Will finishing my undergrad early matter to T14 schools? Forum

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prospectivelawyer82

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Will finishing my undergrad early matter to T14 schools?

Post by prospectivelawyer82 » Sun Dec 31, 2017 1:51 am

Hi everyone,

I'm a second-year undergrad student at a top-20 private university right now. I'm planning on finishing in three years, basically because I have the credits to do so, am almost finished with my major (economics, if it matters), and would like to save my money and put it towards law school. I'm wondering if it would make a difference to law schools if I finish early. Also, if I do so, would it be better to apply next cycle or wait until my three years are complete and apply after graduating? I'd ideally like to go to law school straight out of college, but not if doing so will adversely affect my chances of being admitted anywhere.

My dream school is Harvard, which is definitely a tall order, but I'm studying really hard for the LSAT and hoping I can get my stats where they'd need to be. Realistically, though, I'd be very happy with any T14 school, preferably something urban with good job placement in New York/New England.

Just for context, my GPA is a 3.85 and will hopefully be a 3.87-3.88 by the end of next semester. I'm planning on taking the LSAT in June, and I've been PTing consistently in the 170-175 range so far. I'm hoping that with diligent studying I can score at least a 173, but obviously we'll just have to wait and see. Also, non-URM.

Thank you for answering my question! Best of luck to everyone applying to schools.

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TLSModBot

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Re: Will finishing my undergrad early matter to T14 schools?

Post by TLSModBot » Sun Dec 31, 2017 1:59 am

A. No it won't affect admission chances

B. Yes it might affect hiring chances adversely. While the ability to finish college in 3 years is impressive and shows work ethic (I also did 3 years undergrad - fist bump!), that might be counterbalanced by firms assuming you are young and generally inexperienced. I know - anecdote, yes, so not conclusive evidence - of one person who had fantastic grades at my t14 school and was generally regarded as brilliant and completely struck out at OCI likely because she was very young (K-JD plus had skipped some grades so was a bit younger than the usual crowd at OCI).

C. Law school will always be there if you want it, but for big firms and certain prestigious outcomes you only get one bite at the apple once you start. Go live life and get some experience and also figure out if you really want to waste what seems like actual potential on law school of all places.

Graybrow

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Re: Will finishing my undergrad early matter to T14 schools?

Post by Graybrow » Sun Dec 31, 2017 2:51 am

prospectivelawyer82 wrote:Hi everyone,

I'm a second-year undergrad student at a top-20 private university right now. I'm planning on finishing in three years, basically because I have the credits to do so, am almost finished with my major (economics, if it matters), and would like to save my money and put it towards law school. I'm wondering if it would make a difference to law schools if I finish early. Also, if I do so, would it be better to apply next cycle or wait until my three years are complete and apply after graduating? I'd ideally like to go to law school straight out of college, but not if doing so will adversely affect my chances of being admitted anywhere.

My dream school is Harvard, which is definitely a tall order, but I'm studying really hard for the LSAT and hoping I can get my stats where they'd need to be. Realistically, though, I'd be very happy with any T14 school, preferably something urban with good job placement in New York/New England.

Just for context, my GPA is a 3.85 and will hopefully be a 3.87-3.88 by the end of next semester. I'm planning on taking the LSAT in June, and I've been PTing consistently in the 170-175 range so far. I'm hoping that with diligent studying I can score at least a 173, but obviously we'll just have to wait and see. Also, non-URM.

Thank you for answering my question! Best of luck to everyone applying to schools.
I have a couple friends who started at my CCN at age 19. You're fine.

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