Does studying part time lower your chances?

[thami]

HI everyone! 

If I were to complete my undergraduate studies part time while maintaining great stats would that lower my chances of getting into top law schools? 

 

[Rashabon]

Possibly. Certain schools indicate a preference for students that completed studies on a full time basis. See for example from U of T's admissions policies:

Our review of an applicant's undergraduate record is based on the principle that undergraduate records should be compared as fairly as possible across applicants. For this reason, we examine the pattern of the intensity of the course work taken across an applicant's undergraduate career (light versus heavy, full-time versus part-time, co-op versus regular, introductory versus upper-year courses, courses on exchange, courses during the summer term). We also examine the patterns of results the applicant achieved in that coursework (increasing trends, sustained periods of strong performance, short-term deviations, cumulative results, etc). Moreover, we take into account the nature of the program and the undergraduate institution (or institutions) at which an applicant has studied. Specifically, programs and institutions have varying grading practices, which we take into account in our assessment. In general, the Admissions Committee examines each applicant's academic record with a view to meaningful and fair comparisons of undergraduate performance.

And from Western, although "equivalent" gives a lot of room for interpretation:

At least three-years of full-time (or equivalent) undergraduate university education is required, although the majority of admitted students will have a four-year degree. A competitive candidate will have an overall undergraduate average of A- (80-84%) (GPA 3.7), and an LSAT score above the 80th percentile. The Admissions Committee considers the highest LSAT score and cumulative undergraduate GPA (including grades obtained on academic exchanges) but will place greater weight on the last two years of full-time (or equivalent) undergraduate study in appropriate circumstances, typically where the cGPA falls below 3.7. Your “Last 2” years is defined as your most recent 20 semestered courses for which you were assigned grades (one year-long course counts as 2 semestered courses). Depending on your course load each semester, your “Last 2” may include more than 20 courses.