada, yada. I get it. But for undergrad purposes, would this effect me getting into a top notch law school? I feel that I can as I hold a 3.7 GPA now and have taken a lot of law classes in the paralegal program. (I understand Regents law school is not respected) I am purely asking for undergrad will top law schools slight me in anyway for going here even if I maintain a high GPA and competitive lsat?

What is so funny? I understand it is not Harvard but I've been accepted to other schools like Penn State, Pitt etc. I prefer this one because I have had serious alcohol problems in the past and have a cousin in Virginia Beach that could be a mentor to me because he has abstained from it his whole life.

You don't have to laugh, it was just an honest question.

so long as it's accredited it won't affect your chances. go where you will be happy and get the best grades you can.

It is a private-non profit and is definitely accredited. Are you certain I won't be effected? I'd like to get feed back from a few folks on this.

It won't make any difference relative to places like Pitt and Penn State. If undergrad has any impact on your law school app, it's tiny.

Okay that's what I figured especially relative to those public universities. I figure why pay more, have to deal with liberal bias (no offense), and rampant alcohol everywhere. When I could go to a place that caters to my needs and is cheaper. Just saying. Also, how much money in federal aid can I get for law school? The guy at Regent said I can get up to $130 thousand? I'm not sure about that. He said $57k for undergrad. I'm not sure about that. I'm just asking because essentially I am going to be taking out loans for all of this stuff. Also keep in mind I am 26 years old, I've owned a house and owned a car so my credit rating is around 700. I currently have no debt and live back with my parents temporarily. (fiance and I broke up, story for another day) Will I be okay?

You can borrow as much as the school lists for a cost of attendance. Getting the money is never a problem. Paying it back is a different story.

Tiago Splitter wrote:You can borrow as much as the school lists for a cost of attendance. Getting the money is never a problem. Paying it back is a different story.

And I would take out precisely $0 for Regent undergrad.

rad lulz wrote:

Tiago Splitter wrote:You can borrow as much as the school lists for a cost of attendance. Getting the money is never a problem. Paying it back is a different story.

And I would take out precisely $0 for Regent undergrad.

You're saying don't waste my money? Any reasons why? Seriously I'm just trying to ask folks who know because I'm not so certain. Your opinion will be taken under advisement.

AJFAJF wrote:Okay that's what I figured especially relative to those public universities. I figure why pay more, have to deal with liberal bias (no offense), and rampant alcohol everywhere. When I could go to a place that caters to my needs and is cheaper. Just saying. Also, how much money in federal aid can I get for law school? The guy at Regent said I can get up to $130 thousand? I'm not sure about that. He said $57k for undergrad. I'm not sure about that. I'm just asking because essentially I am going to be taking out loans for all of this stuff. Also keep in mind I am 26 years old, I've owned a house and owned a car so my credit rating is around 700. I currently have no debt and live back with my parents temporarily. (fiance and I broke up, story for another day) Will I be okay?

It's up to you, but consider this:

Law school is full of liberal douchebags (I, for instance, am one), and we are the majority.

Law school and the legal profession is full of alcoholics and people who are working on their alcoholism.

In-state tution is probably lower where you live now.

Give the above, it might be worth it to go somewhere liberal and full of alcohol in advance of law school so that you can build your "defenses" up beforehand. And it would probably be cheaper. Because trust me, otherwise law school is going to be uncomfortable to the point of wanting to drop out for you. My advice is to get used to the gays, the liberals, the socialists, and the tree-huggers now while you are a little older than the general population and won't feel the peer pressure to drink as much.

YMMV

And consider some major other than pre-law. Pre-law does not help your chances of getting into law school. If you were to change your mind about law school and get some other job, "pre-law" doesn't look that good on a resume.

just go to the state u they have in va beach.

I dont want to go to a state school because of rampant alcohol use which in my case wouls be pennstate or pitt. My major would be government with pre law emphasis which involves a few courses that try to help improve your lsat score. The other option is goverment with political sciemce emphasis. They are basically the sane thing eitherway. The BA is still government. Plus you cant do anything with that anyway unless you further your education to the masters or j.d. level. From the sounds of it a ug from regent wont have much impact on me for law school admissions.

AJFAJF wrote:I dont want to go to a state school because of rampant alcohol use which in my case wouls be pennstate or pitt. My major would be government with pre law emphasis which involves a few courses that try to help improve your lsat score. The other option is goverment with political sciemce emphasis. They are basically the sane thing eitherway. The BA is still government. Plus you cant do anything with that anyway unless you further your education to the masters or j.d. level. From the sounds of it a ug from regent wont have much impact on me for law school admissions.

Why don't you major in something useful?

Good news is that your undergrad doesn't matter at all as long as it is accredited. However, when the time comes, PLEASE don't choose law schools by the student body's political leanings. You'd rule out most if not all the schools that are actually worth going to in this country.

Oh yes i fully agree with you. However for ug why not go somewhere like regenr for polisci where my views will be rewarded and ill likely get higher grades because of it. As for why i dont choose a useful major as the above poster eloquently put it. Do you have any useful suggestons of a useful major for someone who is bad at math and science lol... Options are limited.

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Anyone else think it was funny that as soon as he got done telling us he couldn't stand the liberals, the socialists, and all their irritating bias, that his first question was how much federal aid was available to help him afford school? Keep big government off my Stafford loans, something like that?

But anyway, to reiterate the two main points of the other posters: 1. Get used to dealing with all kinds of people, liberals included; college is not the time to find the group that looks and thinks the most like you and 2. While there is a spectrum of politics in law schools, the spectrum lies mostly on the political left and there is literally no law school worth attending that could seriously be described as strongly (or let's take Mitt's "severely") conservative.

I have no problem interacting with liberals and or alcoholics im from philly for godsake. Lol. Im just in the early stages of recovery and why not go sonewhere that will cater towards me.

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nickb285 wrote:

AJFAJF wrote:I have no problem interacting with liberals and or alcoholics im from philly for godsake. Lol. Im just in the early stages of recovery and why not go sonewhere that will cater towards me.

Because then you'll have the culture shock of going from a 4-year bubble of evangelical Christians to a law school added to the stress of your first year of law school. And social skills are like any other; if you don't use them, they atrophy, and if you spend four years not having to interact with anyone who doesn't "cater towards you," you'll likely have a hard time remembering how.

Eh i disagree just because ive gone 2 years in a left leaning college already and live in a city that had Obama murals in voting stations lol. Im used to it and im by no means radical right. Im not a regular church goer. I mean ill go here and there. What im tryinf to say is im already exposed to that and im a socil butterfly. Ive been in sales for years now.

I figure why pay more, have to deal with liberal bias (no offense), and rampant alcohol everywhere.

You'll be paying A LOT more, dealing with a WAY BIGGER liberal bias, and have to ass-kiss with RAMPANT alcoholics in law school. If you feel the need to hide from these things I'd avoid law school altogether. On the other hand, you could get a lot of debate practice as I'm sure you'll be a favorite target.

Alright, putting the politics to the side because I think it's mainly trivial, I understand not wanting to be a in a strong alcohol environment if you're attempting to stay away from the stuff. At my undergraduate, which was a public college in Virginia, there were substance-free halls and communities. I think many colleges have them and you might consider looking at other schools that have similar programs. I totally get that you don't want to be near alcohol more than necessary, and you understand your progress with it far better than we do. But I feel obliged to warn that at all law schools the primacy of alcohol is enormous. Law school has an unhealthy obsession with drinking, off-putting even to myself as someone who drinks frequently. The reason I suggest something like a substance free program in a larger environment is that I think learning to be part of a smaller group that opts out of the hard-drinking main scene will serve well in law school.

People will judge you based on the school on your resume. A no-name school would be far better for your future career prospects than a school that would predispose hiring committees to disliking you.