Appalachian School of Law-PASO Program

[leyola2]

Hi,

Has anyone completed or been admitted to the PASO Program? I know it's all online and based on your scores you may be admitted to the law school? What is the program like? What are the chances of getting accepted after completing the program? If anyone has any helpful information please inform me. I appreciate the help.

[barprephero]

I honestly don't think they turn any applicants down that even remotely would qualify. If you have an undergrad degree of any GPA at all, and a 140 lsat
I suspect you will be (at worst) "waitlisted" until about a week later when the people who only applied to it as a safety school start to withdrawl their applications.

[Citylaw]

Appalachian law school is a unique location and before sinking time and money into anything I highly recommend visiting the school .

It is a very isolated and remote area, which in my opinion would be very difficult to spend three years at. Some people however, might love it there.

As to the program they probably want you to succeed and become a tuition paying student, but if that is your only option you likely have a law LSAT Score or GPA, which is not conclusive, but indicates you may have difficulty grasping legal concepts.

If it is possible I would recommend scouting out Grundy, Virginia and determining whether you could actually live there for three years prior to enrolling.

Appalachian Law school is ABA approved and will provide you with a quality legal education along with the ability to take the bar exam in any state, but my biggest concern with attending Appalachian law school would be the location.

Good luck whatever you decide.

[barprephero]

Appalachian law school is a unique location and before sinking time and money into anything I highly recommend visiting the school .

It is a very isolated and remote area, which in my opinion would be very difficult to spend three years at. Some people however, might love it there.

As to the program they probably want you to succeed and become a tuition paying student, but if that is your only option you likely have a law LSAT Score or GPA, which is not conclusive, but indicates you may have difficulty grasping legal concepts.

If it is possible I would recommend scouting out Grundy, Virginia and determining whether you could actually live there for three years prior to enrolling.

Appalachian Law school is ABA approved and will provide you with a quality legal education along with the ability to take the bar exam in any state, but my biggest concern with attending Appalachian law school would be the location.

Good luck whatever you decide.

"law LSAT"
that typo is too cool not to actual respect
the mind is a fun thing, gotta love it

[leyola2]

I appreciate everyone's advice because it really helps. Yes, you are right about the school being in a remote location because that can be difficult if you are staying there for a few years. I live out of state so I haven't had a chance to visit the school. I will look at other options too. The only problem is my lsat score isn't the best so that is one of my limitations while applying to other schools. Thank you very much for taking the time to reply.

[barprephero]

If you want to live in a city and are out of state anyways have you looked into other schools that are in the city and allow low score into them?
Whittier, Cooley, etc?

[Citylaw]

Of course there are schools like Cooley and Whittier that have similar admission standards.

You may also want to consider California Bar accredited schools, which have less stringent admission standards and allow you to sit for the California Bar Exam. These schools have limitations, but if your certain law school is for you and you want to live in California it might be a good choice.

A few cal bar approved schools are Santa Barbara College of Law, Cal Northern, and Monterey College of Law. There are about 10-15 more as well.

Good luck.

[barprephero]

Of course there are schools like Cooley and Whittier that have similar admission standards.

You may also want to consider California Bar accredited schools, which have less stringent admission standards and allow you to sit for the California Bar Exam. These schools have limitations, but if your certain law school is for you and you want to live in California it might be a good choice.

A few cal bar approved schools are Santa Barbara College of Law, Cal Northern, and Monterey College of Law. There are about 10-15 more as well.

Good luck.

No, do not do that.

Non ABA is a BAD idea. For many reasons.
1. It limits you to that state only (for the most part)
2. They have a MUCH higher attrition rate and MUCH lower bar pass rate
3. Many have to take the first year bar exam (which is far worse than the LSAT)

It's better to go to the bottom of the barrel ABA than the best of non ABA options.

[Citylaw]

CBA schools have limitations, but they can be great for the right student. Frankly I would much rather attend law school in Santa Barbara or Monterey than Grundy, Virginia.

In addition CBA schools are far cheaper than their ABA counterparts.

I know plenty of successful lawyers from CBA schools, but you are limited to your geographic region. Most CBA schools are located in more remote areas of California.

San Joaquin Valley College of Law in Fresno is a large City without an ABA school for 300 miles in either direction and it is not a destination. The head District Attorney went to San Joaquin as did most lawyers in the area.

If you attend a CBA school some doors will be closed, but the door to being a licensed attorney will be open, but there is high attrition and lower bar passage rates at these schools. If you go the CBA route or even attend Appalachian, Cooley, etc be 100% sure a legal career is what you want and do not expect to make $200,000 out of law school from any of these institutions or any law school really.

Final point is if you graduate and pass the bar your a lawyer and what you do for your clients is how you will be measured. I encourage you to visit your local courthouse and watch lawyers in action you will not a hear law school mentioned once. Instead you will see people facing imprisonment, trying to convict murders win $1,000,000 lawsuit for their client, or obtain custody of their children. The clients could care less if you attended timbucktu state or Harvard if your client does not get the result they paid you they will not be coming back to you, if you get them what they want they will come back and tell their friends about you.

Do not get to caught up in the world of law school rankings and at the end of the day the law is the law and whether you make it in the legal profession will have a lot more to do with you than the school you attend. However, be 100% sure a legal career is what you want and be on notice that if your LSAT is low it may be sign you struggle with standardized testing and to become a lawyer you need to pass the bar exam, which is one of the most difficult standardized tests in the world.

Good luck whatever you decide.



 

[barprephero]

statistics don't lie

we all know "that one guy" who did great with the thing that is statistically bad
and we all know "that one guy" who did bad with the thing that is statistically good


reality is what reality is, don't put your head in the sand. It is NEVER "better" only a "only option" for people in some situations and an uneducated choice by others who don't fully appreciate the gravity of the situation

And the geographic part is just nonsense. There are ABA schools in most if not all those areas too. (or very near by or in nearly identical spots)
ABA or nothing