David Said:

How to top five law schools run admissions?

We Answered:

1.) It depends. If you want to go into patent law but have a liberal arts degree, you're out of luck. If you're an engineering student with a 2.9 who plans to go into, say, finance law (or anything not related to engineering/science), I doubt you'd have an advantage over a poli sci student with a 3.7. Though, there are some majors that law schools will look down upon, such as fashion merchandising.

2.) GPA and LSAT are the biggest factors. For the most part, your extracurriculars and work experience only matter for Yale and Stanford (when you're talking schools in the top 5/6). You have to be a stellar student to get into either of those schools, and most likely have something like several years in the Peace Corps and establishing a charity in Senegal or another insane thing. That could be a slight exaggeration, but Yale/Stanford literally pick the best of the best. You have to be the entire package. At Harvard, Columbia, NYU, and Michigan, "soft" factors won't make as much of a difference, though you probably don't want to be devoid of softs. Much more important are your LSAT and GPA. You'll want an LSAT of above 170 to get into the top 5/6 law schools, likely even higher. A 3.67+ or so GPA is where you want to be, though they'll accept students with lower GPAs (and even lower LSATs, on occasion). Though, if you are an "under-represented minority," you'll find it easier to get into law schools with lower GPA and LSAT scores.

3.) They'd view you well. Your origins at a small liberal arts college will not hurt you whatsoever.

Penny Said:

Would colleges like it more if I took an AP class or an actual class at a college?

We Answered:

Two things, one about AP, one about college credit, and then I'll answer the question.

AP is only accepted as anything more than a honors high school class by some schools; also, different schools require different grades on the test to either give credit or allow you to skip the lower classes. I took two AP courses my junior year, got a 3 on the English comp and a 2 on the calculus AB; my school wasn't interested in anything less than a 5, so I got nothing for it.

College credit, on the other hand, can flow a lot easier into the credits your actual college diploma will require. You sound like a bright kid (excuse me, young adult) who has a shot at a really good, exclusive concurrent-credit opportunity. Personally, I did some community college through a program called Running Start during my junior and senior years. My high school advisers told me that colleges would rather see AP credit, but I couldn't take honors history and band due to a schedule conflict, so I did the concurrent credit. Personally, I really enjoyed it, and not only did it help me get into a very decent school, but most of the credits actually counted; got a science class and my my foreign language requirement out of the way, as well as taking care of a slew of electives and PE. If I didn't do concurrent credit, I would not be graduating on time. Odds are that if my school accepted credits from a community college, yours will definitely accept them from a top-10 school.

Go with the college credit.

Edgar Said:

What percentage chance do you think I have at these colleges?

We Answered:

I think you are pretty solidly in at all these schools. Another school you should look at is Holy Cross 40 minutes outside Boston. It is ranked higher academically by the Princeton Review than any of the schools on your list and highly regarded by grad schools. Both Holy Cross and Boston College are run by the Jesuits. Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England.

Ernest Said:

Transfer chances from UT-Austin to private liberal arts colleges?

We Answered:

You have a very good chance at all of those schools. High GPAs at college are not as common as you think, and you have a very good one, so I wouldn't be surprised if you got accepted by all those schools. I transferred up to a better school after 2 years at a pretty decent school, and got in based on my college GPA--it was about the same as yours and I transferred to a pretty hard school and had lower SAT scores. You got it, just fill out the applications in time because deadlines are usually in March, at least when I applied. Good luck!! :)

Pearl Said:

what exactly is a liberal arts college?

We Answered:

Liberal arts colleges tend to be (but aren't always) small, private schools offering the liberal arts majors - that includes English, art, history, the social sciences, math, and the physical sciences (bio, chem, physics, astronomy, geology, etc). Some liberal arts schools also offer engineering, but most don't offer professional programs that are more job training than traditional education (like nursing). They offer the core majors, and are an excellent way to prepare for a professional (medicine, law) or graduate program. They often have excellent reputations, and offer undergraduate students the chance to do research in their field - often not an option at large universities where students have to compete with graduate students for a professor's time and resources. Here's a list of top liberal arts colleges. http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreview…