Can I get into Yale or Georgetown?

Do I have a shot at Yale Law School?

• OK so here's my story. I went to a good liberal arts school (not great) in NY during my freshman year of college and had a 3.59 GPA Since then I've been at community college for the past year where I've achieved a 3.83 GPA (I took a general chemistry class I shouldn't have taken and got a B- in it. Otherwise, I'd have a perfect 4.0 at CC) Anyway, I figure I can easily get a 4.0 for my next 2 semesters at community college because I've taken all the higher level English and History courses here and am left with nothing but 100 level courses to take (I got myself signed into some courses without taking their pre-req courses in an attempt to impress schools when I tried to transfer out of my community college back in the spring) So... like I said, I plan to get a 4.0 for the next 2 semesters and hopefully my 3.83 over 3 years of college will be enough to get me into either Northwestern, UNC-Chapel Hill, Georgetown or Notre Dame. From there I plan to get the highest GPA possible over the next 2 years and score high on the LSATs. I'm just a little bit concerned because: A) Will the 2 years spent at community college reflect poorly on me even though I was here for financial reasons? B) Does Yale really prefer students who receive their bachelor's degrees from prestigious undergraduate schools? C) Will it be hard for me to continue getting 4.0's when I transfer, considering I'll have to bulk up on higher level English and History courses? (Planning to double major in English and History) D) Will I need to participate in some extracurriculars not offered at my school in order to impress Yale Law, such as community service or something? E) Do I have a good shot? I should also mention I'm an ethnic minority. (Puerto Rican American)

• Answer:

  A) Yes and no. At really any other law school, the fact that you attended a community college won't really affect your application either way. GPA and LSAT trump all. However, Yale is a little different than most law schools. Firstly, it's the best in country. Secondly, it's very small and very selective. As a result, they can afford to be a little pickier and they're not looking for just good numbers, B) Yes, Yale absolutely prefers students who attended prestigious undergraduate institutions, but by prestigious, I mean Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and sometimes Stanford. Lower ivies like UPenn, Brown or Cornell won't carry as much weight. The boost is small and only really matters if you already have the numbers to be admitted, but yes, when you look at the individual profiles on LawSchoolNumbers.com, you see how many of the accepted applicants attended ivies. Not having attended an ivy won't necessarily KEEP you out, but having attended one would be a bonus. C) That's difficult to say. Yes, community college is probably much easier than NU, UNC, Georgetown or ND, but that doesn't mean you can't do well. You might just have to try even harder. D) I disagree with the other poster that only 'law related' extracurricular activities count. NOT TRUE. Law schools are often impressed by accomplishments outside the legal arena, like if you started your own non-profit or served in the military. Community service isn't really impressive, partly because you don't have to compete to do it. And it's fairly common. Yes, I'd say that you should have something other than numbers when applying, especially to Yale, but ideally you'll pick something more unique or impressive, something you have to compete for. E) Oh, I wish I would have read this first. You actually count as URM. Usually, I have to tell people that the fact that they're half Colombian doesn't mean they'll get a URM boost. :) As long as you write a diversity statement or personal statement about being PR, you'll probably get the application boost. Top law schools really like high GPA URMs, and if yours ends up being in the 3.8 range, then that's great. You want a high LSAT, too, but a high GPA is really important because they'll be slightly more forgiving of a low LSAT than a low GPA. Also, remember that Yale is so, so, so, so selective, and it's called the black box of law school admissions for a reason. People with 4.0/180s get rejected. There are no guarantees at Yale. You'd have a much easier time getting into Harvard or Columbia than Yale or Stanford, but with a 3.8/high-160s+ LSAT and your URM status with a well-written diversity or personal statement on that, you could end up at a top six law school. Best of luck to you!