Attend law school without bachelor's degree

[iom]

Hi, I read on this forum and other places that it's exceedingly rare for people to attend law school without obtaining their bachelor's degree first, even though many schools allow you to apply in your third year. Could anyone share insight on why this is the case? Will it put you at a disadvantage during admissions or at the law school?

(Asking this because I have already finished 3 years of undergrad (90 credits) but need to do two more years because of my major. Since I already know I want to go to law school, I'm not sure if I really want to complete my bachelor's. One concern I have is not being able to complete the JD and ending up with no degrees in hand. For people doing a traditional 4-year degree, it also makes sense for them to just finish their last year and grab their degree. I understand you will also likely get a conditional offer if admitted in 3rd year, which I'm okay with. Would love to hear more thoughts on this topic. Thank you so much!!)

[CleanHands]

There's no harm in applying before your degree is finished beyond spending the application fees, and two more years of actual and opportunity cost involved with further undergrad studies makes that seem like chump change by comparison. Clearly you'd prefer to start law school earlier if possible and would accept an offer if you received one. So just put your application in, assume you'll get rejected and have to finish your undergraduate studies first, and be pleasantly surprised if you're wrong.

If you do get accepted, not having completed your undergrad is very highly unlikely to impact your legal career or law school performance in any way.

I don't see any discussion about the finer points of the statistical likelihood of your acceptance serving much purpose, and would discourage you from letting any such commentary stop you from trying.

[Megjackson]

I think the requirement of 90 credits towards a undergraduate degree is so that you can realistically apply when you're almost done and jump right into a law school if you want. Which is what I am doing. I have heard of people beginning law school short a class or two for their undergrad and going back to finish (presumably in the summer after 1L?). I also recently seen someone on here say they got a conditional offer where the condition was that they send in their transcripts from this semester because they aren't done their degree or need it to get to the 90 credits requirement, I don't remember exactly.

 

[pink222]

I received a few offers as a third year student this cycle (will complete 90 credits this winter)! The advice I received was that not having a degree won't hurt me much, if at all, but of course I can't confirm that right now. Of the offers I received, only one (UBC) was conditional on maintaining "my overall standing." Also as for not having any degree in hand, I would talk to your specific academic advisors about this but my university had me fill out a form and I can basically return to complete my degree in the future if I'd like until I formally withdraw. I don't plan on doing this but it is nice to know the back up is there!

[iom]

On 4/20/2023 at 9:41 AM, pink222 said:

I received a few offers as a third year student this cycle (will complete 90 credits this winter)! The advice I received was that not having a degree won't hurt me much, if at all, but of course I can't confirm that right now. Of the offers I received, only one (UBC) was conditional on maintaining "my overall standing." Also as for not having any degree in hand, I would talk to your specific academic advisors about this but my university had me fill out a form and I can basically return to complete my degree in the future if I'd like until I formally withdraw. I don't plan on doing this but it is nice to know the back up is there!

hi @pink222 thank you so much for your reply! Do you know what UBC means by "overall standing"? Is it like a letter grade or some specific % you have to stay at? Also would you mind sharing the name of the form? tysm