How much does where one went to school for undergrad matter Forum

[silvertag15]

Hey everyone. I am graduating from a top 15 public university in December. I was just curious as to what the general consensus was in regards to public universities and how they are viewed by admission boards. How much does it matter that I didnt go to an "elite" school?

[richardfitzwell]

you can't spell UNIVERSITY. LIFE FAIL. enjoy truck driving school. POST GRADES.


K.

THANKZ.

PS.

DON'T GO TO LAW SCHOOL. NO JOBS. YOU ARE NOT A SPECIAL SNOWFLAKE.

[silvertag15]

Wow man. Way to be an anal douche. Seriously. Sure your mother is proud of her little snowflake.

Anyways,if anyone has a real response, I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

[richardfitzwell]

Wow man. Way to be an anal douche. Seriously. Sure your mother is proud of her little snowflake.

Anyways,if anyone has a real response, I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

need help.


http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 10&t=46170

[You Gotta Have Faith]

Hey everyone. I am graduating from a top 15 public university in December. I was just curious as to what the general consensus was in regards to public universities and how they are viewed by admission boards. How much does it matter that I didn't go to an "elite" school?

To answer the question: not much impact at all... unless you are aiming for the most elite of law schools (T6 or so). And even then, maybe not much if the school is regarded as at least decent. The only one that I think is truly stickler on it is Yale. Or so, it is believed. Mainly, schools are after that GPA, for better or worse.

Changed to "universities" since I'm sure it was only a typo. Aww people, gee

[silvertag15]

Thanks You Gotta Have Faith. Thats is about what I thought. I was just curious since that had been nagging at me for a couple of months now.

[prelaw10]

From what I've learned on this forum, not much. I think it could matter to the extent that HYP undergrad might give you better opportunities to build a more interesting resume -- but softs also do not carry much weight anyhow.

Actually I have heard (on this forum) that Chicago, particularly, has a reputation for favoring top undergrads, but that is not to say that Chicago wouldn't accept 175/4.0 applicant from Unknown State U.

[JerrySeinfeld]

Prelaw10 basically summed it up.

It doesn't matter at all unless said school is HYP or MAYBE the school in which you are applying (i.e. UVA for UVA, Michigan for Michigan).

Major is the same way, unless you were a science or engineering major. Even then, the difference is almost non-existent.

[JollyGreenGiant]

It matters for the top schools (HYSCCN).. but not much after, IMO.

[JerrySeinfeld]

It matters for the top schools (HYSCCN).. but not much after, IMO.

This isn't necessaraly true. Chicago does take undergrad into account more than others, especially after reading their deans interview. However, there is no data that suggests any of the others use undergrad any more or less than any other t14/t20 schools. Look at Harvard's list of schools, they have something like 250, many/most of which are TTT.

[ScaredWorkedBored]

Considering that there's no such thing as credible undergrad rankings in the first place...

LSAC does the job of providing your school's grade distribution & similar to law schools. The school name itself might, MIGHT help if it's one of the "whoa" names that everyone and their dog recognizes as elite, but that's still not going to get you in anywhere your numbers won't.

[im_blue]

I am graduating from a top 15 public university in December.

Do you mean a top 15 that's public (Berkeley, UCLA, Michigan), or a top 15 among publics (Penn State, Texas, Florida, UC Irvine, etc)? There's a significant difference in UG prestige among those two groups, but probably wouldn't matter for law schools either way. Only HYPS really help, and even then only a little bit.

[ScaredWorkedBored]

According to US News, there's no such thing as a "top 15 that's public." Berkeley, yes, Berkeley, is considered #21. All public schools are inherently inferior to any "name" private school.

The fact that absolutely no one other than US News takes this proposition seriously is why undergrad rankings are basically garbage.

[MrKappus]

Anecdote Warning:

I got into places lawschoolpredictor labeled as "DENY" and went to an Ivy, so I think UG prestige might help. It's not a silver bullet though. It's mostly about GPA/LSAT.

[im_blue]

According to US News, there's no such thing as a "top 15 that's public." Berkeley, yes, Berkeley, is considered #21. All public schools are inherently inferior to any "name" private school.

The fact that absolutely no one other than US News takes this proposition seriously is why undergrad rankings are basically garbage.

That's true, which is why Peer Assessment is one of the few things that makes sense in USNWR IMO. In that metric, Berkeley is usually ranked #6 behind HYPSM and UCLA/Michigan are top 15.