Undergrad advice needed Forum

[SDviaVA]

Rather than asking what choice is best for getting into law school, I would ask which choice is best for becoming a lawyer.

Legal employers care about your undergrad's "prestige factor." Not as much as your law school's, but it is considered. That being said, I haven't heard much about either of the schools you mentioned, but I live in he mid-atlantic, so they may be more well know in Florida.

CS adds a unique spin on your situation bc if you want to go into patent law CS majors are in HIGH demand. You would have a great chance of getting a patent prosecution gig if you had a degree in CS from anywhere. And patent prosecution pays great.

Lastly I would add that if you are not interested in CS then you will not do well it the major and you will not have the grades to get into a decent law school. If you are sure you went to go to law school, you might want to major in something you are interested in, where you can get the best grades. But the risk here is if you decide not to go to law school later, it would be nice to have a major that makes you employable.

Law Schools do not care about your undergrad's preftige factor outside of HYPSCCM vs. everything accredited vs. University of Phoenix et al., and even then it is inconsequential compared to even a tenth of a point on GPA.

Yes, I agree, but if you read my post I was referring to LEGAL EMPLOYERS (i.e law firms) - who DO care about undergrad prestige. Im not sure if you misread my post or your are making a point totally unrelated to my post?

[NoBladesNoBows]

[Traynor Brah]

1. Law School Preftige
2. Law School GPA
3. Work Experience
4. Geographic ties

lack of glaring personality defects
firmness of handshake
degree of ugliness
favorite sports teams
color of tie during interview

3. Undergrad GPA
4. Undergrad Preftige

[NoBladesNoBows]

[SDviaVA]

Rather than asking what choice is best for getting into law school, I would ask which choice is best for becoming a lawyer.

Legal employers care about your undergrad's "prestige factor." Not as much as your law school's, but it is considered. That being said, I haven't heard much about either of the schools you mentioned, but I live in he mid-atlantic, so they may be more well know in Florida.

CS adds a unique spin on your situation bc if you want to go into patent law CS majors are in HIGH demand. You would have a great chance of getting a patent prosecution gig if you had a degree in CS from anywhere. And patent prosecution pays great.

Lastly I would add that if you are not interested in CS then you will not do well it the major and you will not have the grades to get into a decent law school. If you are sure you went to go to law school, you might want to major in something you are interested in, where you can get the best grades. But the risk here is if you decide not to go to law school later, it would be nice to have a major that makes you employable.

Law Schools do not care about your undergrad's preftige factor outside of HYPSCCM vs. everything accredited vs. University of Phoenix et al., and even then it is inconsequential compared to even a tenth of a point on GPA.

Yes, I agree, but if you read my post I was referring to LEGAL EMPLOYERS (i.e law firms) - who DO care about undergrad prestige. Im not sure if you misread my post or your are making a point totally unrelated to my post?

Honestly I meant to respond to OP, but even still, how is what I said any less accurate for law firms than it is for law schools? What law firm would value undergrad education more than a .1 GPA difference at law school? And similarly, one could argue that law school preftige is even more important than law school GPA (within reason: median GPA at T6 is equal to or better than top 1/3rd outside of T14, but bottom 1/3rd of T6 is worse than top 10% outside of T14), and since undergrad GPA is much more important for law school admission than undergrad preftige is, by extension undergrad GPA is more important for legal employment than undergrad preftige is. Your statement that employers care about where you went for undergrad is not incorrect, but it is the least important of all of the factors we are considering.

1. Law School Preftige
2. Law School GPA
3. Undergrad GPA
4. Undergrad Preftige

So what is your point? None of this changes the fact that at this point in time, OPs most important consideration is undergrad GPA.

Legal employers care more about undergrad prestige than undergrad gpa. The best outcome for OP would be to get the highest GPA from the best undergrad school.

[NoBladesNoBows]

[jbagelboy]

Legal employers care more about undergrad prestige than undergrad gpa. The best outcome for OP would be to get the highest GPA from the best undergrad school.

I don't think anyone disagrees that better school + better GPA is best case scenario, but I still don't understand what point you're trying to make. Employers might care about undergrad school more than undergrad GPA, but Law School and Law School GPA are vastly more important than either. Undergrad GPA has a larger effect on where you go to Law School, and is therefore more important ultimately. What are you disagreeing with?

well you are double counting if you include where you go to law school and undergraduate gpa insofar as it informs where you go to law school

but more generally, this is all plain stupid. you shouldn't be going to a certain college because you want to go to a certain law school. you should be choosing colleges based on where you'll receive the best education, have the most opportunities to advance intellectually and professionally, and, of course, the most fun.

and if you're squeezed into that middle class sinkhole where your parents make too much for aid but too little to front the cost, then you'll have to consider cost too

[NoBladesNoBows]