Currently I am attending the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign pursuing an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering. Here at Illinois the engineering department is ranked top 10 in the country and Civil specifically ranks top 3 every year. My worry is that my GPA will weaken my chances of being granted admissions into a top 20 shchool; my GPA is a 3.2. Will this engineering ranking help me dramatically? My goal is a 165-170 and a target school of Northwestern. What kind of score in your eyes will grant be admissions there?
no. lots of engineers in good programs come out with excellent GPAs
Score as high as you possibly can. A 170 with potential binding decision for NU might not be a bad idea. That being said, they tend to prefer not K-JD candidates, so maybe get a job after undergrad and put your engineering degree to use. A solid work history/demonstrated competence in the working world will help distance you from a poor gpa
Switch your major if it’s early enough and if you have a reliable back up option (i.e. a major that will give you jobs or other options if you change your mind about law school). Just get those numbers up! You can do it.
gotcha. didn’t figure it would, but I guess in my mind a binding ED with a really good LSAT is better chance than a non-binding? Or does NU not bump up for ED?
I think there is an argument to be made though that they give a slight preference to those who they defer from ED during the RD round. There is an incentive to admit the 3.2 170 that applied ED and was deferred vs. the 3.2 170 that only applied RD, because the first candidate showed they liked your school enough to apply binding. Admitting that candidate might lead to a better chance of them matriculating and helping their yield. They pretty much admitted to taking this in some blog a year or two back.