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Is this possible? If admitted at Harvard, UVA, etc, perhaps with money, can I attend another Law School that recieves new students in the spring for the sake of getting to an early start? Would I be able to transfer credits from a significantly lower ranked school? What if the lower ranked school also gave me money just for me to transfer after only one semester?

Why would you even think about doing this? There's no reason to start a semester earlier, and I'm almost certain this isn't even possible. Don't do this.

This is a bad idea.

mjb447 wrote:This is a bad idea.

Why?

m16532 wrote:Is this possible? If admitted at Harvard, UVA, etc, perhaps with money, can I attend another Law School that recieves new students in the spring for the sake of getting to an early start? Would I be able to transfer credits from a significantly lower ranked school? What if the lower ranked school also gave me money just for me to transfer after only one semester?

No. Law school doesn't work this way. It is not like undergrad or community college.

Yeah, this isn't going to work. Very very few schools have spring starts, and the expectation is that you go through school in a set time frame with your class (even if you attend part time). There's also no reason/benefit to getting an "early start." If you want to try to attend a cheaper school for some period to reduce costs, you're going to have to enroll in that school, and then transfer, which you can't guarantee (even if you get into HYS as a 0L).

If you really want to start sooner, Michigan has a summer start program.

m16532 wrote:

mjb447 wrote:This is a bad idea.

Why?

Even assuming that it's possible (unlikely - 1L curricula are a little bit different at every school, and like others are saying it's not clear that credits would transfer at all or at least at a rate that would make it anywhere near worthwhile), it still sounds like it would carry a lot of the drawbacks of being a transfer with very few of the advantages because you've already gotten into a better school with $$ if you just wait until fall.

A. Nony Mouse wrote:Yeah, this isn't going to work. Very very few schools have spring starts, and the expectation is that you go through school in a set time frame with your class (even if you attend part time). There's also no reason/benefit to getting an "early start." If you want to try to attend a cheaper school for some period to reduce costs, you're going to have to enroll in that school, and then transfer, which you can't guarantee (even if you get into HYS as a 0L).

If you really want to start sooner, Michigan has a summer start program.

Yeah, I'm aware of the Michigan summer start. How can there be no benefit? Law school credits do not transfer in certain situations? If I get in at Harvard for the fall of 2018, why cant I just arrive and say "oh by the way, since you admitted me back in Dec 2017, I have some credits that will take care of some required courses".

m16532 wrote:

A. Nony Mouse wrote:Yeah, this isn't going to work. Very very few schools have spring starts, and the expectation is that you go through school in a set time frame with your class (even if you attend part time). There's also no reason/benefit to getting an "early start." If you want to try to attend a cheaper school for some period to reduce costs, you're going to have to enroll in that school, and then transfer, which you can't guarantee (even if you get into HYS as a 0L).

If you really want to start sooner, Michigan has a summer start program.

Yeah, I'm aware of the Michigan summer start. How can there be no benefit? Law school credits do not transfer in certain situations? If I get in at Harvard for the fall of 2018, why cant I just arrive and say "oh by the way, since you admitted me back in Dec 2017, I have some credits that will take care of some required courses".

I'm 99% sure that Harvard won't recognize those credits. It has a fixed 1L curriculum.

ETA As has been said, law school is different than college.

m16532 wrote:

A. Nony Mouse wrote:Yeah, this isn't going to work. Very very few schools have spring starts, and the expectation is that you go through school in a set time frame with your class (even if you attend part time). There's also no reason/benefit to getting an "early start." If you want to try to attend a cheaper school for some period to reduce costs, you're going to have to enroll in that school, and then transfer, which you can't guarantee (even if you get into HYS as a 0L).

If you really want to start sooner, Michigan has a summer start program.

Yeah, I'm aware of the Michigan summer start. How can there be no benefit? Law school credits do not transfer in certain situations? If I get in at Harvard for the fall of 2018, why cant I just arrive and say "oh by the way, since you admitted me back in Dec 2017, I have some credits that will take care of some required courses".

You aren't understanding.
I will say this again: law school is not like undergrad or community college. You take all your requirements through your school.
transferring law schools is difficult and selective. You don't just walk in with credits from another school.
Even if you were admitted in the past, once you have law school grades that is what matters in the transfer- not your undergrad GPA.

m16532 wrote:

A. Nony Mouse wrote:Yeah, this isn't going to work. Very very few schools have spring starts, and the expectation is that you go through school in a set time frame with your class (even if you attend part time). There's also no reason/benefit to getting an "early start." If you want to try to attend a cheaper school for some period to reduce costs, you're going to have to enroll in that school, and then transfer, which you can't guarantee (even if you get into HYS as a 0L).

If you really want to start sooner, Michigan has a summer start program.

Yeah, I'm aware of the Michigan summer start. How can there be no benefit? Law school credits do not transfer in certain situations? If I get in at Harvard for the fall of 2018, why cant I just arrive and say "oh by the way, since you admitted me back in Dec 2017, I have some credits that will take care of some required courses".

Because you can't just sign up and take law school classes without being admitted to that law school's program - you can't get admitted to Harvard in December 2017 and then just sign up for 2018 spring 1L classes at (say) Villanova and take them for credit to transfer to Harvard the following fall. Even if Harvard would accept them (I don't think they would), you couldn't take the the Villanova classes unless you were admitted to Villanova in the previous cycle and started in the fall. You don't accumulate credits here or there to complete your law degree; you go through the school's program with your class.

Also there really isn't any benefit. If you want to graduate early you can take summer classes and load up during the semesters. But employers' expectation for hiring out of (say) Harvard is that you will be in school three years, and hiring is organized around that. Graduating early doesn't do anything for you.

Wow. Didnt realize employers would look down on someone who didnt attend Harvard all three years. A student who went to a lower ranked school for one year and finished their last two at Harvard would still make a pretty sharp attorney in my opinion.

m16532 wrote:Wow. Didnt realize employers would look down on someone who didnt attend Harvard all three years. A student who went to a lower ranked school for one year and finished their last two at Harvard would still make a pretty sharp attorney in my opinion.

No one has said this. It's not about anyone looking down on anyone - it's about the fact that you just logistically can't attend two schools like this. You either start at the lower-ranked school with your class and transfer after 1L year (which is very very hard to guarantee and there would be no point doing it if you got into Harvard to start with), or you attend Harvard all three years. It's just the way law school is structured.

My point about employers was about the hiring schedule. For biglaw firms (statistically the most common people hiring out of Harvard), you interview at the end of your 1L summer/beginning of 2L for a job for your 2L summer, and if that job works out, you get an offer at the end of your 2L summer for the following fall (after you graduate in May and take the bar exam in July). If you finish a semester early you're off that expected schedule. It doesn't help you in particular.

(Now, some people do look down on people who transfer in after their first year, on the grounds that that person can't be that great if they didn't get into Harvard to start with, but that's a whole different other issue than what you've been describing here.)

m16532 wrote:Wow. Didnt realize employers would look down on someone who didnt attend Harvard all three years. A student who went to a lower ranked school for one year and finished their last two at Harvard would still make a pretty sharp attorney in my opinion.

Have you done any research into law school?

m16532 wrote:Wow. Didnt realize employers would look down on someone who didnt attend Harvard all three years. A student who went to a lower ranked school for one year and finished their last two at Harvard would still make a pretty sharp attorney in my opinion.

People don't look down on it, it's not possible the way you're describing. You can't just roll up to Harvard and decide to go there. What you're describing is someone transferring after their first year, it's incredibly hard.



Legal hiring is also very cyclical and pipelined, you don't want out of the pipeline.

IExistedOnceBefore wrote:

m16532 wrote:Wow. Didnt realize employers would look down on someone who didnt attend Harvard all three years. A student who went to a lower ranked school for one year and finished their last two at Harvard would still make a pretty sharp attorney in my opinion.

People don't look down on it, it's not possible the way you're describing. You can't just roll up to Harvard and decide to go there. What you're describing is someone transferring after their first year, it's incredibly hard.



Legal hiring is also very cyclical and pipelined, you don't want out of the pipeline.

Actually, I was no longer talking about my hypothetical. I was talking about the expectation of employers that you are at the school for the full three years.

Lol

m16532 wrote:Wow. Didnt realize employers would look down on someone who didnt attend Harvard all three years. A student who went to a lower ranked school for one year and finished their last two at Harvard would still make a pretty sharp attorney in my opinion.

Yikes, that's not what people are saying. They're saying Harvard won't let you apply credits you earned somewhere else (unless you go through the whole formal transfer process after your first year).

Look at the graduation requirements for Harvard Law http://hls.harvard.edu/dept/academics/h ... residence/

You can't graduation early — you have to be a student for 3 full years. So what would be the point of racking up outside credits even if you could? All law schools (including Harvard) also have a very structured 1L curriculum. You're assigned to a section and take all your classes with that section. You can't just get a jump start by taking civil procedure early or something like that. Like others have said, law school isn't like undergrad.

HamlinMcgill wrote:

m16532 wrote:Wow. Didnt realize employers would look down on someone who didnt attend Harvard all three years. A student who went to a lower ranked school for one year and finished their last two at Harvard would still make a pretty sharp attorney in my opinion.

Yikes, that's not what people are saying. They're saying Harvard won't let you apply credits you earned somewhere else (unless you go through the whole formal transfer process after your first year).

Look at the graduation requirements for Harvard Law http://hls.harvard.edu/dept/academics/h ... residence/

You can't graduation early — you have to be a student for 3 full years. So what would be the point of racking up outside credits even if you could? All law schools (including Harvard) also have a very structured 1L curriculum. You're assigned to a section and take all your classes with that section. You can't just get a jump start by taking civil procedure early or something like that. Like others have said, law school isn't like undergrad.

So taking classes during the summer cant allow you to even graduate a little early?

Dudes trolling. Nobody could read what y'all typed and respond the way he did who isnt...

m16532 wrote:

HamlinMcgill wrote:

m16532 wrote:Wow. Didnt realize employers would look down on someone who didnt attend Harvard all three years. A student who went to a lower ranked school for one year and finished their last two at Harvard would still make a pretty sharp attorney in my opinion.

Yikes, that's not what people are saying. They're saying Harvard won't let you apply credits you earned somewhere else (unless you go through the whole formal transfer process after your first year).

Look at the graduation requirements for Harvard Law http://hls.harvard.edu/dept/academics/h ... residence/

You can't graduation early — you have to be a student for 3 full years. So what would be the point of racking up outside credits even if you could? All law schools (including Harvard) also have a very structured 1L curriculum. You're assigned to a section and take all your classes with that section. You can't just get a jump start by taking civil procedure early or something like that. Like others have said, law school isn't like undergrad.

So taking classes during the summer cant allow you to even graduate a little early?

Harvard doesn't offer summer classes.

m16532 wrote:

HamlinMcgill wrote:

m16532 wrote:Wow. Didnt realize employers would look down on someone who didnt attend Harvard all three years. A student who went to a lower ranked school for one year and finished their last two at Harvard would still make a pretty sharp attorney in my opinion.

Yikes, that's not what people are saying. They're saying Harvard won't let you apply credits you earned somewhere else (unless you go through the whole formal transfer process after your first year).

Look at the graduation requirements for Harvard Law http://hls.harvard.edu/dept/academics/h ... residence/

You can't graduation early — you have to be a student for 3 full years. So what would be the point of racking up outside credits even if you could? All law schools (including Harvard) also have a very structured 1L curriculum. You're assigned to a section and take all your classes with that section. You can't just get a jump start by taking civil procedure early or something like that. Like others have said, law school isn't like undergrad.

So taking classes during the summer cant allow you to even graduate a little early?

No. Stop it.

m16532 wrote:So taking classes during the summer cant allow you to even graduate a little early?

No, not at Harvard, but a lot of other schools do allow you do this. Why do you want to?

A. Nony Mouse wrote:

m16532 wrote:So taking classes during the summer cant allow you to even graduate a little early?

No, not at Harvard, but a lot of other schools do allow you do this. Why do you want to?

I want to get my career started as soon as possible. I graduated last year with an Accounting degree. I thought I was going to get a masters in Accounting so I've been studying for the GMAT. I recently realized law is a bigger passion. So in effect, I've been wasting time.

m16532 wrote:

A. Nony Mouse wrote:

m16532 wrote:So taking classes during the summer cant allow you to even graduate a little early?

No, not at Harvard, but a lot of other schools do allow you do this. Why do you want to?

I want to get my career started as soon as possible. I graduated last year with an Accounting degree. I thought I was going to get a masters in Accounting so I've been studying for the GMAT. I recently realized law is a bigger passion. So in effect, I've been wasting time.

Well, that sounds like a problem on your end. Law school is a three-year curriculum, outside of a few accelerated-JD programs (the only credible T14 one is now defunct, I believe).

Also, if you graduated last year, you're still going to law school early. Honestly, I'd recommend taking more time to get work experience, live in the world, and mature a little. The last one will do wonders for you in law school and in life.