Studying Abroad at Cambridge/Law School Forum

[gmomjian]

Hi everyone,

I was accepted into a junior year study-abroad program at Cambridge for the entire 2015-2016 academic year.

I still haven't made up my mind as to whether I want to attend, with the deadline for that decision rapidly approaching. My question is: how would taking a year to study at Cambridge appear to law schools? A big advantage to studying abroad there is that my GPA at my current university wouldn't be affected by any marks I receive at Cambridge (currently 3.82). On the flip side, I'd have to abandon my music minor and only pursue my degree in history, which I feel makes me a bit one-dimensional.

If it helps at all, I'm at a top five university and am aiming for a top ten law school.

Any insights would be very much appreciated!

[jphiggo]

They aren't going to care about your music minor. They are only going to care (for the most part..) about your uGPA and LSAT score. Take care of those things and have as much fun as you can along the way.

[malleus discentium]

The grades may not affect the GPA your undergrad issues, but they might affect your LSAC GPA. Double check that before you go.
Schools won't care either way. And there's no such thing as a "top ten" law school.

[hearsay77]

They won't care at all about the lack of a music minor.

[stego]

If it helps at all, I'm at a top five university and am aiming for a top ten law school.

Law schools don't really care that you went to a top five university for UG. There might be a few undergrad schools that get a teensy tiny admissions bump but basically just your UGPA and LSAt matter.

Top ten law school's not really a thing, it's T3 (YHS), T6 (YHSCCN) or T14.

Your music minor won't affect your application. Studying in Cambridge for a year sounds like a lot of fun. I think it comes down to personal preference.

I feel like your Cambridge classes might get calculated in your LSAC undergraduate GPA even if your home undergrad school doesn't count it. You might want to check directly with LSAC about that.

[UpandDown97]

If it helps at all, I'm at a top five university and am aiming for a top ten law school.

Law schools don't really care that you went to a top five university for UG. There might be a few undergrad schools that get a teensy tiny admissions bump but basically just your UGPA and LSAt matter.

Top ten law school's not really a thing, it's T3 (YHS), T6 (YHSCCN) or T14.

Your music minor won't affect your application. Studying in Cambridge for a year sounds like a lot of fun. I think it comes down to personal preference.

I feel like your Cambridge classes might get calculated in your LSAC undergraduate GPA even if your home undergrad school doesn't count it. You might want to check directly with LSAC about that.

There's some misinformation in this post.

First, there's no way just a few schools get a "teensy tiny admissions bump." Having a 4.0 from any of the military academys, or other elite schools not known for grade inflation get an edge over other candidates. Basically, good grades from a great school constitutes a nice soft, though numbers themselves are still dispositive.

Second, yes, grades from a year long program will be counted.

Third, there is a difference among schools 7-14, and it's not fair to group them as one. For example, Georgetown doesn't come close to Penn's placement. Sure, the lines may be somewhat blurry and the results a product of regional economic strength and geography, but it's gainsaying to say that there's really no such thing as top 10 since the top 10 are generally qualitatively better than 11-14.

[stego]

If it helps at all, I'm at a top five university and am aiming for a top ten law school.

Law schools don't really care that you went to a top five university for UG. There might be a few undergrad schools that get a teensy tiny admissions bump but basically just your UGPA and LSAt matter.

Top ten law school's not really a thing, it's T3 (YHS), T6 (YHSCCN) or T14.

Your music minor won't affect your application. Studying in Cambridge for a year sounds like a lot of fun. I think it comes down to personal preference.

I feel like your Cambridge classes might get calculated in your LSAC undergraduate GPA even if your home undergrad school doesn't count it. You might want to check directly with LSAC about that.

There's some misinformation in this post.

First, there's no way just a few schools get a "teensy tiny admissions bump." Having a 4.0 from any of the military academys, or other elite schools not known for grade inflation get an edge over other candidates. Basically, good grades from a great school constitutes a nice soft, though numbers themselves are still dispositive.

Second, yes, grades from a year long program will be counted.

Third, there is a difference among schools 7-14, and it's not fair to group them as one. For example, Georgetown doesn't come close to Penn's placement. Sure, the lines may be somewhat blurry and the results a product of regional economic strength and geography, but it's gainsaying to say that there's really no such thing as top 10 since the top 10 are generally qualitatively better than 11-14.

The "prestige of undergrad" question has been done to death on TLS. See Kurst's post here: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p5750460

I don't mean to say it literally doesn't matter at all. It can matter. It just typically doesn't matter very much. Softs don't typically matter very much. You're correct that the service academies and Princeton are known for having very low amounts of grade inflation.

Question: Mike, any insight on whether applicants from elite undergrads or with very hard majors (STEM?) get any boost? Thanks again for all your work.

Mike: Yes, and yes. I've given talks at Princeton and Stanford and told them both that... and then preceded to follow with, "I could only say this at a handful of schools" which is also true. The #1 major accepted to law school percentage-wise is Physics. One of the worst is Poli Sci. So, all things being equal, these would both likely put you ahead of the pack. Put another way, if you are slightly below medians this might elevate you."

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... y#p6037976 (The OP has a link to the PDF that I pulled this quote from. Mike Spivey is a former adcomm.)

I didn't mean to imply there are no differences in quality between 7 and 14. Obviously there are. UPenn (#7) has better outcomes than Georgetown (#14). But T10 is a designation you don't really see a lot of people use. I think that's because the top 3 has been very stable and so has the top 6, but there is more movement of schools moving into the top 10 or out of the top 10. http://7sage.com/top-law-school-rankings/ for the rankings from 2009 to 2015.