<p>I have serched the law school board undergrad fairly extensively over the years, and done a lot of reseach: has anyone heard of getting into law school without achieving undergraduate requirements first plsce?</p>
<p>I’ve wondered this before. I’ve never heard of students going to law school straight from high school, though I’m assuming a number of students go to law school who began but never finished college. Perhaps there is someone going to law school “later in life” who never went to college.</p>
<p>Well, I thought I knew the answer, but I found this on the Tulane Law School website: “Tulane Law School is one of a handful of law schools that will allow exceptional students to begin law school without a baccalaureate degree. (We require 3/4 of the work toward a B.A. or B.S., and almost all of the credits must be in courses of substantial intellectual content.) To be admitted without a degree, students must have very strong academic records.”</p>
<p>I also found this on the Indiana U Law School site: “Under exceptional circumstances, applicants who do not have an undergraduate degree may be admitted as candidates for the Bachelor of Law (LL.B.) degree. Applicants may be considered for admission to the LL.B. program if they meet all of the following criteria:
The applicant is least 30 years old.
The applicant has completed at least three-fourths of the credit hours required for a bachelor’s degree with a GPA of 3.3 or higher.
The applicant has not been enrolled in an academic program for at least five years.
The applicant scored in the 75th percentile or higher on the LSAT.”</p>
<p>So it’s possible.</p>
<p>Another interesting tidbit. In VT, you can “read for the law”–study on your own–and become a lawyer if you pass the bar exam. Don’t know if you need an undergraduate degree to do it or if you can practice in other states.</p>
<p>There’s this (though likely need to look at each school considering for law school individually…and maybe they’d make an exception for a particular student…?):</p>
<p>[Juris</a> Doctor - Facts, Information, and Encyclopedia Reference article](<a href=“startsurfing.com - Encyclopedia reference with facts about finance,computer,shopping,car Resources and Information.”>startsurfing.com - Encyclopedia reference with facts about finance,computer,shopping,car Resources and Information.)</p>
<p>I’d never heard of this before, but the above posts show that it’s possible. </p>
<p>I would point out, though, in my personal law school experience, that the folks who did the best academically in law school (law review, etc.) were those who had been out working in the “real world” for a few years before returning to school (ages 25-30 when they started law school). They had a far better “big picture” perspective than those of us who went from kindergarten through law school in one continuous journey. So it sounds like you can do it, but you don’t have a whole lot of life experience to apply to what you’re learning. Thus, I’m not really sure how valuable a law degree is at that stage.</p>
<p>One can also read for the law in Virginia, though the reading has to be overseen by an attorney.</p>
<p>Are you thinking about it for yourself, LTS? Because clearly you would be the kind of exceptional student they’d be looking for!</p>
<p>“or if you can practice in other states.”</p>
<p>Not in my state. California also allows you to “read” (apprentice) instead of attending law school. There are also non-ABA-approved law schools that allow you to sit the California bar. But my state bar requires a JD from an ABA-approved law school, even if you are a licensed attorney in another state.</p>
<p>lts, what do you mean by “without achieving undergraduate requirements in the first place”. What UG requirements are you talking about? If you are asking - “Are there any attorneys out there who went to law school without completing the requirements for an undergraduate degree?” or similar, I know that answer 'cuz I are one. Well, at least I know what the answer was in 1979. ;)</p>
<p>
I graduated Law School at age 22 . In retrospect, it wasn’t that great an idea. ( I also “left” high school early but that was at the “suggestion” of the vice-principal ;).) </p>
<p>I was sort of an idiot-savant , but without the savant part ;).</p>
<p>yea… cos many idiots get to graduate law school at age 22 ;)</p>
<p>OT, sorry…</p>
<p>
I believe that my school now blames that fact on the punchcard computer system they had in place. Hanging chads and all that.;)</p>
<p>Cur, and all this time, I thought that the Paper Chase was your life story. :)</p>
<p>Still OT:</p>
<p>xiggi, I must have been chasing something . Never did catch it and now I can’t quite remember what it mght have been or why I was in such a rush.</p>
<p>(As to Paper Chase, the movie - I did have my own Kingsfield. Two of them, in fact. “Stand and recite” will still send shivers up my spine.)</p>
<p>There is a method of thinking that is fostered in law school that cannot be replicated by studying or reading the law. The lawyers I have met who read for the law and did not attend law school are usually not particularly capable. They usually handle aspects of the law that are more clerical in nature such as real estate closings, etc. I would not recommend anyone bypass law school. It is foolish to do so.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>All of this is a little off-point, since LTS didn’t ask about becoming a lawyer without attending law school, but two things come to mind:</p>
<p>–A significant percentage of the lawyers I encounter who did attend law school aren’t “particularly capable,” either. (As legendary baseball executive Bill Veeck once observed [and this goes for lawyers as well], the problem isn’t with the stars and the money they command; it’s the high cost of mediocrity.)</p>
<p>–Lots of lawyers who never went to law school had tremendous success in the courtroom. One lanky and homely fellow comes immediately to mind - guy by the name of Lincoln.</p>
<p>"I graduated Law School at age 22 . In retrospect, it wasn’t that great an idea. ( I also “left” high school early but that was at the “suggestion” of the vice-principal .) </p>
<p>I was sort of an idiot-savant , but without the savant part ."</p>
<p>Curmugeon, the LAST thing you ever sound like is an idiot.</p>
<p>My sister went to law school at age 30, and she did have to finish her undergrad requirements (one incomplete class and write a B.A. paper) that she had neglected for 8 years. I think the professor for the incomplete class had died, complicating matters.</p>
<p>Razorsharp, in #16 did you intend to type that you don’t think anyone should bypass undergrad (v.law school?)?</p>