<p>Roneald makes a good point, it really is about what you could have done. I know people who are trying to graduate in 3 years and they almost never have summer vacation anymore due to summer school, their coursework in the 3 years they planned for college is jam packed with major and graduation requirements, and they are constantly complaining about how they don’t have time to take, say, Intro to Buddhism or the Chemistry of Thinking. They are all about squeezing in all the credits they can and getting out of there. No fun. Of course, that is just a percentage of 3-year graduates. </p>
<p>Yes mitssu, many students who graduate in 3 years are indeed motivated and perhaps even achieve more than a student who takes 4 years. But I think what most people are trying to say here is: it doesn’t matter if you were amazing, because the admissions board isn’t going to know why you only chose to spend 3 years, unless you give them a concise and convincing reason somewhere in your app/interview. Building on to what sallyawp said, they aren’t going to spend hours researching your background and measuring your determination in college. They probably spend 1 minute tops reading your app, see that you graduated in 3 years, form their opinion, and move on. And according to what people have posted, many law schools just look unfavorably upon 3-year graduates, period.</p>
<p>People are here to answer the question whether graduating in 3 years will hurt chances for law school, and the answer is YES, from people’s experiences, it seems that way. I don’t know why or how the admissions board functions. That’s just the way it is. So all these posts about how 3-year graduates are just as good, achieve just as much, and are just as mature as 4-year graduates: we believe you (or at least I do). But it’s not us you need to convince. It’s the admissions board.</p>