Which Law Schools Value a Rigorous Undergrad experience? Forum

[clevinger33]

Econ at chicago is hard and competitive. Many classes are on an imformal curve, And there is mad competition for those ibank/consulting gigs that excisted pre ITE.

Also, at Chicago you have take real math as part of the econ major.

Apparently they don't teach spelling.

I still don't buy Econ as a hard major. Sorry.

[prezidentv8]

Econ at chicago is hard and competitive. Many classes are on an imformal curve, And there is mad competition for those ibank/consulting gigs that excisted pre ITE.

Also, at Chicago you have take real math as part of the econ major.

Apparently they don't teach spelling.

I still don't buy [strike]Econ[/strike] any major as a hard major. Sorry.

FTFY

[wadeny]

OP, most schools (outside H/Y/S) could care less about your major or where you went for undergrad. As long as you have a high LSAT to go with a decent GPA, you'll be fine. I would have imagine, though, that an Engineering major at MIT (or a similar major at a top undergrad) counts for something from time to time. But yeah, I agree with most posters here that, more than not, even a 4.0 in basket weaving at a random state school beats out a 3.5 in a tough major at an ivy league school.

[Oban]

Econ at chicago is hard and competitive. Many classes are on an imformal curve, And there is mad competition for those ibank/consulting gigs that excisted pre ITE.

Also, at Chicago you have take real math as part of the econ major.

Apparently they don't teach spelling.

I still don't buy Econ as a hard major. Sorry.

no one could teach me spelling. i'm very typo prone, and don't edit my posts.

[capitalacq]

Econ at chicago is hard and competitive. Many classes are on an imformal curve, And there is mad competition for those ibank/consulting gigs that excisted pre ITE.

Also, at Chicago you have take real math as part of the econ major.

Apparently they don't teach spelling.

I still don't buy Econ as a hard major. Sorry.

Major(s): Humanities, Social Science

[capitalacq]

I'm new on this board, and I apologize if this question has been posed before, but I ran a search and didn't see it.

I understand that most law schools would rather have a 3.8 from your average state U. over a 3.3 from Harvard. But I have also heard that some LS admissions offices DO place a degree of importance on where an applicants undergrad coursework was completed- Wash U was mentioned in particular.

I ask because I'm an undergrad at a top 30 university (not quite Harvard though), with a reputation as one of the toughest in the country, and an econ major. I've got a pretty low GPA ( < 3.0) but I am expecting a strong LSAT (high 160's, maybe low 170's). So, I was wondering which, if any, law schools put emphasis on the degree of difficulty of an applicant's undergrad coursework?

doing poorly at a rigorous school doesn't really tell them anything good about you.


You're going to be a pretty extreme splitter, so as the others said, just focus on really nailing that LSAT.

[jerjon2]

top 30 university (not quite Harvard though), with a reputation as one of the toughest in the country

OK I'm curious...what top 30 has a tough reputation? Georgia Tech?

UIUC is very considerate about what your major was. If you got a 3.4 in computer science vs a 3.4 in sociology and all other factors are the same, it seems as if Dean Pless will look favorably on the Computer science major over the sociology major.

Not if Dean Pless wants to keep his 3.8 GPA median, which is easily the highest of the non-T14's and higher than even CCN! Any 3.4 is below median and will need at least a median LSAT to be considered.

Tech isn't top 30 overall (35th). Also, if the people I've met and the two classes I took are any indication, econ here is kind of a joke...

[clevinger33]

Econ at chicago is hard and competitive. Many classes are on an imformal curve, And there is mad competition for those ibank/consulting gigs that excisted pre ITE.

Also, at Chicago you have take real math as part of the econ major.

Apparently they don't teach spelling.

I still don't buy Econ as a hard major. Sorry.

no one could teach me spelling. i'm very typo prone, and don't edit my posts.

I didn't.

[clevinger33]

Econ at chicago is hard and competitive. Many classes are on an imformal curve, And there is mad competition for those ibank/consulting gigs that excisted pre ITE.

Also, at Chicago you have take real math as part of the econ major.

Apparently they don't teach spelling.

I still don't buy Econ as a hard major. Sorry.

Major(s): Humanities, Social Science

And?

[prezidentv8]

Econ at chicago is hard and competitive. Many classes are on an imformal curve, And there is mad competition for those ibank/consulting gigs that excisted pre ITE.

Also, at Chicago you have take real math as part of the econ major.

Apparently they don't teach spelling.

I still don't buy Econ as a hard major. Sorry.

Major(s): Humanities, Social Science

<snickers>

[LJackson]

Related Question:
I am kind of in the opposite position. How are admissions going to view my Political Science/Sociology Minor Degree from a so-so State University? I have got all 4.0's for the past 2 years but my coursework has been (in my opinion) a bit of a joke. Who is better off as far as admissions go?

You are. Now go crush the LSAT.

I will trust you because you have told me what I wanted to hear. I have been trying to study for the LSAT lately but have become discouraged because I feel like my undergrad experience has been less than demanding and TLS will know this. Time to get serious. Thanks

[MHalberstram]

i wish i had gone to mississippi state and majored in women's studies or music or film or something. seriously

[Nom Sawyer]

Related Question:
I am kind of in the opposite position. How are admissions going to view my Political Science/Sociology Minor Degree from a so-so State University? I have got all 4.0's for the past 2 years but my coursework has been (in my opinion) a bit of a joke. Who is better off as far as admissions go?

You are. Now go crush the LSAT.

I will trust you because you have told me what I wanted to hear. I have been trying to study for the LSAT lately but have become discouraged because I feel like my undergrad experience has been less than demanding and TLS will know this. Time to get serious. Thanks

lol, don't trust me cause its what you want to hear, trust me cause its true. As long you have a high LSAT to go with ur nice GPA they'll assume ur an awesome student no matter where u went.

Take a break from TLS except to hang out in the studying threads until u get ur score. Its pretty useless to look at all the admissions stuff, except to motivate you to score even higher

[englawyer]

Related Question:
I am kind of in the opposite position. How are admissions going to view my Political Science/Sociology Minor Degree from a so-so State University? I have got all 4.0's for the past 2 years but my coursework has been (in my opinion) a bit of a joke. Who is better off as far as admissions go?

You are. Now go crush the LSAT.

I will trust you because you have told me what I wanted to hear. I have been trying to study for the LSAT lately but have become discouraged because I feel like my undergrad experience has been less than demanding and TLS will know this. Time to get serious. Thanks

lol, don't trust me cause its what you want to hear, trust me cause its true. As long you have a high LSAT to go with ur nice GPA they'll assume ur an awesome student no matter where u went.

Take a break from TLS except to hang out in the studying threads until u get ur score. Its pretty useless to look at all the admissions stuff, except to motivate you to score even higher

LJackson, you need to look at the top right of harvard's LSN graph:

http://harvard.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/0809/

if what you feared is true, there would be no "sea of green". if you hit 175+ you are golden. in the low 170's, you might be at a disadvantage. H likes 171/4.0 or so but usually from top undergrads. this is similar for almost every law school except Y/S (they all have a green auto-admit area)

[scionb4]

I'm not sure honest she was being (and to be quite frank she was a serious bitch, if I don't say so myself) but when I visited Southern Methodist University, the admissions officer snarkily said that, let me attempt to paraphrase, "someone with a 3.4 in engineering will be looked more favorably on than a person with a 3.9 in something easy like elementary education." I don't know, she had a bit of an attitude and seemed a bit arrogant about her school.