how much weight will my alma mater hold?

[SouthernBelle1L]

I went to a small, private liberal arts school in the south. It is well respected in this region, and has recently earned some national exposure (by making it to the NCAA tournament for the last 3 years, and hosting one of the recent presidential debates), but I doubt that T14 law programs know it well. Within the university, my program was notoriously rigorous (Political Science, though my school required intensive coursework in economics and quantitative methods), making it a real achievement to earn my 3.8 GPA while juggling another major and extra curriculars.

Still, how do I ensure that my prospective law schools appreciate this? With a good LSAT (shooting for 169 and above, on par with my practice tests), a 3.8 GPA, and two years of relevant work experience, will I be competitive at the top programs despite my alma mater?

[nealric]

Not trying to sound harsh, but law school admissions committees couldn't care less that your 3.8 was "harder" than a 3.8 from anywhere else. Frankly, everyone thinks their undergrad was better than everywhere else.

That said, if you get what you think you will on the LSAT that 3.8 will serve you well (regardless of where its from).

[SouthernBelle1L]

Not trying to sound harsh, but law school admissions committees couldn't care less that your 3.8 was "harder" than a 3.8 from anywhere else. Frankly, everyone thinks their undergrad was better than everywhere else.

That said, if you get what you think you will on the LSAT that 3.8 will serve you well (regardless of where its from).

Fair enough. I just tried to subscribe to the advice I kept getting that I was better off getting a lower GPA on a transcript loaded with the hardest, most analytical courses my school offered, as opposed to getting the 4.0 in PR (which was ridiculously easy at my school). I just wanted some way to indicate to schools that I didn't take the path of least resistance, since they wouldn't automatically know that by my school's name...

[goaliechica]

Not trying to sound harsh, but law school admissions committees couldn't care less that your 3.8 was "harder" than a 3.8 from anywhere else. Frankly, everyone thinks their undergrad was better than everywhere else.

That said, if you get what you think you will on the LSAT that 3.8 will serve you well (regardless of where its from).

Fair enough. I just tried to subscribe to the advice I kept getting that I was better off getting a lower GPA on a transcript loaded with the hardest, most analytical courses my school offered, as opposed to getting the 4.0 in PR (which was ridiculously easy at my school). I just wanted some way to indicate to schools that I didn't take the path of least resistance, since they wouldn't automatically know that by my school's name...

If you are comfortable doing so, this is the kind of thing that you could probably ask one of your faculty recommenders to discuss.

[nealric]

Fair enough. I just tried to subscribe to the advice I kept getting that I was better off getting a lower GPA on a transcript loaded with the hardest, most analytical courses my school offered, as opposed to getting the 4.0 in PR (which was ridiculously easy at my school)

You keep getting bad advice. It's Better to get the 4.0 in easy subjects for law school admissions. This is because committees can't tell what's hard and easy. It's not like high school where you have "Honors" or "AP" designations to go by.