online law schools accredited
Will I have trouble getting into law school because my B.S. is from a nationally accredited college?
I just graduated from Westwood College Online and took the LSAT but I am concerned that I may have a disadvantage in getting into a good law school because it is not regionally accredited. If this is a draw back, should I attend Grad school first at an regionally accredited university then apply to law school? Any feedback is appreciated.
You will have difficulty being accepted to *any* graduate program with a “nationally” accredited degree. Regional accreditation is what matters, so you may find yourself needing to repeat undergraduate work, not do a different graduate program. In addition, an on-line degree will also present you with challenges.
I know that some graduate programs allow applicants to do a post-bac year if they don’t have a regionally-accredited degree or if they did their work on-line, which may be an option for you. I wouldn’t bother with looking at going to an unaccredited or non-RA law/grad program because it’ll just add to problems down the road.
Your best bet is to contact the graduate programs in which you have interest and ask them a) whether you’re currently eligible and b) what you should do if not. You can pretty much rule out top-tier schools, but you might have decent luck with smaller, private career-focused comprehensive colleges and less selective state schools. And try not to get discouraged — even if you have to repeat some work (which you should do through an on-campus program at an RA school), it’ll be worth it if it means reaching your ultimate goal.
(P.S. When talking to friends in the future about going to college, tell them about this experience and why they should remember it when considering on-line or non-RA programs.)
