Page 1 of 1

UG prestige after law school

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2016 4:55 pm
by Cyan1256
How important is UG prestige for employment prospects/opportunities during and after law school? I graduated from a LAC ranked somewhere between 60-80 by USNWR--not awful, but a no-name school. I'm applying for LS in the fall and have a 170+ LSAT. I'm not worried about getting into an elite law school, but if not attending an elite UG has put me at any professional disadvantage. Do law employers care about UG prestige/GPA, etc?

Re: UG prestige after law school

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2016 5:08 pm
by Aeon
Not really. For legal jobs, it's the law school that matters most.

Re: UG prestige after law school

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2016 5:19 pm
by rpupkin
I think it helps a bit to have gone to one of the very top undergrad schools--like HYP and maybe five or six others. But outside of that small handful, it really doesn't matter. I don't think there's any difference between #70 and #400.

And even if you went to a tip-top undergrad, law school still matters way more. It's a minor bump at most.

Re: UG prestige after law school

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2016 5:27 pm
by totesTheGoat
Do law employers care about UG prestige/GPA, etc?
Except in certain specific circumstances, nope.

I work with people who did undergrad at Ivies, some did UG at premier public schools, some at top-tier private schools, but many went to schools that I had never even heard of before moving to this area. Once you get into law school, your UG is just a fun point of discussion for when your interviewer has never heard of the school (or knows somebody who went there).