From Community College to law school? Forum

[Johnson132]

I currently am at a community college in Massachusetts. Once I complete my degree here I get auto-acceptance into any state school, which means I'll most likely go to UMass. My question is will this hurt my chances at getting into a decent law school?

[fallguy]

I currently am at a community college in Massachusetts. Once I complete my degree here I get auto-acceptance into any state school, which means I'll most likely go to UMass. My question is will this hurt my chances at getting into a decent law school?

I went to community college and then a big state school. My cycle played out just like LSP said it would. I didn't get into any reaches. I got what I consider good money from my target schools. I don't think it has mattered much, if at all, in my cycle.

Good luck.

[sarcasmpolice]

No.

[OperaSoprano]

It may be harder, because some schools can be prestige whores. Last cycle there was someone who started at a community college and got into Yale. It's about what you do with it, how you sell yourself, and of course, more than anything else, it's about your numbers. I say this as someone whose cycle was effected by the UG I attended, contrary to conventional wisdom on TLS. You'll need to make this a part of your narrative, and own it, which I should have done. Good luck!

(EDIT: Before anyone asks me how I know it was my UG that raised eyebrows, I talked to my head of admissions after the fact. This is not conjecture. I wasn't at a community college, though I also knew I might be at a disadvantage compared with some.)

Top schools are indeed loaded with top UGs, but this is merely indicative of correlation. If OP does well and makes a strong case, his or her chances of getting into a very top school may be slightly reduced, but pulling a T14 should happen just fine with appropriate numbers. OP needs to be aware of the experiences other students have had, but I would say this is still a worthy goal.

[drsomebody]

I started at community college. I have been admitted to about half the T6 schools and have yet to receive a ding (come on Yale!).

I wrote about community college in my personal statement. Get good grades and do interesting things with your life and you'll be fine.

[reverendt]

It won't hurt you.
Just do well at the state school you go to. You'll be fine.

[swc65]

You will be fine. I went to a community college and am going to Columbia next year. just keep your grades up and study hard for the LSAT (notice that this advice applies regardless of the UG you attend).

[jetlagz28]

It won't hurt you AT ALL. Just keep in mind that every class you take will affect your overall GPA When You Apply to Law School.

[Cavalier]

It doesn't matter. Maybe if you got a 4.2 at community college and a 3.0 at your state school (for an LSDAS GPA of 3.6) it might hurt, but law schools are basically only concerned with numbers. I went from a community college for two years and I don't think it had an effect on my cycle.

[Moose Thompson]

Do you have a zany study group for spanish? If so, record all of your misadventures, and include them in your personal statement. That will be enough to get you in for sure.

[whattodo2008]

I can speak from experience. I got rejected from my state school, went to comm college, got a 3.9 there, went to the state school then after reapplying, got a 3.9 there, and will be going to a top-10 law school in 2010.

The key is this: If you can keep your GPA at around the same or improve it once you get to the state school, you are in beautiful shape. however, for me, it meant to wait after I got bachelors to apply to law school because I wanted all my grades to be in, so that there would be no uncertainty whatsoever.

[Cuneiform]

The key is this: If you can keep your GPA at around the same or improve it once you get to the state school, you are in beautiful shape. however, for me, it meant to wait after I got bachelors to apply to law school because I wanted all my grades to be in, so that there would be no uncertainty whatsoever.

I'm in the same boat with regards to waiting a year. My community college GPA was 3.6 (over 3 years) but my four-year is currently at 3.9, and I'm expecting to graduate with a cumulative 3.74. In retrospect, I don't know that waiting a year will make that much of a difference; last spring my cumulative was 3.7. Oh, well. At least I'll get to talk about the research I'm doing this year on my PS.

Now I just need to focus on getting the highest LSAT score I can.

[RVP11]

Crap GPA in 2 years at CC, good GPA in 2 years at state school, doing fine at T10 law school. And no debt.

[savesthedayajb]

CC was a good idea. Almost no undergrad debt and a 4.0GPA.

[Cuneiform]

Crap GPA in 2 years at CC, good GPA in 2 years at state school, doing fine at T10 law school. And no debt.

What are your numbers, if you don't mind me asking? And where are you going? You like it there?