Getting into Ivy League Grad school.?

I'm a Junior in HS with a 3.7 GPA which I have a good outlook on raising. I go to a small private school with no extracurricular opportunities, though it is accredited. I plan on going to a "normal" college to major in Political Science before heading to Law school. I would love to go to an Ivy league grad school but I need to know how much they will look at my high school transcripts. What type of extracurriculars in college will look good? Also, what type of LSAT will I need? Any other helpful tips?

Getting into Ivy League Grad school.?
Law schools don't care about anything you did in high school.



They do care about:

1. LSAT score (most important). To get into one of the upper Ivy law schools (Yale, Harvard, Columbia), you will generally need a 165+ to have a decent shot, and a 170+ to have a good chance. To get into the lower Ivy law schools (Cornell, Penn), you will generally need a 160+ to have a decent shot and a 165+ to have a good chance. Of course, to some extent a high GPA can make up for a low LSAT and vice versa. (Note that Princeton, Brown, and Dartmouth do not have law schools.)



2. College GPA (really try to get a 3.5+, preferably a 3.7+ if you want an Ivy law school)

3. College's academic reputation (e.g., a 3.7 from "First Rate State" will get you into more law schools than a 3.7 from "Keg Party U." will)

4. Activities in college--any activities are fine, but you want to show commitment and leadership in a variety of settings.

5. Recommendation letters



Law schools do not require any specific undergrad major or courses. But you should generally take (1) a major that you will enjoy, so you work hard and get good grades (2) some classes that develop your analytical skills (3) some classes that develop your writing skills.



Some more comments though: there's no such thing as "no extracurricular opportunities" in high school. If there are no clubs, you can open one. If you don't want to open a club, you can still volunteer at a local orphanage or soup kitchen, or read books to kids at the library, etc. If you have literally no extracurriculars, it will be a little hard to get into college, even a "normal" college.



Which brings me to my second point--if you want to go to an Ivy law school, are you sure you want to go to a "normal" college? Why not go to an Ivy college? (If you can keep your GPA high, you will have a bit of an advantage getting into a top law school if you come out of top college.) Despite what most people think, Ivies are not generally more expensive than other private schools are (although they are often more expensive than in-state tuition at your own state's university). In fact, because the Ivies are rich (esp. Harvard, Yale, Princeton) they can usually give out much more $$$ in financial aid grants than other private schools can.
Reply:Law schools, and graduate schools in general, will not ask for your high school transcript. All they are interested in is your college work, GRE, and LSAT scores.
Reply:Just to add, in terms of extra curriculars - if your school doesn't offer many, than look beyond your school for opportunties. Things like the work you do for your church, or volunteering at a local charity, or working part time, or whatever you do outside school - those things all count. And you don't have to do a million activities. But what you do, do with some depth and focus.



A 3.7 is a good GPA. If you can bring it up a bit, and do some extra curriculars, you could get into some good undergrad programs.



As for law school - focus on undergrad first. Make sure your undergrad GPA is high. And get a copy of the US News and World Report top grad school magazine. You can get it off their website. They list the average GPAs and LSAT for all the top tier law schools. Law schools only look at your college stuff, so what you did in high school won't matter toward the law school admissions process. As for college extracurriculars - when you get to college, speak to the pre-law advisor. She can tell you what sorts of things law schools tend to like.