179; no bachelor's degree Forum

[saloo]

hello,

I’m 22; come from a non-english major european country, and i got 179 in lsat but i dont have a bachelor’s degree. i have been fighting cancer for the last 4 years, started right around my last semester in high school, hence why i don’t have a bachelor’s degree. All i did was enrolling to a public university 4 years ago (which are free) but never did anything because my cancer got to a point where i couldn’t technically follow courses, and that was the last thing on my mind when you think you are going to die.
For 2 years I studied on my own maths and philosophy, university level courses, more as an activity when i wasn’t too physically down because of my cancer, that’s pretty much it, even though i think i have the same level as a math major graduate
A year ago as it got a little better I started studying thoroughly for the LSAT with the powerscore bibles thinking i could find a way around because i really wanted to fulfill my childhood dream (harvard, lol, which is a very odd dream considering few people are interested in attending an american law school here, actually i have yet to see my country represented in a HYS class profile for the last years), even though i knew there was no way in hell
So, I passed the LSAT last october just to see how much i would get and got 179, and it really gets me down because i know it’s plain useless even if i would push harder to get 180 it doesn’t change the fact that a bachelor’s degree is a requirement for any ABA accredited law school.
And even if i would start over college and get this degree, this would be 4 years and i’m pretty sure there is absolutely no chance to get in a decent university (T6+) with such a gap even with all the medical addenda in the world. Even, starting your post secondary education at 22 is just laughable, anyway i’m not even sure of this because my cancer isn’t terminated yet.
When i look through this forum I really get hyped up by all those people getting into big law schools and it really depresses me when i realize it will never be my case (no offense to the rest of the law schools)

it just sucks that i would probably be working for my applications now if only

Sorry if this is off topic

[xRON MEXiCOx]

It's not that uncommon to start college at 22.

[t-14orbust]

.

[Louis1127]

I'll trade you a 3.8 GPA in a non-desirable field from BigState U for your 179.

[lawschool2014hopeful]

Dude inspiring story, you are doing great.

You can certainly finished an accelerated degree within 3 years, especially in Europe.

LSAT scores expire in 5 years. You have a great shot.

Pursue your dreams op.

[objection_your_honor]

I'm glad you're feeling better. I hope that continues and you'll one day be past all of this.

I don't think the gap will be a big issue. It's the GPA that may cause a problem. I'm assuming you didn't get very good grades because of the health problems you were dealing with.

Once you are better, your best bet is to enroll again and finish your degree with the best grades that you can get. Stay in undergrad longer if it means your grades will be higher.

Then either use your 179, or retake for a similar score if it's past the 5 year expiration mark. It doesn't sound like you will have any trouble getting into the top schools.

[midwest17]

Yeah; go to school and get your bachelors. You're not that far behind the curve. Especially if your math knowledge is already at a college graduate level, you should be able to finish a BA in 3 years or less. There are plenty of people older than 25-26 when they start law school.

[Gooner91]

If you feel that you need to be in a rush to finish your degree you could do it in 3 years. Maybe even shorter if you can take CLEP exams for some credits, although I am not sure how law schools look at CLEP or if it is a viable option. Just an idea.

[saloo]

I'll trade you a 3.8 GPA in a non-desirable field from BigState U for your 179.

you realize your GPA is worth 4years of hard work against what, 6months to get 178+


And thanks for all your answers, no i didn't attend any classes 4 years so I guess my GPA was 0 back then. Considering you have to disclose everything to LSAC if you don't want to be in trouble later on, i guess this would get my GPA down by a lot (even if its not really a GPA for international students) and that from itself would prevent from getting the "Superior" international stamp that T6 law schools want (even t14 i guess)

edit: I can't speed things up even if I wanted, it's 3 years for a licence (and im almost certain its not considered equivalent to a bachelors degree) and then 5 years for a master

[midwest17]

I'll trade you a 3.8 GPA in a non-desirable field from BigState U for your 179.

you realize your GPA is worth 4years of hard work against what, 6months to get 178+


And thanks for all your answers, no i didn't attend any classes 4 years so I guess my GPA was 0 back then. Considering you have to disclose everything to LSAC if you don't want to be in trouble later on, i guess this would get my GPA down by a lot (even if its not really a GPA for international students) and that from itself would prevent from getting the "Superior" international stamp that T6 law schools want (even t14 i guess)

edit: I can't speed things up even if I wanted, it's 3 years for a licence (and im almost certain its not considered equivalent to a bachelors degree) and then 5 years for a master

Did you sign up for classes and then just not go, or did you properly withdraw from them?

[saloo]

no i didn't withdraw. I just enrolled thinking i would get better and be able to take some classes but I never did. i'm screwed

[twenty]

You can finish a BA from Georgetown in about two years if you do it right, and three years most places. On top of that, I know people that will be graduating college at 50+. If you want to go to law school, best time to start down that road is now.

[20141023]

.

[moralsentiments]

starting your post secondary education at 22 is just laughable

prick

[A. Nony Mouse]

starting your post secondary education at 22 is just laughable

prick

You did get the part where the OP is not from the US and not a native speaker, right? I doubt s/he intended to be insulting.

[saloo]

It is depressing to know that people with pro Engrish

Sorry i didn't know it was that bad, maybe i shouldn't even consider law school
And no i never meant to be insulting in any way saying "laughable"

[20141023]

.

[Hipster but Athletic]

starting your post secondary education at 22 is just laughable

prick

You did get the part where the OP is not from the US and not a native speaker, right? I doubt s/he intended to be insulting.

I'm curious to know how other languages interpret "just laughable." I'm thinking that it was mean to be judgmental

[twenty]

starting your post secondary education at 22 is just laughable

prick

You did get the part where the OP is not from the US and not a native speaker, right? I doubt s/he intended to be insulting.

I'm curious to know how other languages interpret "just laughable." I'm thinking that it was mean to be judgmental

so, like, obviously mistakes happen to the best of us.

[Hipster but Athletic]

Leaving off a t is different than demonstrating a subpar grasp of the language, right?

[A. Nony Mouse]

Let's just say the response seemed disproportionate to the comment, taken in context.

[SPerez]

Technically, the ABA DOES allow a law school to admit a student without an undergraduate degree. (Relevant standard below)

Most probably just don't want to mess with it, but with a 179 and the current climate, I'm willing to bet SOMEone will bite.

Standard 502. EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS
(a) A law school shall require for admission to its J.D. degree program a bachelor’s degree, or successful completion of three-fourths of the work acceptable for a bachelor’s degree, from an institution that is accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the Department of Education.
(b) In an extraordinary case, a law school may admit to its J.D. degree program an applicant who does not possess the educational requirements of subsection (a) if the applicant’s experience, ability, and other characteristics clearly show an aptitude for the study of law. The admitting officer shall sign and place in the admittee’s file a statement of the considerations that led to the
decision to admit the applicant.

Dean Perez

[Ohiobumpkin]

Full time credit load + college summer classes= 3 years to get a college degree. Congratulations on getting better, and hopefully it will stay that way.

[midwest17]

Also, one semester of failed classes will hurt your GPA, but not destroy it. And international GPAs only matter a little bit, and can definitely be overcome by a good addendum, since unlike US GPAs they don't count in the rankings.

[iiifly]

You could do a joint LLB/JD degree starting from England.

I don't think you need any Bachelors degree to enroll (LLB is it).

http://web.law.columbia.edu/internation ... lb-program

Good luck.