University of West L.A.

[steve23ucsb]

I have grown up in Southern California and wanted to get away...but I may end up going to University of West Los Angeles Law School.  Has anyone gone there or know anyone who has?  What was it like and how was their success afterwards?

[RufusTheStuntBum]

Never heard of it and I live in SoCal.

Is it accredited?  If not, don't go.  Retake the LSAT or do something else to get into a better school.

[SillyMia]

steve, you talkin' bout ucla?

[bobo21]

There is a University of West Los Angeles but it SUCKS.  I get junk mail from them all the time.  I think the only attorney that has done something with the degree is Gary Dordick, who is a really good consumer attorney and he appears on all their materials.  If you are going to go to an unaccredited law school maybe LaVerne would be a better option, I have read that they are going to try and get provisional ABA accreditation...

[SillyMia]

Oh wow!  There really IS a University of West Los Angeles?  I thought it was code and I grew up in LA also.

You know what, though, that's just what it's like with unaccredited schools, nobody that lives more than 8 blocks away knows about them.  But you'll find that in smaller towns, they are highly respected.

Steve, if you plan on staying in SB, SB Law is very respected here and you'll be taught by local attorneys and judges.  Everybody knows each other and I would say that about 35% of SB attorneys (the good ones, too) are sb graduates.  Just my thought though.  There are draw backs, including that it's only part time.

The other thing I understand about unaccredited schools is that you can't get any federal loans.  just something to think about.

[bruin]

I believe that you can still get federal loans at non-ABA accredited schools, as long as they have accreditation of some sort, as many of the CA non-accredited schools do (regional education boards, not ABA). Heck, I believe that you can get staffords even at Peoples College of Law.

To the OP, only go to West LA if you have NO (ABA) accredited options available. Even then, realize that attending a non-ABA school has it's limitations, and look into the bar passage rates and employment statistics and decide for yourself it attending is worth it.

[steve23ucsb]

Bruin - so far I have ONE ABA option... Appalachian School of Law is provisionally ABA approved, bu it is in hillbilly land in Virginia.  I am going to go visit it.  Do you think thats a horrible decision to go so far out there?

[SillyMia]

Steve, I know the question wasn't directed at me, but your initial post said you wanted to get away from socal.  if you go to west la col, you will probably not get away in the future if you want to practice law.

take your provisional aba option.  what happens if they lose accred?  i think they petition for a longer streak (5 years provisional and one chance to appeal, is it?).  my sister-in-law graduated from california western when it was provisionally accredited and she graduated right before they lost it.  they're appealing right now, but i don't know hwat happens to the current students.  sister-in-law has aba status forever though, she doesn't lose it when school loses it.

look into it through aba and maybe even call and ask what the deal is with provisionals.  if you want to get away in the future, it would be nice to be able to take your degree with you.

[DutchessA]

I briefly, I'm very impatient...went to a non-ABA accredited school last Fall...Lincoln San Jose...I had a bad experience and bad some good money for it...my recommendation if you can get into an ABA (provisional or full), go...

I never applied to any ABA schools, I moved quickly and thought hey I want to go to Law School, um, NOW...And I paid for it, I withdrew added an addendum to my apps and got in a few places and have been put on the wait list for the rest...

Oh, and I wasn't offered federal funding for the CA-accredited school, you can get private loans which are not tax deductible, which sucks!!!

[bruin]

Bruin - so far I have ONE ABA option... Appalachian School of Law is provisionally ABA approved, bu it is in hillbilly land in Virginia.  I am going to go visit it.  Do you think thats a horrible decision to go so far out there?

You said in the OP that you would like to get away from SoCal; If you go to West LA, you will most likely have to stay in SoCal after graduation, there are many states that will not even let you sit for the bar if you don't go to an ABA school. Appalacian will certainly take you far, far away from SoCal. You may be limited as far as jobs at graduation from there as well, but you can practice law anywhere-no restrictions on taking the bar in any state.

Whether it is the right decision really depends on your priorities, but you would not be making a bad decision attending Appalacian over West LA. And if you still consider West LA, look into the loan situation; I believe that CA-accredited schools are stafford-eligible, but reading Dutchessa's post, I could be wrong.