Top Law Schools

I'm applying to 4 year schools now and have a 4.0 (I guess close to a 4.15 for LSAC purposes). I'm a DACA recipient so I'll probably stay in California for school. I've been accepted to a few Cal St schools so far and I'm waiting to hear back from Berkeley, LA, SD, Davis, etc.

How much of a difference does it make going to Berkeley or LA (my advisor sounds pretty sure I'll get in) versus a local CSU school (which would cost a lot less because I could stay at home)? What about UC Santa Cruz - which I could probably commute to - would it be a big difference for the admissions committees if I went there versus CSUMB or San Jose St? Either way I'm looking at two semester or three quarters worth of grades from wherever I transfer to before I submit applications to law schools.

I actually have a pretty light load this semester so I'm studying for the LSAT now (June test date) - my first diagnostic was a 155 and I'm scoring in the low 160s after just a few weeks working on games and if I make my goal of a 172 I won't have to take it again.

If you can give me some advice that would be great. Also does it matter if I take my LSAT before I've transferred? I'm hoping to graduate in 2 years of school after transferring so everything I've read says it will be recent enough.

Thanks.

It doesn’t matter if you take your LSAT before you transferred. I’m not sure what the consensus on TLS is, but I think you should focus on keeping your stellar grades. There are varying anecdotes out there for one line of thought over the other, but I think it’s better to maintain that 4.0 and decrease potential debt. If you can keep those grades at Berkeley or at a CSU, awesome, but I think that’s should be the priority. Now, there’s ongoing discussion about whether a 3.5 from a prestigious school bumps URMs compared to a 3.5 from a less presitigous school and the sample size of data is too small for s significant conclusion imo. But I think if you maintain a 4.0 it won’t matter if it’s from a CSU or from one Cal’s prestigious institutions.

Thanks. Definitely going to maintain the GPA (that shouldn't be too hard this semester with a bunch of PE classes and a couple history classes). And I'll do my best whether I go to Berkeley or San Jose St to keep it up. Just wondering if a couple semesters at Berkeley are worth having to move and spending a bunch of money to live up there.

As a DACA recipient I'm going to need a scholarship to pay wherever I go for law school so that figures into the decision as well.