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Hey AC,

Admissions will not look down on you because you started at a community college, particularly if you end up transferring to a high-caliber school such as UC Berkeley. Law schools will care much more about your GPA than where you got it, and they will care about your LSAT score more than your GPA (although having a low GPA will not really be ameliorated by having a high LSAT). For school in the T14, aim for a GPA of 3.6+ (the closer to a 4.0, the better), and an LSAT score of 170+ (172+ is even better).

Rather than worrying about the general "prestige" of your undergrad, if your aim is a T14 school, focus on creating a stellar applicant profile: high GPA, excellent LSAT, well-crafted essay and résumé, and stellar letters of recommendation.

Here are some additional thoughts about how you can create a solid applicant profile:

► Your personal statement. This is the creative essay you will write and include with your application. Many students write about why they want to attend law school; while this is definitely a worthwhile topic, it is not necessarily what you must write about. The personal statement is the one part of the application that you have complete control over, which is why it is also one the most important after your numerical indicators. It shows law schools your writing abilities, judgment in selecting a topic, and ability to engage an audience. The University of Chicago Law School has some great tips on what they look for and what to watch out for an avoid in a personal statement: http://www.law.uchicago.edu/node/1451

► Your letters of recommendation: I would say that these are second in importance to the personal statement, although they are certainly not unimportant by any means. The LORs allow law schools to hear others talk about your academic, personal, and extracurricular achievements and abilities. AdComs can tell a lot from your letters, what is written in them, and who wrote them for you. If it is obvious that you chose someone that doesn't know you at all, simply for the sake of having someone with an impressive title write your letter, then that speaks very poorly of you. If you chose someone who knows you extensively and wrote a glowingly positive letter filled with personal anecdotes, then that speaks highly of your choice. If you (God forbid) chose someone who writes a negative letter, then it calls into question your judgment. As you can see, it is not just about what's in the letter, but also what can be surmised from it that matters. A good letter should be lengthy, overwhelmingly positive, and filled with stories that only someone you have worked with closely would be able to write.

► Your résumé: This will tell law schools a number of things - What you were/are involved in, what you chose to showcase, how far you've risen within the leadership of any groups you are in, what you've done for employment, etc. It essentially tells the story of your life outside of the classroom. This is why it is important--it lets them have a glimpse into an area of your life that may not be addressed elsewhere (unless you choose to discuss a previous job or activity in your personal statement).

► Your transcript: Although your GPA will be the primary element that will be gleaned from your transcript, a number of other things can be surmised as well: Your major (and the relative difficulty of it), your grade trends (did they go up consistently? Did they start high and continue to stay elevated? Did they go down as you went through school?), and your course selection (is your transcript filled with elementary and introductory classes? Did you choose high-level courses?).

Although it is doubtful that any of these elements will hold as much weight as your GPA/LSAT combo, in the event that there are other qualified candidates with your same credentials (or in the event that you are a "splitter"--i.e., someone with a high LSAT but low GPA, or vice-versa), then these "softs" will play a much bigger role, and may even end up playing the determining role in your admissions decision, particularly if you're aiming for elite law schools.

I hope that helped! Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Hey AC,

Schools won't care about your CC/UC-B split unless you did poorly at the community college. Assuming, however, that you earn top grades both before and after the transfer, you'll be on (almost) equal footing with someone who spent 4 years at Berkeley. I say 'almost' because, should everything else about your application be equal, your 2 years at CC will serve as a 'tie breaker'. However, rarely are all other things equal, and if your grades qualify you for a spot at the T14 school in which you're interested, you'll get a seat.

Good luck!

for top 14 law schools check google.com

about your admission, they cannot look down on you just for starting at a community college

Check out this link: http://www.top-law-schools.com/rankings.html