Applying to same Law School as Undergrad? Forum

[UTexasLaw]

Hey there, I'm fairly new to the boards, but I've been reading for a while. Anyways, I currently attend business school at The University of Texas (at Austin) and have fairly good stats. My GPA is currently a 3.89, but between now and application time it can range anywhere from 3.85-3.92. I just took my first LSAT during the February administration. Prior to that, I prepped with Blueprint LSAT and was consistently getting scores in the 167-172 range. After looking up schools I could apply to with my statistics, I found that I have a great chance of attending UT Law. I've lived in Texas since I was 4 and I love it here, BUT I hear that some law schools aren't keen on accepting undergrad applicants from the same system.

Basically:

-I currently attend UT and will graduate in 2013.
-I want to go to UT law, assuming I get the proper LSAT score

Will UT shun my application in favor of another similarly qualified applicant based on the fact that I did my undergrad in the same system?


Thanks for the help!

[Guchster]

no, they will not hold it against you.

it's all about gpa/lsat. instate will help you (with tuition as well).

[tww909]

don't know w/r/t UT, but i went to the same undergrad and law school (for 1L) and then transferred to SLS which certainly seems to love stanford undergrads.

[fosterp]

I actually thought my UG helped with LS admissions as I was accepted over quite a few people with better numbers (who were also in-state).

[vanwinkle]

UT Law gets a bazillion apps per year from UT alums. And they don't want a class that's just UT alums, so they're actively looking for people who aren't. It's not that it's "bad", it's just sheer numbers.

Also: Study hard, get 173+ LSAT, enjoy HYS.

[Randomnumbers]

If you were going to grad school, it would be one thing. Departments try very hard not to be insular, and a candidate who did their undergrad and grad school at the same institute would probably have that held against them (unfairly or not) when it came time to find an academic job - and no one wants to do that to their favorite undergrads.

Law school is a business.

[2014]

I've seen schools that seem to favor their undergrads and I've seen schools that scrutinize their own UGs tougher (I want to say UNC for example?) but on average you should probably assume that it is going to be insignificant and you will get in where your numbers suggest you should. Given this year's cycle it looks like if you get a 169 you should be feeling perfectly comfortable about UT.

[eaper]

I've seen schools that seem to favor their undergrads and I've seen schools that scrutinize their own UGs tougher (I want to say UNC for example?) but on average you should probably assume that it is going to be insignificant and you will get in where your numbers suggest you should. Given this year's cycle it looks like if you get a 169 you should be feeling perfectly comfortable about UT.

This. You won't have trouble getting into UT (assuming nothing is terribly wrong with your app) with that GPA and beating 168 on the lsat.