College-university transfer - impact on admissions

[afreio 0]

Hello,

I plan on attending law school in the coming years and I have been familiarizing myself with the requirements and various conditions of admission. I am unsure what the best process is for me as I feel there are a few roadblocks in my way at the moment. I'll briefly showcase my background and ask some generic questions if anyone could help or relate.

I currently have a 2-year college diploma and a 3-year advanced college diploma, in marketing and human resources respectively. I am in the process of applying for university as a transfer/mature student, and due to my educational background I will most likely be able to complete a degree program in 2-4 semesters depending on the school. 

1. Is this a common background for applicants to have?
2. Will the law schools deter me due to having a degree but only completing 2-4 semesters due to previous credits, etc.?
3. Do I need the degree before completing the LSAT?

I would be starting my university program of choice in either May or September depending on the school and availability of the courses. Overall, I would have 2-4 semesters to be able to create a university GPA in order to apply. Any advice, tips, or related cases would be very much appreciated. 

Thanks.

[theroaringbadger 2]

I don’t know about the first two. But for the third one,  no. Your score is valid for 5 years. 

[albertabean 167]

I think that this is a question worth emailing to the admissions offices at the law schools you're interested in. If you're going to spend another 1-2 years in school in pursuit of admission to law school, I would do so on the advice of an admissions office, and not on the advice of this forum. 

The above poster is right about an LSAT score though. It is valid for 5 years.

[Deadpool 1553]

Keep in mind that you only need 2 years of university studies to apply for law school. Occasionally, we see people with a high GPA and LSAT score get admitted into law school after their 2nd year. At Osgoode, one of my peers was admitted after 2 years college and 2 years university and they now work on Bay Street. As long as your university GPA and LSAT score is competitive, I don't think law schools will necessarily penalize you for having gone to college first. However, I think you'd need to spend 2 years in university and can't make do with 1 year even if you do get that many transfer credits. 

[afreio 0]

Thank you for your replies.

So basically I would need to ensure I complete 4 semesters of university studies to ensure requirements are met. Currently I believe the two options I have are going to university A for 3 semesters and university B for 4 semesters.

21 hours ago, Deadpool said:

However, I think you'd need to spend 2 years in university and can't make do with 1 year even if you do get that many transfer credits. 

Does it matter if one of them is a 4-year degree and the other a 3-year degree?

 

[GoblinKing 194]

15 minutes ago, afreio said:

Thank you for your replies.

So basically I would need to ensure I complete 4 semesters of university studies to ensure requirements are met. Currently I believe the two options I have are going to university A for 3 semesters and university B for 4 semesters.

Does it matter if one of them is a 4-year degree and the other a 3-year degree?

 

Schools as a rule don't pay attention to the type of degree you've completed. If you complete two years of a 3 year degree, you should be eligible for consideration. However, often it's people with highly competitive stats that get admitted with only 2 years of university marks. I completed a 3 year degree and got into law school this year, and while my stats were better than average, I did have 3 years of university marks. 

[afreio 0]

8 hours ago, GoblinKing said:

Schools as a rule don't pay attention to the type of degree you've completed. If you complete two years of a 3 year degree, you should be eligible for consideration. However, often it's people with highly competitive stats that get admitted with only 2 years of university marks. I completed a 3 year degree and got into law school this year, and while my stats were better than average, I did have 3 years of university marks. 

Alright, I can understand that. I was just concerned that I was completing a degree, whether it be 3/4 years, as I will only be able to gain a maximum of 4 semesters worth of marks due to having previous education, etc.

I'll reach out to the schools I'm interested in and see what they say about this situation. But thank you again for the response, it is much appreciated.