Concord dropout...

[careerstudentca]

I started the online JD program this June, and found it very hard to keep up with the modules. IT IS A LOT OF WORK! Don't get me wrong, I never expected it to be easy... but because I'm a newbie...I found that it was taking me an hour to read and brief a short case. Therefore, the reading assignment was taking longer than "allotted". I have done online programs in the past and thought that this would be similar, but was wrong! Law School is a whole other world....and I have lots of questions. The school encourages a student to discover the answer on his/her own...and email the Prof as a last resort. The turn around time for an email response is about 1 - 2 days. Needless to say, it just wasn't a right "fit" for me. Not to mention, I have this big pit of uncertainty regarding the school not being accredited, whether or not I'm even going to be able to get a job after it's all said and done, and oh ya the big DEBT I will have.....
So, I sadly submitted my request to withdraw from the JD program today (after only 6 weeks). I'm feeling very defeated right now. I'm hoping to attend a traditional school part time 3 years from now (TJSL in San Diego)when we return from overseas... any suggestions on how I can get myself ahead of the "game" before then?
Anyone else out there been a law school drop out before... and found their way back?

[financialandtaxguy]

Hi,

My suggestion to you is that you read through the other topics in this section and I'm sure you will find others who will sympathize with you!  Regarding your concern over costs, going back to a traditional law school like TJSL is not going to help your cause.  There are other online law school venues available and if you browse through the topics in this section, you will find a lot of help!

[passaroa25]

Online law schools are a good idea, if and only if, you have the time and the resources to study 10 hours a day, six days a week.  The modules are so short that it would be foolish to study these online courses on a part time basis.  There is just too much we need to know at the end of the school year and when it is time to take the FYLSE.

Try California Southern.  It is cheaper than Concord.  You can make monthly payments and the pace is slower.  But before you enroll in another online law school, keep your casebooks and read them through at least twice.  This will increase the rate through which you will get through a case when you start law school again.

Mid-Atlantic School of Law allows you to proceed at your own pace.  But, don't fall into the trap of simply reading the Gilberts outlines; skipping over the cited cases.  You won't learn how to think like a lawyer that way.

[calgal27]

Hi.  2 years ago... I too was enrolled in an online law school.  I chose Taft because they were the only online law school where you could get federal student loans.  I actually had research all the online schools and they seemed to be the best of the bunch.  Concord seemed too expensive for what you are actually getting.

Needless to say, I lasted 7 weeks at Taft.  I have been in the legal profession for 20 years.  At the time I started Taft, I was half-way finished with my Master's Degree in Law & Policy.   I put that on hold figuring I would just go to law school.  Wrong decision. 

 Law is difficult.  You must learn a new way to think.  Trying to do that online is not easy.  I have no problem briefing cases.  My problem was I would receive a 3 out of 4 on a brief with no feedback.  I mean... that is a 75%.  When I would ask the "professor" where I went wrong, I got a "canned" response.  The response sounded like it had nothing to do with my brief. 

So, I dropped out.  I went and finished my Master's Degree and will now be attending a brick and mortar law school in September.  I live in the Atlanta area and there is a law school in Birmingham, Alabama that has a weekend program.  I will be taking classes in Birmingham every Saturday.  The reason I chose this school (state approved.. not ABA approved) is because my LSAT score was low and they do not use it as a criteria for admission.  I will only be able to take the bar in Alabama, which is okay.  I will be almost 50 when I graduate so where I end up after I'm done doesn't really matter.  And the tuition is affordable so no debt when I'm done.

It will be hard.. no doubt, but I think just being able to sit in a classroom and listen and ask questions will make all the difference in the world. 

[InterAlia1961]

I'm a 2L student at Concord, waiting for the results of the FYLSE. While Concord has been difficult, I wouldn't change a thing. If it weren't for DL schools like Concord, I wouldn't be able to pursue my dream. I live in a very rural area of northern Wisconsin. How rural is it? No one here has a cellphone because they won't work. The old-growth forest blocks the signals. For me to go to a traditional law school, I would have to sell or rent out my organic dairy farm and travel six-hours south to Madison, and pay 2x the tuition.

Concord has opened doors that otherwise would have remained closed. At 50-years old, I have no plans to work for a high-powered, big city law firm. I just want to help my friends and neighbors in the rural community, and work with groups like the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund.

For now, I'm studying and waiting for the results, which the California State Bar insists won't be mailed out until August 12th. A colleague told me that we can call in on the 12th to see if our names are on the 'pass list.' In the meantime, I'm back to the compulsive checking of my horoscope and eating antacids three times a day. Sigh.

[lawstudent#1]

Is it true that online law schools require 70% or higher to pass and without a curve?

I ask since most "traditional" lawschools are open book exams(or take home even) and on a curve. I have seen people get a B with less than a 50% in some classes.

[InterAlia1961]

Is it true that online law schools require 70% or higher to pass and without a curve?

I ask since most "traditional" law schools are open book exams(or take home even) and on a curve. I have seen people get a B with less than a 50% in some classes.

Yes, it's true. Concord adheres to the 70% thing with no curve. I can be a real pain in the arse. The instructors are tough too. Drill-sergeant tough. Even though live classes are delivered via streaming audio, you know when you're getting yelled at. I was in class one evening when my husband came in from chores. One of my professors was on the war path. My husband yelled up the stairs and asked, "Is he yelling at you like that?" My answer was an unequivocal, albeit timid, "Yes." Never, ever show up for class un-prepared. Ever.
 

[lawstudent#1]

Many ABA lawschool have simular distance learning electives.

I could see the ABA approving of those for a degree as long as the finals were still proctered on campus, but only from a campus that already does regular ABA degrees too.

As for the self procted self paced non accredited ones that somehow get allowed to sit the bar in CA, (yes they do exist) They strike me as a bad idea.