Top Law Schools

I am currently a freshman at Iowa State University studying Aerospace Engineering. Our finals are coming up next week and my grades are looking like they wil post up a 3.4 maybe 3.5 GPA for the semester? Is that bad for an engineering major? . . . Also, I would like to try to plan to go to Law School after my undergrad, but I am really confused as to what to do right now. I find engineering difficult and very time consuming but it is interesting, but not my "passion" by any means. I just don't see myself as an engineer in the future. I wanted to ask, what do Law Schools look for in applicants? Being in engineering, would I still need to have a 3.6-3.8 college GPA? Do they look more at ECs (extra-circs) too?

Also, what do Law Schools think about being involved in student government? I ask because I am planning on running for election of a Senate seat on our Student Government this year.

Thank you for the help and comments!

The average engineering GPA at my school is around 3.0 (some programs are top 20 or even top 10).

cj_stripe wrote:I am currently a freshman at Iowa State University studying Aerospace Engineering. Our finals are coming up next week and my grades are looking like they wil post up a 3.4 maybe 3.5 GPA for the semester? Is that bad for an engineering major? . . . Also, I would like to try to plan to go to Law School after my undergrad, but I am really confused as to what to do right now. I find engineering difficult and very time consuming but it is interesting, but not my "passion" by any means. I just don't see myself as an engineer in the future. I wanted to ask, what do Law Schools look for in applicants? Being in engineering, would I still need to have a 3.6-3.8 college GPA? Do they look more at ECs (extra-circs) too?

Also, what do Law Schools think about being involved in student government? I ask because I am planning on running for election of a Senate seat on our Student Government this year.

Thank you for the help and comments!

Unfortunately law schools really only care about your GPA. So a 3.6 communications major will beat your 3.4 any day. If your main concern is law school and you are unable to get a 3.66+ in your current major then i would recommend switching or buckling down. You don't want an easy major because that wont prepare you for law school, but an overly difficult major will hurt your GPA and your chances at a T14.
A student government position is unlikely to make much of a difference since you will be competing with applicants who have real governmental positions

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Just FYI, it's only going to get harder after freshman year. Raising or even maintaining that 3.5 is by no means guaranteed.

rinkrat19 wrote:Just FYI, it's only going to get harder after freshman year. Raising or even maintaining that 3.5 is by no means guaranteed.

QFT. I am at a top 20 engineering program right now, and really struggling to maintain a 3.5 I know having a 3.0 will make you very competitive for engineering jobs, but it is not going to get you into any law school worth going to. You should get a much bigger bump then you do, but the system is broken. Get out while you can if you really want law school.

Some law schools, most notably Northwestern, make allowances for engineering GPAs so long as the applicant has a stellar LSAT score. All law schools adcomms probably understand the difficulty of achieving a high GPA in a challenging engineering program, but that awareness does not necessarily translate into acceptance due to the pressure of maintaining or increasing US News rank.

Engineering is a very practical major, and don't do it unless you're sure you want to do it (or you're absolutely sure you want to do patent law.) Maybe wait another semester, see if gets easier or harder, and then decide? A 3.4 one semester won't kill you, especially if there's an upward trend.