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I am currently a student at Birmingham-Southern College (BSC), a small private school in Alabama. The school has recently undergone some financial problems, and with zero notice decided to cut several majors from the offered programs. One of which is my major, Accounting. I had originally chosen both BSC and Accounting strategically in hopes of adding some diversity to my resume come time to apply for LS. The school has made it clear that this upcoming year will be the last that students can graduate with an Accounting major from BSC. The conclusion I have come to is to transfer to stay an accounting major, primarily because I have loaded my first two years so heavily with accounting classes that it would set me back an unnecessary amount to stay and graduate with a different degree (Business Administration will be the only remaining program in the business realm of majors).

My question is, exactly how heavily does the undergraduate school name weigh into the LS admissions equation? I could transfer to Alabama, Auburn or North Alabama without struggling to finance the education at all, or is it worth taking out some loans to pay for a better undergrad accounting program like Georgetown, Baylor and Boston College?

If I were to stay close to home and go to the University of North Alabama I would have the opportunity to help manage a small business owned by a family friend, and have access to lots of accounting and law firm internships. The course load would also be much less demanding, freeing time for LSAT prep and resume padding. However, I'm also aware that UNA isn't exactly top-tier... not sure if its kind of any tier, ha.

I would appreciate any advice/experiences! To clarify, I'll be applying for Spring admission, and I am aware that I will still need two years at another school to obtain a degree. With the late notice of these events at BSC, it would be impossible to get any sort of financial aid... or even admission this close to the fall semester. Instead, I'll be staying at BSC where I pay very little to attend, taking a 3 class load, working and prepping for the October LSAT.

Your UG institution does not matter at all. Major in whatever you can get the highest GPA and make sure you knock the LSAT out of the park.

Go wherever you can minimize debt and get the highest GPA with the least amount of work.

Law schools say that they consider undergrad institution/major as a factor..but they probably care too much about their numbers to actually do so. I can see them denying alot of applicants whose only flaw was choosing an intellectually challenging undergrad program that gave them a lower GPA.
Also if you're planning on going to law school you should definitely avoid undergrad debt.

Undergrad DOES matter to an extent if you're aiming for the highest ranked law schools, but then they might only be looking for Ivys. So unless you're aiming for a T6 school, AND are able to get into an ivy... I wouldn't worry about it.

Though, I should clarify.. going to an unknown undergrad will not prevent you from getting into T6s if you have good enough numbers.

Law schools will treat your undergrad as a soft, and will pick someone from an "elite" school (Ivy or say, T15) over somebody from a substantially lower ranked school. This is because some law schools know that elite employers care to some extent about undergrad institutions and because some schools like to brag about how many of their students come from "elite" undergraduate institutions.

But yeah, the above response was correct. Unless you can get into an Ivy or an otherwise elite program, it really doesn't matter what your undergrad school is. Even then, I don't think it is worth it when you bring a lowered GPA and money into the equation.

Go to the University of Montevallo.

But seriously, I wouldn't recommend taking out loans for any reason (unless it's that or not graduate at all) while still getting your undergraduate. Leave the loans for law school and minimize debt while it's still possible. Besides, if going to UNA, AU, UA, or UM (just saying!) will help your LSAT preparation, in addition to giving you different work experience and leaving you out of debt... I see absolutely no reason to consider going to a "higher ranked" at the cost of all of those positive factors. In the end, however, it is entirely your decision to make, after all.

Eow wrote:Undergrad Situation

Drink.