Should I stay or should I go? Forum

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ams212

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Should I stay or should I go?

Post by ams212 » Tue May 01, 2012 6:02 pm

Hi,

Im not sure if this is the right forum or not, but I am a freshman(exam week :/) undergrad at the University of Akron. I am positive that I want to go to a top law school. I have taken two practice tests (165,169). I can only believe that a few months of solid study in the summer between by junior and senior year should help me improve upon that even more. Anyways, I'm going to Akron for a minuscule amount ($500 a semester). I decided to got to Akron bc I had tons of credit from PSEOP coursework (65 credit hours). I am double majoring in history and political science, with plans to enter a program that will allow me to graduate from Akron with a MA in history (all in 4 years). I am appreciative of the opportunities for improving my research and writing skills this will provide, but I'm worried that I will underperform my numbers because of the reputation of the school I'm going to. Anyways, I got into Chicago, but I decided to go to Akron because of cost of attendance and comfort with the campus. I want to know if my MA will give me a good enough bump to make up for not going to a prestigious school or should I transfer to a prestigious undergrad? If so, what are my chances with a 31 ACT and a 1950 SAT (I could retake either if neccesarry)? BTW don't troll about spelling and grammar. I'm on my iPad and this is a forum on the Internet, I'm not concerned with either

Thanks!

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ben4847

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Re: Should I stay or should I go?

Post by ben4847 » Tue May 01, 2012 6:09 pm

ams212 wrote:Hi,

Im not sure if this is the right forum or not, but I am a freshman(exam week :/) undergrad at the University of Akron. I am positive that I want to go to a top law school. I have taken two practice tests (165,169). I can only believe that a few months of solid study in the summer between by junior and senior year should help me improve upon that even more. Anyways, I'm going to Akron for a minuscule amount ($500 a semester). I decided to got to Akron bc I had tons of credit from PSEOP coursework (65 credit hours). I am double majoring in history and political science, with plans to enter a program that will allow me to graduate from Akron with a MA in history (all in 4 years). I am appreciative of the opportunities for improving my research and writing skills this will provide, but I'm worried that I will underperform my numbers because of the reputation of the school I'm going to. Anyways, I got into Chicago, but I decided to go to Akron because of cost of attendance and comfort with the campus. I want to know if my MA will give me a good enough bump to make up for not going to a prestigious school or should I transfer to a prestigious undergrad? If so, what are my chances with a 31 ACT and a 1950 SAT (I could retake either if neccesarry)? BTW don't troll about spelling and grammar. I'm on my iPad and this is a forum on the Internet, I'm not concerned with either

Thanks!
stay. where you went to school matters very little compared to GPA

ams212

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Re: Should I stay or should I go?

Post by ams212 » Tue May 01, 2012 6:41 pm

Thanks, but what if I could get the same GPA at either school would it make a difference then?

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elterrible78

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Re: Should I stay or should I go?

Post by elterrible78 » Tue May 01, 2012 6:48 pm

ams212 wrote:Thanks, but what if I could get the same GPA at either school would it make a difference then?
The degree to which it would give you and advantage would not be worth carrying a backpack from one school to the other. Stay where you are, keep your GPA high, work hard and kill the LSAT.

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rayiner

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Re: Should I stay or should I go?

Post by rayiner » Tue May 01, 2012 6:51 pm

If you're going to law school anyway, don't bother rocking the boat on your GPA by transferring schools. Focus on getting as close as you can to a 4.0. If you're rocking a 169 on your second practice test, you should have no problem getting 175+ on the real thing with concerted study. Paired with say a 3.9+ you're a great candidate for Harvard, etc.

DO NOT GO TO CHICAGO. They're a grade-deflationary undergrad and will kill your chance at HYSB (the big GPA-whores as far as law schools go). By and large schools would much rather have a 3.9 from Akron than a 3.6 from U Chicago.

What you should really do in your time is develop interesting softs. Yale/Stanford really care about soft factors, and being strong in those areas is going to do much more for you than transferring undergraduate schools.
Last edited by rayiner on Tue May 01, 2012 6:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Stanford4Me

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Re: Should I stay or should I go?

Post by Stanford4Me » Tue May 01, 2012 6:53 pm

UG prestige is not that important.

ams212

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Re: Should I stay or should I go?

Post by ams212 » Tue May 01, 2012 7:10 pm

rayiner wrote:If you're going to law school anyway, don't bother rocking the boat on your GPA by transferring schools. Focus on getting as close as you can to a 4.0. If you're rocking a 169 on your second practice test, you should have no problem getting 175+ on the real thing with concerted study. Paired with say a 3.9+ you're a great candidate for Harvard, etc.

DO NOT GO TO CHICAGO. They're a grade-deflationary undergrad and will kill your chance at HYSB (the big GPA-whores as far as law schools go). By and large schools would much rather have a 3.9 from Akron than a 3.6 from U Chicago.

What you should really do in your time is develop interesting softs. Yale/Stanford really care about soft factors, and being strong in those areas is going to do much more for you than transferring undergraduate schools.

Ok thanks for the advice everyone :)

What specifically should I do for an interesting soft? Is a normal internship at a law office good enough to show I'm serious about law school? Or how should I approach making myself a well-rounded candidate?

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rayiner

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Re: Should I stay or should I go?

Post by rayiner » Tue May 01, 2012 7:16 pm

ams212 wrote:
rayiner wrote:If you're going to law school anyway, don't bother rocking the boat on your GPA by transferring schools. Focus on getting as close as you can to a 4.0. If you're rocking a 169 on your second practice test, you should have no problem getting 175+ on the real thing with concerted study. Paired with say a 3.9+ you're a great candidate for Harvard, etc.

DO NOT GO TO CHICAGO. They're a grade-deflationary undergrad and will kill your chance at HYSB (the big GPA-whores as far as law schools go). By and large schools would much rather have a 3.9 from Akron than a 3.6 from U Chicago.

What you should really do in your time is develop interesting softs. Yale/Stanford really care about soft factors, and being strong in those areas is going to do much more for you than transferring undergraduate schools.

Ok thanks for the advice everyone :)

What specifically should I do for an interesting soft? Is a normal internship at a law office good enough to show I'm serious about law school? Or how should I approach making myself a well-rounded candidate?
It's better if its not law related. Something to set you apart from the other 175/3.9's.

SDviaVA

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Re: Should I stay or should I go?

Post by SDviaVA » Tue May 01, 2012 7:41 pm

GPA + LSAT = 90% of what is considered for your application

Undergrad school + LOR + Personal Statement + work experience + everything else = 10%

Its sad but true. Law schools are controlled by the the US New rankings because all students/employers care about is the rankings. The rankings are so competitive that even a drop in a few points of a schools average GPA or LSAT scores could cause them to fall significantly in the rankings.

Meanwhile undergrad prestige is not measured so law schools care little about this. When you only value what you measure you risk not valuing what you don't measure

Law schools have to please US News to increase their rankings, US news has to please its law students buyers to sell magazines, the law student buyers have to please the law schools to get in, its a viscous cycle!

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