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Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 9:46 pm
by zanzbar
When I was in high school I missed getting into the University of Texas by 1 spot (Texas top 10% rule). After waiting for most of my senior year only to be denied by UT. In the end I decided to attend Texas Tech and joined the Honor's College. After a semester I declared my Major for Economics with a Minor in History. I have been at Tech over 2 years now and am on track to graduate a semester early, while there I have managed to keep a 4.0 GPA, and was just wondering since Texas Tech is not that prestigious of a school does my major and GPA hold any weight at major law schools like Duke, UT, and SMU or would I be wasting my time by even applying. On the LSAT front I decided to enroll in a course since I took a practice LSAT last month and didn't score very highly on it so I don't expect my score to be anything special (maybe a 165 if I am lucky on test day). As far as softs I am a white male, no work experience, hardly any extracurricular activities, but I probably can have 2 good LOR written by high ranking faculty members. So in short has my focus on maintaining a high GPA instead of accepting a lower GPA and being more involved ruined my shot at a top 50 law school? Thanks in advance for any feedback you provide.

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 9:48 pm
by kalvano
It doesn't matter if you went to Farmer Dan's College Of Corn Shucking, as long as your GPA is good.

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 9:55 pm
by gdane
Your chances are not ruined whatsoever. GPA is all that matters. Not the major, not the classes you took, etc etc. Just keep it high and you have something nice on your prelaw school resume. Having said that I highly recommend that you do something. If I'm an admissions committee member and I see a white kid with a 4.0 with no work experience, no extracurriculars, no volunteer experience, I'll think to myself "spoiled brat" or something to that extent. As much as law admissions is a numbers based games, its nice to have those extra soft factors to distinguish yourself from all the other applicants.

So, if youre not doing anything this summer I'd suggest volunteering somewhere until school starts. If it works out you can volunteer again next summer and you can have something there that shows that youre a mature and thoughtful individual.

Good luck!

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 9:58 pm
by kalvano
gdane5 wrote:If I'm an admissions committee member and I see a white kid with a 4.0 with no work experience, no extracurriculars, no volunteer experience, I'll think to myself "spoiled brat" or something to that extent USNWR rankings bump.

Fixed.

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 10:00 pm
by gdane
kalvano wrote:
gdane5 wrote:If I'm an admissions committee member and I see a white kid with a 4.0 with no work experience, no extracurriculars, no volunteer experience, I'll think to myself "spoiled brat" or something to that extent USNWR rankings bump.

Fixed.
Hahahaa!!! Maybe that as well.

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 10:00 pm
by blink
kalvano wrote:
gdane5 wrote:If I'm an admissions committee member and I see a white kid with a 4.0 with no work experience, no extracurriculars, no volunteer experience, I'll think to myself "spoiled brat" or something to that extent USNWR rankings bump.

Fixed.
sad but true.

btw kalvano, whats with the red-head fetish?

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 10:02 pm
by kalvano
blink wrote:
kalvano wrote:
gdane5 wrote:If I'm an admissions committee member and I see a white kid with a 4.0 with no work experience, no extracurriculars, no volunteer experience, I'll think to myself "spoiled brat" or something to that extent USNWR rankings bump.

Fixed.
sad but true.

btw kalvano, whats with the red-head fetish?

She's hot.


There's no hidden meaning here.

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 10:03 pm
by blink
haha well yeah, but your 'tars are always red-heads

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 10:06 pm
by kalvano
blink wrote:haha well yeah, but your 'tars are always red-heads

It's the same girl.

I wish we could have sig lines so I could put that nugget of information in there.

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 10:08 pm
by blink
kalvano wrote:
blink wrote:haha well yeah, but your 'tars are always red-heads

It's the same girl.

I wish we could have sig lines so I could put that nugget of information in there.

ohh wow didn't notice that...i'll assume she's irish then?

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 10:09 pm
by kalvano
blink wrote:
kalvano wrote:
blink wrote:haha well yeah, but your 'tars are always red-heads

It's the same girl.

I wish we could have sig lines so I could put that nugget of information in there.

ohh wow didn't notice that...i'll assume she's irish then?

Canadian.

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 10:24 pm
by zanzbar
Thanks everyone for the speedy reply. I guess I have been reading way to many things from the internet a lot of which point to GPA doesn't matter that much, and its only LSAT. My next 2 semesters of college I was planning on joining a few clubs, but I don't want to become swamped with commitments so how many is a good number so a person on the admission's committee doesn't instantly write me off as a "spoiled brat" as one of you so eloquently put haha.

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 10:35 pm
by Cleareyes
zanzbar wrote:Thanks everyone for the speedy reply. I guess I have been reading way to many things from the internet a lot of which point to GPA doesn't matter that much, and its only LSAT. My next 2 semesters of college I was planning on joining a few clubs, but I don't want to become swamped with commitments so how many is a good number so a person on the admission's committee doesn't instantly write me off as a "spoiled brat" as one of you so eloquently put haha.
Quality over quantity. Tutoring inner city kids is much better than "President of the Ska Appreciation Society."

Do something community servicy and something intellectual/cultural.

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 10:54 pm
by dominkay
blink wrote:
kalvano wrote:
blink wrote:haha well yeah, but your 'tars are always red-heads

It's the same girl.

I wish we could have sig lines so I could put that nugget of information in there.

ohh wow didn't notice that...i'll assume she's irish then?
I seriously doubt that she's a natural redhead.

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 11:37 pm
by kalvano
dominkay wrote:I seriously doubt that she's a natural redhead.

Good call.

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 2:59 pm
by blink
dominkay wrote:
blink wrote:
kalvano wrote:
blink wrote:haha well yeah, but your 'tars are always red-heads

It's the same girl.

I wish we could have sig lines so I could put that nugget of information in there.

ohh wow didn't notice that...i'll assume she's irish then?
I seriously doubt that she's a natural redhead.
The assumption was based on his signature in his profile and maybe more that she is meant to look irish, if not actually irish. It does seem much too dark to be natural.

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 3:10 pm
by dominkay
blink wrote:The assumption was based on his signature in his profile and maybe more that she is meant to look irish, if not actually irish. It does seem much too dark to be natural.
It's not so much about the hair itself (though it's a little off). Her complexion is wrong for a natural redhead.

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 3:14 pm
by blink
dominkay wrote:
blink wrote:The assumption was based on his signature in his profile and maybe more that she is meant to look irish, if not actually irish. It does seem much too dark to be natural.
It's not so much about the hair itself (though it's a little off). Her complexion is wrong for a natural redhead.

Well, hypothetically, if she's into changing her natural hair color, why not go tanning too?

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 3:22 pm
by dominkay
blink wrote:
dominkay wrote:
blink wrote:The assumption was based on his signature in his profile and maybe more that she is meant to look irish, if not actually irish. It does seem much too dark to be natural.
It's not so much about the hair itself (though it's a little off). Her complexion is wrong for a natural redhead.

Well, hypothetically, if she's into changing her natural hair color, why not go tanning too?
Still too olive-y. That's not what Lindsay Lohan looks like with a tan.

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 3:25 pm
by blink
dominkay wrote:
blink wrote:
dominkay wrote:
blink wrote:The assumption was based on his signature in his profile and maybe more that she is meant to look irish, if not actually irish. It does seem much too dark to be natural.
It's not so much about the hair itself (though it's a little off). Her complexion is wrong for a natural redhead.

Well, hypothetically, if she's into changing her natural hair color, why not go tanning too?
Still too olive-y. That's not what Lindsay Lohan looks like with a tan.

My first instinct is to say "so? she's on drugs" but I really have nowhere to go from there so you win lol

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 3:32 pm
by dominkay
blink wrote:My first instinct is to say "so? she's on drugs" but I really have nowhere to go from there so you win lol
Yay, winning! (for the record, I am a fake redhead, too. that's why I'm such an expert)

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 3:35 pm
by kalvano
You all put way too much time in to analyzing this.

She's hot. I like looking at her, be it red or blonde or black or brown hair.

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 3:35 pm
by blink
dominkay wrote:
blink wrote:My first instinct is to say "so? she's on drugs" but I really have nowhere to go from there so you win lol
Yay, winning! (for the record, I am a fake redhead, too. that's why I'm such an expert)

I had my suspicions lol

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 3:37 pm
by blink
kalvano wrote:You all put way too much time in to analyzing this.

She's hot. I like looking at her, be it red or blonde or black or brown hair.

Its a product of being bored at work/putting off studying.

Who is she?

Re: Question about GPA major and school prestige

Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 3:38 pm
by kalvano
My future restraining order.