I'm interested in going to law school in a few years once the pandemic is over, and I was wondering if you had advice on (1) how to determine if a program is quality or not, (2) determine if the school is a for-profit university, and (3) where I could find financial aid for law school (I only ever see stuff for undergrad unless the school offers to pay you for TA work as a grad). Thank you.
Great questions! You're on the right track here, and I'm happy to hear about your aspirations.
What makes a good law school? (And how can I pay for it?)
One strategy to help you determine program quality is looking at their ABA disclosures. You want to make sure a school is fully accredited by the American Bar Association, and accredited schools are required to disclose different types of information on their websites, like admissions and enrollment info, number of full-time faculty, bar passage rates, and employment outcomes of graduates.
On the subject of curriculum quality, I’d also encourage you to look at what specialties (education, immigration, environmental, corporate, etc.) the school offers. I was told by an advisor that the law school I was interested in produces great tax attorneys, and that the curriculum might be a bit more conservative or regulatory than what I was interested in learning. It was a great quality school, but it didn't necessarily have the qualities that fit me best. Some schools may pride themselves on being highly competitive and may have a more cutthroat atmosphere. Some schools are very public service oriented and may encourage their students to do public defense clinicals.
Talk to admissions staff and alumni (ask the admissions office, your undergrad school, or use LinkedIn to look for alumni). If you're interested in a school, they want you to reach out, and you can learn even more than what's on the website. What do most of their students end up doing after attending that school? What kind of firms employ them? What about summer associate opportunities and clerkships? Even if you’re not sure what kind of law you want to practice (or what field you want to go into with a JD), having those conversations can help you figure out what opportunities exist and which ones you might be interested in.
Here’s a list of for-profit colleges that you can check against, although these schools may change owners and names. For-profit colleges are also called “proprietary” institutions, so watch for that type of language. A few for-profit colleges are ABA accredited, and while these often have low bar passage rates, you may find that some below-quality schools almost exclusively teach students how to pass the bar, rather than teaching students a comprehensive curriculum. It’s like if you attended three years of SAT prep for $300k. Doesn’t produce good lawyers.
Financial aid for law school is much more similar to undergrad than grad school. Law schools tend to award scholarships when you’re admitted, and you can find those scholarships and their criteria on the law school’s website (separate from undergrad stuff). AccessLex also keeps a databank of external scholarships that can supplement any aid you get from your school.
When I was an undergrad, I also did a pre-law summer program, which I would highly recommend. I know PLUS ran online during COVID, so I can’t speak to how the programs changed, but these things are like a law school dry-run. They're designed to immerse you in the courses, give you access to professors and professional development, introduce you to students with similar aspirations, teach you about the application process, and generally equip you with tools and knowledge of a future 1L, especially if you’re a student from an underrepresented background (e.g. students of color, first-generation college students).
I hope that helps! Let me know if I said anything confusing, or if you want to talk about any specific things you're finding in your search.
