Accepted to law school w/o undergrad degree?

[SJV]

True story.  I know there is some guy that went to Yale w/o an undergrad degree.

You should go ahead and shoot them an app. 

[Bobo]

"Not in California and a couple other states."

Ooops, I stand corrected - at least, on California.  I haven't seen any other states that allow bar passage without graduating from an ABA-accredited school.

I don't mean to be a pain in the ass, but there are a few more states:  Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and West Virginia.  Also, several other states (Wisconsin is the only one that comes to mind) allow you take the bar exam if you have passed the bar in another state. 

You might find the case of MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL OF LAW AT ANDOVER, INC.v. AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION, ET AL. (142 F.3d 26) interesting, it discussed ABA accreditation at length, and mentions which states allow non-ABA schools to take the bar.

[Melinda]

My advice would be to get an undergrad degree.  You have good grades in high school, you may get some scholarship money or grants.  I worked my way through college and it was not that bad.  After 5 years (I think that number is correct) the LSAT will fall off your record, you will have a college degree, and retake the LSAT better prepared.

Good luck

[Leaf2001br]

Not to mention that you took the LSAT with a week's preparation.  Though it is a standardized test, it's not like the SAT.  It doesn't matter how smart you are, you have to prepare for the LSAT extensively and you are expected to.  Most can easily pump their score up by 10 points or so.  In fact I think some of the prep courses guarantee it if I'm not mistaken.  Unfortunately, you don't just get to toss your old score, so a 5-year tour of college might be the best thing to do now that you've married yourself to that LSAT score.  Don't be discouraged, that's probably a pretty good score for someone just out of high school with no prep time.  But you shouldn't take the LSAT lightly and now you can't get rid of that score for a while. I agree that you will do better when you take it after college.

[AuburnChick]

GO TO COLLEGE-with that gpa you should be able to get a good scholarship and if you have a good national hs debate record, you may be able to get some $$ to debate in college!

[hasikelee]

Although the replies might be initially discouraging, you have all given me some things to think about and some good suggestions. I'm really disappointed about the 5-year thing... is it that you can't take the test again and the score remains the same?

As for my gpa, it would have been a 4.0 but I bombed calculus and physics in my junior year (graduated a year early) and that brought my whole average down. It also marred my chances for a good scholarship because my ACT comp was lowered. I scored a 36 in reading and english but math ruined it for me. :-(

So last year I only got a 50% scholarship to SLU. I was waitlisted at WashU and SDU. Considering I have ten sibs and we are a 1 income family, financial aid should have been forthcoming, but our taxes were delayed and inaccurate (showed we had 4 kids and a 6 figure income). All in all, it was a bad year! lol. That was when I decided, with my financial status and my math grades, that med school was not for me. My hobby has always involved public interest, lobbying and writing, etc...so I thought maybe law school...

</odd rant to complete strangers.

[giraffe205]

I think it's great that you are considering going to school. You may also want to think about going to community college for the first two years. That way you won't have to uproot your family, the tuition is pretty cheap, and you can transfer in two years. If anything you'll at least have an associate's degree.

You should re-take the SAT or ACT since colleges take the higher score. Study for the math portion and see what happens. Unlike colleges, though, law schools average your LSAT score. So a 149 will really pull down a much better score. In order to be in the game for a tier 2 school, you should have at least a 157, in general. Therefore, you'd have to get a 165 on your next try, which is really difficult, in order to average out at 157. If you want to go to a first tier school, you'll need at least a 162 to be in the game. The good news is that after 5 years, we believe, your first LSAT score is erased. So you can re-take the exam as if it were your first time and schools will not know about your 149.

(You guys can argue about the numbers I set, but it is my personal opinion of what T1s and T2s are looking for.).

[tacojohn]

You need to go to college.  And get a graduate degree while you are at it.  Sub-150 scores can be the kiss of death.  If you're serious about studying law, go get a college degree and don't apply for five years, when that LSAT score is off the record.  And then go reprimand your friend, you don't sign someone up for the LSAT as a suprise.

[Leaf2001br]

And then go reprimand your friend, you don't sign someone up for the LSAT as a suprise.

Ha. Amen.

[hasikelee]

Oh, trust me, he has been reprimanded.