Top Law Schools

gutrot13 wrote:I was curious as to whether top law schools care at all about Latin honors?
I know some schools give honors based on GPA, however at my institution it is based on writing a thesis of exceptional quality as decided upon by an undergraduate committee of history professors.
So, would T14s look upon summa cum laude honors favorably if accompanied by a 3.8-3.9+ GPA?

Thanks for any help.

gnomgnomuch wrote:I would think not since the majority of students in the T-14 usually have excellent grades. Also, universities have different cut-offs higher/lower grades for honors. For example my school has 3.5 (Cum Laude), 3.75 (Magna Cum Laude) and 3.85 (Summa Cum Laude), while my friends Cut-Offs are 3.2, 3.5, 3.75.

I think what would matter more would be some kind of honors thesis (especially if you could get that published)!

bee wrote:WHAT school/major has 3.85 as summa cum laude?! at my school, most departments had summa at well over 3.9

Mal Reynolds wrote:Your gpa and LSAT will be the only two things that matter.

buddytyler wrote:

bee wrote:WHAT school/major has 3.85 as summa cum laude?! at my school, most departments had summa at well over 3.9

ASU sets Latin honors, regardless of major, at:
- 3.40-3.59 Cum laude
- 3.60-3.79 Magna cum laude
- 3.80+ Summa cum laude

Source: https://catalog.asu.edu/ug_grad_req

ETA:

Mal Reynolds wrote:Your gpa and LSAT will be the only two things that matter.

Throttle wrote:

gutrot13 wrote:I was curious as to whether top law schools care at all about Latin honors?
I know some schools give honors based on GPA, however at my institution it is based on writing a thesis of exceptional quality as decided upon by an undergraduate committee of history professors.
So, would T14s look upon summa cum laude honors favorably if accompanied by a 3.8-3.9+ GPA?

Thanks for any help.

Only when comparing you with a numbers twin. Example you both have 3.8 168 the person with honors will usually win.

TheThriller wrote:What a bout Greek honors?

Throttle wrote:

gutrot13 wrote:I was curious as to whether top law schools care at all about Latin honors?
I know some schools give honors based on GPA, however at my institution it is based on writing a thesis of exceptional quality as decided upon by an undergraduate committee of history professors.
So, would T14s look upon summa cum laude honors favorably if accompanied by a 3.8-3.9+ GPA?

Thanks for any help.

Only when comparing you with a numbers twin. Example you both have 3.8 168 the person with honors will usually win.

Regulus wrote:Allow me to preface this by stating that I am not actually basing this off of anything except my own personal experience. Having said that, I personally do not believe that Latin honors really matter at all. For example, I graduated with a 3.9/4.0 and was eligible for highest honors, but I didn’t see the need to write an honors thesis just for the sake of writing one, so I didn’t. I don’t think it affected my cycle adversely whatsoever, because I had a shitty LSAT for most of the T14 (166) yet got into several decent schools (as listed in my profile), presumably based on my GPA alone.

If you’ve already submitted your transcripts to LSAC, go to their website, log in, then go to “Transcripts” under the “Credential Assembly Service” section on the “My Home” tab. Next, click “Academic Summary Report” on the far right of the new page that opens up. This will show you how many people from your specific institution get grades in certain ranges:

0.00 - 1.59
1.60 - 1.79
1.80 - 1.99
2.00 - 2.19
2.20 - 2.39
2.40 - 2.59
2.60 - 2.79
2.80 - 2.99
3.00 - 3.19
3.20 - 3.39
3.40 - 3.59
3.60 - 3.79
3.80 - 3.99
4.00 - 4.00+

Each law school has its own formula of how to interpret this data, but basically, if your school gives almost nobody high grades (=no grade inflation), law schools will supposedly take this into account. The academic summary report also lists if you got any honors, but because this isn’t “relative” like the GPA (and LSAT) ranges in the report, it presumably won’t tell admission committee members as much about your performance and therefore won’t mean as much as the grades themselves.

UVAIce wrote:The fact that your thesis won you summa is a pretty small soft in the face of students that were valedictorian, etc. A majority of honors are essentially a non-factor as they are normally tied into your GPA in some way. For example, at my undergrad you needed a 3.9+ GPA and had to conduct an oral defense in front of a panel of professors. It really doesn't matter. Strong academic softs are something like being a Fulbright Scholar or a Rhodes Scholar.

Mal Reynolds wrote:Your gpa and LSAT will be the only two things that matter.

Tom Joad wrote:If you didn't graduate summa cum laude you will never cut it in law school.