Having graduated from UMass Dartmouth undergrad, it is likely they may become ABA approved in the time you are there.  However, it seems more practical to go to the school that gives you more of the taxation classes you want.  Can't you take the train in to Boston?  My parents live about 20 minutes from U-Mass and it only takes me about 35 - 40 minutes to get to Boston from there.   Look into taking the T.  The commute from route 24 is not bad until you get to the 93.  There must be a stop and ride somewhere in that area, Brockton, or maybe closer.  I know it's a lot more money, but I think you should go to the school that focuses more on the type of practice you want to do.  I work full-time and commute about one hour to school and about a half hour back with no traffice at night.  If the T runs fairly consistently after your classes, then it might be worth it.  You can always read on the way there.  Where do you live?   

I'm part time evening and we are not graded against the daytime students.  However, there are daytime students who take some of our night classes and we are curved right along with them for that class.   

I think the biggest problem passing the baby bar is that your are still a baby lawyer - having to take it after only one year of law school.  Your writing skills are not up to par at that point compared to 3Ls taking the bar that have at least gotten a good grip on writing an essay under pressure.  3Ls are also better at spotting issues.  I don't know of anyone who passed the baby bar, but you may want to get a study partner for your essay writing.  I have a study group for school that I've been lucky to find because we are not competitive with each other.  We'll take the same practice exam, switch papers, and learn from each other what we've missed or could have done better.  If you don't have someone to study with, see if you can get one of your professors to look at your outline or full exam in addition to the practice exam answers.  One-on-one feedback from a professor is great because you can ask questions to figure out why you missed a certain issue, etc.  Anyway, hope that helps and good luck. 

Unbiased, it does sound a bit odd to me that you would rather go into more debt and spend your retirement money on a legal education for your daughter who is just kind of stomping her feet and saying no.  Save your money.  Since you were going to lease her a car anyway, why not just do that, let her commute and save yourself a few bucks?  Unless you are worried that her boyfriend will interfere with her studies, in which case, don't pay for law school for her.   I appreciate you want what is best for your daughter, but spending all your retirement so she can pout about not living with her boyfriend doesn't seem very practical to me.  If she really wants to be a lawyer, she will whether she lives with her boyfriend or not.  However, if you are pushing her to go by offering to pay for everything, she is going to flunk out.  So don't waste your time.  Law school is hard already, but if she doesn't really want it, she'll never make it past her first year - trust me. 

I have to say also, that as an employer, there are two major problems I see with recent grads coming out of college.

1.  They have very little work experience while in college.  Although I do not expect a student to work much during college years, I am looking for SOMETHING on their resume other than a 4.0 GPA.  Sorry, but work will get you more work.  I went to college and worked to pay myself through school.  Sure, it was less expensive at the time, but the point is, even while working I managed a good GPA and still had time to party.  In the 17 years since I've graduated, I see more and more parents coddling thier kids and thinking they should not work because they need to keep up their GPA to land their first job.  This might be true for the science industries, but a liberal arts major or creative writing major with a 4.0 is not that impressive without some type of work history.  I want to know that this person can handle the stress of even a fast-food place or restaurant and has the ability to show up on time.  Parents need to realize that the people hiring their children also went to college and a major like creative writing does not require hours and hours of study.  We are looking for some type of work ethic.

2.  They are not taking low paying jobs because they feel entitled to be making more money.  I've noticed an entitlement with some undergrads that they should be making 40K a year right off the bat.  I realize this is not a lot of money, however, when a college grad does nothing for a year because they feel above taking certain jobs, that is also a red flag for me.  Again, work will get you more work.  Maybe people worry that putting a fast-food place on your resume will hurt, but I beg to differ.  Now, I can't speak for every other employer out there, but if I have to choose between someone who worked at Burger King for the last year with a 3.2 gpa versus one with a 4.0 gpa and no work experience, I'm going to hire the BK kid.  I'm looking for a strong work ethic and a desire to work.  If you stayed at home depending on mommy and daddy for the last year without doing some type of work, it insinuates that either you won't do certain tasks required for your job or that you may not even want to work.  Everyone has to pay their dues at some point.  How can I possibly give someone a chance at an entry level job when I don't know if they can even hold down a job?   

I realize that we are still in a recession and when we have a job available, I get hundreds of resumes.  However, there has definitely been a shift in perception among young graduates about what they should be doing and a shift in the parents perceptions as to thinking a small job during college is somehow going to be disastrous for their kids.  It is simply not the case and I don't think I'm the only person out there that feels this way.