Study Abroad Experiences and Suggestions Forum

[lukeboydwick]

While most aren't going to select a law school solely based on their study abroad options, I am sure there is some interest amongst the TLS community about the different SA opportunities offered at various schools. Rather than going to each school's individual website, I thought it may be helpful to other law school hopefuls if a list was compiled based on TLS user's personal experience. If you've done a semester abroad in Law School, please tell us about your experience.

Cheers,

Boydwick

[Tyeger87]

im very interested in this as well, study abroad options are high on my list

[Lord Randolph McDuff]

This really shouldn't be a concern at all. Most schools will allow credit (no GPA) from any study abroad course that is run by an ABA accredited law school. In other words, I may do study abroad this summer, and the program that I will do is run by the University of San Diego even though I attend a law school half way across the country.

[Detrox]

Your opinions may change on this immensely by the time you've finished your first year of law school. I came into LS planning to do study abroad my third year and it was one of my considerations in deciding on school, however there are various considerations which I certainly did not forsee as a 0L.

If you want a journal board position, some/most will not permit you to go abroad in 3L fall. 2L is a chaotic year for various reasons including job and clerkship applications and preparation, any article publishing etc. so you probably wont want to go abroad then. Add on to these concerns issues about scheduling classes you want to take or other opportunities that may only be available domestically. LS is not like college where going abroad is a fun experience that really can and should be done by anyone interested. It should have a lot more purpose behind it, i.e. you want to work there as a lawyer or there is an opportunity there that can further your legal career.

Overall, what I'm trying to say is that just because you are interested in going abroad as a 0L does not mean you will have any desire to do so by the end of your 1L year, so it should not factor heavily into your choices at this point. At most, get into a school where such opportunities are available, and then worry about it after you know what you've gotten yourself into.

[lukeboydwick]

This really shouldn't be a concern at all. Most schools will allow credit (no GPA) from any study abroad course that is run by an ABA accredited law school. In other words, I may do study abroad this summer, and the program that I will do is run by the University of San Diego even though I attend a law school half way across the country.

Your opinions may change on this immensely by the time you've finished your first year of law school. I came into LS planning to do study abroad my third year and it was one of my considerations in deciding on school, however there are various considerations which I certainly did not forsee as a 0L.

If you want a journal board position, some/most will not permit you to go abroad in 3L fall. 2L is a chaotic year for various reasons including job and clerkship applications and preparation, any article publishing etc. so you probably wont want to go abroad then. Add on to these concerns issues about scheduling classes you want to take or other opportunities that may only be available domestically. LS is not like college where going abroad is a fun experience that really can and should be done by anyone interested. It should have a lot more purpose behind it, i.e. you want to work there as a lawyer or there is an opportunity there that can further your legal career.

Overall, what I'm trying to say is that just because you are interested in going abroad as a 0L does not mean you will have any desire to do so by the end of your 1L year, so it should not factor heavily into your choices at this point. At most, get into a school where such opportunities are available, and then worry about it after you know what you've gotten yourself into.

Thank you both for the info. I think I'll concentrate on getting into Law School first, then we'll see where I stand on the matter of going abroad.

Cheers,

Boydwick