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Hey is anyone here a 1L at Regent University in Virginia? If so, what do you think of the law school overall and what were your LSAT/GPA scores that got you in? I am considering Regent as my law school of choice do to my husband being in the Air Force and stationed in Langley Virginia. I would appreciate any information that you could give me. Thanks!

CNUcrazy09 wrote:Hey is anyone here a 1L at Regent University in Virginia? If so, what do you think of the law school overall and what were your LSAT/GPA scores that got you in? I am considering Regent as my law school of choice do to my husband being in the Air Force and stationed in Langley Virginia. I would appreciate any information that you could give me. Thanks!

If your interested in information from TLS, the google searches on the top/left part of the site will give you some interesting reads. I'm 99.99999% sure no Regent 1L's frequent this site.

In a nut shell, the school is loathed on this as being a right winged looney bin. (Nothing against decent, conservative law schools, there are some good ones out there, but this one hangs on the edge for those that are confident the world is flat) The law school itself is statistically ranked toward the bottom of all ABA schools and is generally regarded as one of the worst law schools in the country. Add to that placement prospects are bleak and you have all the makings of $120,000 toilet to flush your money down.

IMHO.... I'd look for other options in the area.

Trust me I have applied to George Mason University, William and Mary, University of District of Columbia. William and Mary is my first choice but if I do not get in and I get into Regent I am going to take it. Law has always been my dream and I am not going to give that up because somebody thinks its a toilet for me to throw my money down. I understand your opinion and where you are seeming to come from but I have to make a logical choice of what is available to me in my area right now. My husband can't transfer bases just because I get accepted to a law school somewhere else. If not William and Mary, then Regent is probably where I am going. At least I will have fulfilled my dream. Nobody ever said the road was paved with gold and had signs to tell you where to go. Sometimes you have to take what you are given and make your own way. Take what seems impossible and make it possible. My low LSAT is holding me back from getting into a higher tiered law school. So why not pursue my dream where I can and go from there? Sometimes you have to make your own road whether it be with a higher ranked law school or with Regent.

You just might be perfect Regent.

You've posed on TLS shows which shows you've done at least a little bit of research. Are you aware of the current job market out there for lawyers? Do you know what kind of law you want to practice? Do you have any idea what the monthly payments are on $120,000 of debt? Keep in mind, scholastic debt can't be discharged through bankruptcy... it's with you for life.

Hey, it's your life and you'll do what you want to do. No one will stop you. I just ask that you don't go into a situation as big as this with blinders on to the realities of the current market.

Confused by your post Grey Area. What did you mean, "You just might be perfect Regent." ?

Nobody ever said that I had blinders on. I am doing what I have to. My husband is giving me his G.I. Bill to pay for a good chunk of my law school expenses. I know the market for attorneys is bad right now especially if you come from a lower tiered law school. I want to study personal injury/family law. So I have the information. Trust me I have had plenty of time to learn about what is happening with law school and the job market after.

If I get into William and Mary that is where I am going, but if I get accepted to Regent I am going there. At some point you have to say enough. There are only so many times you can retake the LSAT with little to no improvement.

As you said we all command our own lives and so one would not want to make a decision as important as law school without looking at all the angles.

CNUcrazy09 wrote:Trust me I have applied to George Mason University, William and Mary, University of District of Columbia. William and Mary is my first choice but if I do not get in and I get into Regent I am going to take it. Law has always been my dream and I am not going to give that up because somebody thinks its a toilet for me to throw my money down. I understand your opinion and where you are seeming to come from but I have to make a logical choice of what is available to me in my area right now. My husband can't transfer bases just because I get accepted to a law school somewhere else. If not William and Mary, then Regent is probably where I am going. At least I will have fulfilled my dream. Nobody ever said the road was paved with gold and had signs to tell you where to go. Sometimes you have to take what you are given and make your own way. Take what seems impossible and make it possible. My low LSAT is holding me back from getting into a higher tiered law school. So why not pursue my dream where I can and go from there? Sometimes you have to make your own road whether it be with a higher ranked law school or with Regent.

How do you go from William and Mary to Regent?

That's like going from the penthouse to the basement.


What about American, Catholic, U. Maryland, GWU?

Meh. Winning the lottery and blowing my earnings on coke and hookers has always been my dream. Doesn't mean I should spend a ton of money on lottery tickets.

kalvano wrote:How do you go from William and Mary to Regent?

That's like going from the penthouse to the basement.


What about American, Catholic, U. Maryland, GWU?

+1, especially to GWU.

OP, we can't really help you without knowing your GPA/LSAT numbers. Those are going to be the primary predictors of admission to law school anywhere, even at Regent.

kalvano wrote:

CNUcrazy09 wrote:Trust me I have applied to George Mason University, William and Mary, University of District of Columbia. William and Mary is my first choice but if I do not get in and I get into Regent I am going to take it. Law has always been my dream and I am not going to give that up because somebody thinks its a toilet for me to throw my money down. I understand your opinion and where you are seeming to come from but I have to make a logical choice of what is available to me in my area right now. My husband can't transfer bases just because I get accepted to a law school somewhere else. If not William and Mary, then Regent is probably where I am going. At least I will have fulfilled my dream. Nobody ever said the road was paved with gold and had signs to tell you where to go. Sometimes you have to take what you are given and make your own way. Take what seems impossible and make it possible. My low LSAT is holding me back from getting into a higher tiered law school. So why not pursue my dream where I can and go from there? Sometimes you have to make your own road whether it be with a higher ranked law school or with Regent.

How do you go from William and Mary to Regent?

That's like going from the penthouse to the basement.


What about American, Catholic, U. Maryland, GWU?

I applied to the University of Maryland last year and got rejected. As I stated earlier my admissions decision depends on if my husband can get transfered to a different base. So needless to say my law school choices are minimized greatly. I am probably going to reapply to the University of Maryland again this year since I am hoping that my December 2009 lsat score will be higher.

Regent is most likely considered one of the bottom five schools in the country (I think Cooley has higher reputation scores). If Bush was still in office, you might be able to get a government job out of there, but I think that kind of work has dried up pretty quickly. I would not recommend you going. It's going to be much easier to retake the LSAT, score higher, and go to a good school than go to Regent and be able to find a decent job upon graduation. Really, the career prospects from Regent are laughable.

I'm a long time lurker on this site and have gotten a decent amount of law school application advice from here, so I guess it's my duty to give my honest and somewhat informed opinion on your situation. (if this is a flame, bravo)

Unless you get a full scholarship from Regent, it is an extremely risky decision to go. Besides the political and philosophical slants that the school gets criticized for, you should be ultimately concerned about the job prospects it gets criticized for. If you really want to follow your dreams, than don't rush into it. Get an LSAT that will get you into a better school. The legal world has changed, and it's not good enough to be passionate about your dreams to make it in the legal field.

Is summary, Regent will hold you back from your dreams.

Edit: I see you've looked at all the angles and have tried to retake. Even so, you shouldn't go to Regent.

Helmholtz wrote:Regent is most likely considered one of the bottom five schools in the country (I think Cooley has higher reputation scores). If Bush was still in office, you might be able to get a government job out of there, but I think that kind of work has dried up pretty quickly. I would not recommend you going. It's going to be much easier to retake the LSAT, score higher, and go to a good school than go to Regent and be able to find a decent job upon graduation. Really, the career prospects from Regent are laughable.

This is true during Democratic administrations. When Bush was in the White House, a lot of Regent grads got White House jobs. Since we're probably at least seven years from another Republican in the Whiskey Hotel though, that's not exactly something to look forward to on graduation.

It was founded by Pat Robertson.

That should tell you all you need to know.



What are your stats? That's pretty important.

I have a 3.48 GPA and a 144 LSAT. I took the LSAT once before and got a 135. I am not proud of either one and so I retook the LSAT in Dec 2009. I feel really confident about this and I think I might have scored a lot higher than my last two LSATs. I just feel that for all the studying that I am doing I am not seeing a high enough score increase and I can't afford to pay for the LSAT prep classes.

No offense, but if you cant justify the investment in a prep course (which I wouldn't recommend for everyone, but in your case might be a good idea), you probably shouldn't be ready to drop potentially $100,000+ on a law school with poor at best career prospects.

Edit: Though, at this point you've taken it 3 times and can't do it again.. so..

I'll join the chorus and agree that if you don't get into anywhere better and Regent doesn't offer you a very substantial scholarship, you might want you rethink your plans. I, too, am incredibly excited about getting into law and its something I've always wanted to do. However, given those prospects, I would not be happy about that kind of risk, and would be looking in other directions.

cendien wrote:No offense, but if you cant justify the investment in a prep course (which I wouldn't recommend for everyone, but in your case might be a good idea), you probably shouldn't be ready to drop potentially $100,000+ on a law school with poor at best career prospects.

This is very true. Paying $1,000 for a prep course is a much smaller investment than paying $100,000 for a 3-year degree program. If you can't afford the first, you most certainly can't afford the second.

CNUcrazy09 wrote:I have a 3.48 GPA and a 144 LSAT. I took the LSAT once before and got a 135. I am not proud of either one and so I retook the LSAT in Dec 2009. I feel really confident about this and I think I might have scored a lot higher than my last two LSATs. I just feel that for all the studying that I am doing I am not seeing a high enough score increase and I can't afford to pay for the LSAT prep classes.

I hate playing the role of the politically incorrect guy here, but law school is not for everyone. I know you can get in to bottom barrel law diploma mills (regent et al.) with a high 140's LSAT, but it doesn't mean you should. If you don't score above median on the LSAT after several attempts, seriously consider another career. BY NO MEANS does it indicate that you're not intelligent or well suited for other career paths.

Regent is largely considered a joke. It's Pat Robertson's university. Most firms do not and will not hire from there. LawSchoolNumbers' profile on regent indicated ONE firm participating in on campus interviews. William and Mary, on the other hand, had 190 firms.

Yes, you would be throwing your money away.



Also, I know this is a little offtopic, but I always think about this whenever someone mentions Regent. Any True Blood fans out there?




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What Regent does is almost unethical. The ABA needs to stop letting these schools take advantage of people.

I think you should retake a fourth time. From what I hear, getting the waiver isn't that hard. Regent is actually not as easy to get into as you think. The median LSAT was 153 and the median GPA was 3.36 (Compared to Cooley, which has a 146 and a 2.99).

And I'm not defending Regent at all or anything, but I almost feel that Regent isn't as bad as the other diploma mills (Cooley, Whittier, Golden Gate), because at least they have their own philosophy and purpose (even if it's way out there). If you're fine with being unemployed for awhile and possibly ending up never working as a lawyer, then maybe it's all good.

I respect the opinions of the Regent-bashers, but some of their comments are factually just wrong.

I have some close friends at Regent Law and know a bit about the student body (not at all religious kooks, but a few who've graduated from Ive League schools, local schools like William and Mary, and UVA, etc. and some pretty left leaning people, too).

for the class of 2008, 91% were employed within 9 months of graduating (above the national average for that year according to NALP). Don't know what the 2009 stats are.

11% of that same class got judicial clerkships (above the national average too I believe but check NALP).

So employment is not a problem for this school.

They beat out Harvard law's moot court team in the ABA national championship ion 2006/7, and have routinely beat William and Mary (at the 2009 and 2008 Spong competition on the William and Mary campus) and UVA in comps.

As far as the bar passage goes, I've heard that Regent's '09 test takers beat the Virginia state average. I'm pretty sure that's true.

The intellectual word at large tends to loathe christian right-wingers, so don't be surprised at people telling you the place stinks.

Lastly, I think the bulk of Regent law's profs are Ive League grads, so check that too.

You'll just have to weigh the motivations of people who will continually rail on anything sniffing of Christianity.

Don't be discouraged.

bigboy wrote:I know a bit about the student body (not at all religious kooks, but a few who've graduated from Ive League schools, local schools like William and Mary, and UVA, etc. and some pretty left leaning people, too).

You'll just have to weigh the motivations of people who will continually rail on anything sniffing of Christianity.

Don't be discouraged.

Ok, fact-check time.

I have two friends who graduated my college last year and went to regent. They were leaders of the Republican Student Organization, planned a pro-life rally that got insane, and boycotted an event (maybe picketed would be a better word?) by an on campus GBLT organization. I've been in touch with them, they said that the student body at regent is "Nuts" and that they are the "Most liberal students there"

No one is "sniffing" at anything Christian that's just plain ignorant. Please take the Christian persecution rant elsewhere. BTW, an Ivy to Regent is just too funny.

OP: I definitely understand your situation. While most TLSers tend to bash anything lower than T14 and invoke fear about the legal market, many good lawyers come from a range of schools. Also, the market is NOT going to be this bad in three years - which is why many more people are applying to grad school this year (not sure why TLSers don't get this).

For your situation it seems that the debt is going to be manageable and you're not interested in Big Law which means the ranking of your school is not as significant compared to someone else.

Then again, your educational opportunities, externships, summer placements, are going to be far worse at Regent than any other school. Regent does not seem to be your no. 1 choice, but if you are dead set on a legal career with no other options to move, Regent might be your only choice. Just know what you are getting yourself into and know that going to a school with such a low ranking and reputation, the more work the student needs to put into making opportunities.

Good Luck with December and thank you for your husband's service.

Your reply is a non sequitur.

I was merely pointing out from personal experience that my acquaintances were not religious kooks (yours apparently are ?!)

If you re-read my post, I'm not contesting the Christian stance of the University. I'm simply pointing out the strong employment and bar passage stats, which are indeed facts.

If your friends are the ones who planned a riotous rally and boycotted a GLBT event instead of dialoguing with them cordially, then 1] I'm not sure how seriously we should take their thoughts and 2] I'm also concerned that you're friends with them.

Perhaps my Christian friends at Regent Law who bear no resemblance to yours should chat.

Every school has a fringe population.