Graduating college at 19 or UChicago and graduate at 23? Forum

[Coulomb]

I have enough credits so I can graduate from my flagship state school at 19. I was also admitted to Cornell, UChicago, and Barnard; I turned down all three. I am beginning to regret my choice! I can take a gap year and apply to all three again, and graduate at 23. Or I can graduate from my state school at 19 on a full tuition scholarship.

I have a 4.0 and shooting for HYS, if my LSAT works out.

What do you think?

[Ludo!]

Why would it take you 4 more years to graduate? Just transfer if you really want to go to those schools. But if you already have a 4.0 and your goal is law school, why would you want to transfer. Your chances at HYS aren't going to improve just because you go to Chicago

[2014]

Stupid idea and a waste of money.

[Nova]

Take the full tuition scholarship and graduate at 19. Obviously.

[rad lulz]

Don't go to law school at 19/20 though. Dumb idea.

[Br3v]

Don't rush being young and in college, especially if it means scars giving gpa and $ aka shooting yourself in the foot for LS

[Nova]

Don't go to law school at 19/20 though. Dumb idea.

Agreed. By sitting out a couple years, you can gain some actual WE by the time your high school peers graduate college. It will also give you more time to fully devote to the LSAT.

[fatduck]

do both: graduate from your state school and re-apply to chicago. top schools like yale want to see multiple bachelor's degrees so they know your 4.0 wasn't a fluke.

[SaintsTheMetal]

mis-understood. don't transfer.

[twenty]

Another possible solution: graduate at 19, and then do a graduate degree over the next three years while you pick up work experience. A 4.0, graduate degree, and 2-3 years of WE, (assuming an above-median LSAT) you're about as close as it gets for an HYS lock short of being URM/curing cancer.

[apslaw1031]

Another possible solution: graduate at 19, and then do a graduate degree over the next three years while you pick up work experience. A 4.0, graduate degree, and 2-3 years of WE, (assuming an above-median LSAT) you're about as close as it gets for an HYS lock short of being URM/curing cancer.

I like this option best.
I faced a dilemma similar to yours several years ago and now I wish I had done this ^

[CincinnatusND]

do both: graduate from your state school and re-apply to chicago. top schools like yale want to see multiple bachelor's degrees so they know your 4.0 wasn't a fluke.

Yeah this is really true. All the very top schools want to see this kind of commitment nowadays.

Sorry OP, it's the damn boomers, man.

[worldtraveler]

Go live your life and do something cool. Get a job in a foreign country or take a roadtrip around the country or something. There is no reason to waste 4 more years of your life when you could just graduate now.

[Coulomb]

I have wanted to go to law school since I was a freshman in high school, but I have this fleeting feeling that I am missing out on something academically. I only have two feet and I don't want to leave them both in the same place; I want to possibly learn to code etc. Obviously, the monetary cost is amazing, but what about the opportunity cost?

[IAFG]

I have wanted to go to law school since I was a freshman in high school, but I have this fleeting feeling that I am missing out on something academically. I only have two feet and I don't want to leave them both in the same place; I want to possibly learn to code etc. Obviously, the monetary cost is amazing, but what about the opportunity cost?

The academic experiences I've had beyond undergrad (from a myriad of experiences, including living abroad, taking professional training courses my employer paid for, law school, etc) were all more meaningful than anything I did in UG. I think you're glamorizing the "top UG" experience. At the end of the day, it's still just UG.

[apollo2015]

I have wanted to go to law school since I was a freshman in high school, but I have this fleeting feeling that I am missing out on something academically. I only have two feet and I don't want to leave them both in the same place; I want to possibly learn to code etc. Obviously, the monetary cost is amazing, but what about the opportunity cost?

What is your life plan? Are you sure that you are mature enough to graduate next year, and immediately commit to graduate school? Do you really know why you want to go to Yale at this point in your life?

I agree with the other poster who suggested doing a Masters program afterwards if you graduate at 19. I assume that if you graduate at 19 you will be spending your one year in college focused on maintaining your GPA, which will prevent you from really tapping into campus life. (Normally, I would argue against that, but your GPA is high enough right now to make that be a reasonable course of action.) Spending time afterwards as a masters student (or a second baccalaureate student) exploring your intellectual interests, joining a fraternity, and growing as a person will be key to ensuring that you don't face major regrets later in life.

[Borhas]

I have enough credits so I can graduate from my flagship state school at 19. I was also admitted to Cornell, UChicago, and Barnard; I turned down all three. I am beginning to regret my choice! I can take a gap year and apply to all three again, and graduate at 23. Or I can graduate from my state school at 19 on a full tuition scholarship.

I have a 4.0 and shooting for HYS, if my LSAT works out.

What do you think?

get a job

[Borg]

I think it depends on how you got your credits. Did you do it through college course work, or was it all AP/IB credits? If the latter, I would not be so confident that the very top law schools would open their arms. One year of grades really isn't much of an academic history to go on, and accepting a 19 year old to law school also raises some red flags. In general law school admissions are all about GPA and LSAT, but if the GPA is not really meaningful, you might find yourself subordinated to people with more material for admissions officers to review.

Either way, I highly recommend working for a few years between college and law school.

[howlery]

do both: graduate from your state school and re-apply to chicago. top schools like yale want to see multiple bachelor's degrees so they know your 4.0 wasn't a fluke.

Yeah this is really true. All the very top schools want to see this kind of commitment nowadays.

Sorry OP, it's the damn boomers, man.

Not sure if this counts a a necro, but was this meant to be a joke? Would someone with a post-bac from a top school (like Columbia GS) really look that much better than someone who just went to a state school?

[727813]

Another possible solution: graduate at 19, and then do a graduate degree over the next three years while you pick up work experience. A 4.0, graduate degree, and 2-3 years of WE, (assuming an above-median LSAT) you're about as close as it gets for an HYS lock short of being URM/curing cancer.

^^This. Graduate with a (LSAC-verified) 4.0. Apply to graduate school at the best you can get into. Pick something of interest to you that appears useful on a LS application. In grad school you have to maintain a B average, so ensure you don't bomb out. This will give you these advantages: (1) You can still give a LS a "4.0" for their USNWR rankings and (2) You can prove that you can handle a post-UG curriculum at a great school and (3) you have time to study for a great LSAT.

[Mr. Pancakes]

I have enough credits so I can graduate from my flagship state school at 19. I was also admitted to Cornell, UChicago, and Barnard; I turned down all three. I am beginning to regret my choice! I can take a gap year and apply to all three again, and graduate at 23. Or I can graduate from my state school at 19 on a full tuition scholarship.

I have a 4.0 and shooting for HYS, if my LSAT works out.

What do you think?

how do people like this exist?

[mewalke1]

I have enough credits so I can graduate from my flagship state school at 19. I was also admitted to Cornell, UChicago, and Barnard; I turned down all three. I am beginning to regret my choice! I can take a gap year and apply to all three again, and graduate at 23. Or I can graduate from my state school at 19 on a full tuition scholarship.

I have a 4.0 and shooting for HYS, if my LSAT works out.

What do you think?

how do people like this exist?

Seriously right. Good for him though.

[Mad Hatter]

Not sure if this counts a a necro, but was this meant to be a joke? Would someone with a post-bac from a top school (like Columbia GS) really look that much better than someone who just went to a state school?

Columbia GS isn't a top school, it's a backdoor for people who didn't get into Columbia College but are too prestige-obsessed to go to NYU. Every adcom knows this.

[sunynp]

I have enough credits so I can graduate from my flagship state school at 19. I was also admitted to Cornell, UChicago, and Barnard; I turned down all three. I am beginning to regret my choice! I can take a gap year and apply to all three again, and graduate at 23. Or I can graduate from my state school at 19 on a full tuition scholarship.

I have a 4.0 and shooting for HYS, if my LSAT works out.

What do you think?

Why do you regret your choice? Your undergrad will make little difference in law school admissions, if you have a 4.0 it won't hurt you at any school. Only your first degree GPA counts in admission statistics, for law school it would be a terrible waste of time and money.

If you do go to law school, you will be very happy to not have any debt. Actually, whatever you do in life you will be very happy not to have any UG debt.

Getting more life experience will only benefit you in both school admissions and in getting jobs. Your undergrad GPA will be locked in stone for you, so do stuff that matters to you.

[Coulomb]

I have wanted to go to law school since I was a freshman in high school, but I have this fleeting feeling that I am missing out on something academically. I only have two feet and I don't want to leave them both in the same place; I want to possibly learn to code etc. Obviously, the monetary cost is amazing, but what about the opportunity cost?

What is your life plan? Are you sure that you are mature enough to graduate next year, and immediately commit to graduate school? Do you really know why you want to go to Yale at this point in your life?

I agree with the other poster who suggested doing a Masters program afterwards if you graduate at 19. I assume that if you graduate at 19 you will be spending your one year in college focused on maintaining your GPA, which will prevent you from really tapping into campus life. (Normally, I would argue against that, but your GPA is high enough right now to make that be a reasonable course of action.) Spending time afterwards as a masters student (or a second baccalaureate student) exploring your intellectual interests, joining a fraternity, and growing as a person will be key to ensuring that you don't face major regrets later in life.

Due to costs, I am probably ruling out a masters.

Not knowing my plan is truly the problem. I have a specific resume tailored for law school and the desire to go, but I have these gaping holes in my "life plan" and I think that going to a different undergraduate school will somehow elucidate me on what I really want(if that makes sense?). Currently, my plan vaguely resembles getting into public service or possibly a career in legal academia. Do you think the aforementioned jobs require some level of prestige?