how do law schools view online undergraduate degrees?

[jbehar]

I am finishing my undergrad as a history major at UMUC the online college of UMD.  My degree will read University College rather than University of Maryland.   I am interested if anyone has applied or knows of one who has with this type of degree and what the stance was of the school applied to.

[Saluki]

I went to undergrad entirely online and got into law school this year. I'm at a Tier 3, but am in Law School. My LSAT was crap too, so it can be done easily coming with a decent LSAT. The only law schools that are likely to know the difference in the school are the ones actually in Maryland, or really close by. I doubt they will care if your LSAT is good though. Many studies have been done and online Undergrads are considered to be just as good, if not better, in teaching students. You should not have a problem, unless your LSAT is below a 150, but that is an entirely different subject.

[thorc954]

I kind of agree with the other poster.  Most places wont know it is an online university.  it seems like it is probably a decent one too, if it is part of the umd system.  I would just not mention anywhere that you completed your studies online.  let your lsat speak for itself.  I would make sure to cast your net a little wider on applications though, as there obviously still is a stigma attached to online universities.  good luck though

[uart]

Is it accredited?

[contrarian]

I think it's rather ignorant to assume the admissions people, whose job it is to evaluate thousands of applications a year, wouldn't be cognizant of undergraduate institutions and their relative reputation of quality. 

That said, even online schools have varying degrees of reputation.  I think it would be not be as beneficial as a degree from, say, Harvard if you were applying to a T1, but the lower down on the totem pole you get the less they will care.  From what I can tell of the bottom tier schools, they'd take you as long as you have a pulse and money... and i'm not too sure about that pulse requirement. 

[Saluki]

I think it's rather ignorant to assume the admissions people, whose job it is to evaluate thousands of applications a year, wouldn't be cognizant of undergraduate institutions and their relative reputation of quality. 

That said, even online schools have varying degrees of reputation.  I think it would be not be as beneficial as a degree from, say, Harvard if you were applying to a T1, but the lower down on the totem pole you get the less they will care.  From what I can tell of the bottom tier schools, they'd take you as long as you have a pulse and money... and i'm not too sure about that pulse requirement. 

This is not accurate at all. The admissions department really only care about your LSAT, and then they care a little bit about your GPA. This is true for any school. If you are borderline they will look at soft factors, but that is about it. Obviously a guy that got a 3.6 from Harvard is going to be taken on the border over a guy who got a 3.6 from a less recognized school. There are only a few schools that will take you if you have a pulse and money, all are currently T4's... Every school turns down applicants every year though. About half of the applicants who apply to law school get in nowhere.

[xferlawstudent]

I think it's rather ignorant to assume the admissions people, whose job it is to evaluate thousands of applications a year, wouldn't be cognizant of undergraduate institutions and their relative reputation of quality. 

That said, even online schools have varying degrees of reputation.  I think it would be not be as beneficial as a degree from, say, Harvard if you were applying to a T1, but the lower down on the totem pole you get the less they will care.  From what I can tell of the bottom tier schools, they'd take you as long as you have a pulse and money... and i'm not too sure about that pulse requirement. 

This is not accurate at all. The admissions department really only care about your LSAT, and then they care a little bit about your GPA. This is true for any school. If you are borderline they will look at soft factors, but that is about it. Obviously a guy that got a 3.6 from Harvard is going to be taken on the border over a guy who got a 3.6 from a less recognized school. There are only a few schools that will take you if you have a pulse and money, all are currently T4's... Every school turns down applicants every year though. About half of the applicants who apply to law school get in nowhere.

TITCR.  Law school admission is overwhelmingly based on LSAT, then to a much lesser extent UGPA, then school's reputation is almost a non-factor.  The only way your UG matter is if you went to Harvard and they want to brag that Harvard grads attend their law school.

[contrarian]

I think it's rather ignorant to assume the admissions people, whose job it is to evaluate thousands of applications a year, wouldn't be cognizant of undergraduate institutions and their relative reputation of quality. 

That said, even online schools have varying degrees of reputation.  I think it would be not be as beneficial as a degree from, say, Harvard if you were applying to a T1, but the lower down on the totem pole you get the less they will care.  From what I can tell of the bottom tier schools, they'd take you as long as you have a pulse and money... and i'm not too sure about that pulse requirement. 

This is not accurate at all. The admissions department really only care about your LSAT, and then they care a little bit about your GPA. This is true for any school. If you are borderline they will look at soft factors, but that is about it. Obviously a guy that got a 3.6 from Harvard is going to be taken on the border over a guy who got a 3.6 from a less recognized school. There are only a few schools that will take you if you have a pulse and money, all are currently T4's... Every school turns down applicants every year though. About half of the applicants who apply to law school get in nowhere.

TITCR.  Law school admission is overwhelmingly based on LSAT, then to a much lesser extent UGPA, then school's reputation is almost a non-factor.  The only way your UG matter is if you went to Harvard and they want to brag that Harvard grads attend their law school.

Wrong!  Sakuli responds to an argument about the weight of the LSAT over other factors that was not part of the original statement.  Nowhere do I state that the reputation of the school trumps LSAT or UGPA.  I  even say that it becomes less relevant for the less prestigious schools, nowhere saying to what extent that relevancy originally had except that Harvard will hold a higher weight over University of Phoenix.

I have five years work experience with e-learning institutions.  As far as reputation goes, brick and mortar (especially top tier) will trump the online schools.  Doesn't mean that that is a significant factor, but it is out there. 

[Peaches]

This is not accurate at all. The admissions department really only care about your LSAT, and then they care a little bit about your GPA.

There's some really good information out there about which schools are LSAT-heavy and which schools are GPA-heavy.  But it's certainly not "really only care about your LSAT"/"Care a little about your GPA".

The online degree may not matter much in the lower tiers, but nearly everyone at my school came from highly prestigious private, top public university, or small private school with regional prestige.  There are only a few people who came from even some of the less prestigious campuses of a top public university system and zero kids from online schools.  There is a bias against online schools.  (And you can argue about whether or not that's a good thing.)  But online schools have not yet gained traction with top employers, and top schools want to protect their reputation with them.

[xferlawstudent]

Think about this:

Which would you rather have when applying?

2.1/177
3.9/150