Do you need a 4 year college degree...........
- Thread starter HappyPuppy
- Start date
I'm sure in order to get into any respectable law school that you need a 4 year degree from a university.
Ryan
Ryan
I don't mean to sound facetious, but why would you need a college degree to go to law school? It's a specialty unto itself.
Edit: If I could pass the entrance exams to the law school what difference would a prior degree make?
http://www.law.harvard.edu/Admissions/JD_Admissions/eligibil.html
perhaps there are some out there that don't however.... not to mention, you can always talk to advisors there and see if they allow for exceptions.
perhaps there are some out there that don't however.... not to mention, you can always talk to advisors there and see if they allow for exceptions.
Why would you need a college degree for med school?
It ensures a certain minimum level of education before going into a professional field.
If you had someone that barely passed HS arguing for you in court or operating on you, wouldn't that make you nervous?
Schadenfreude
Lifer
- Dec 28, 2001
- 11,391
- 3
- 0
A lot of times, unless the jobs is specified, you can get a lot of office jobs with just a Bachelor's regardless of specialty. You still need 4 years' worth of school before you can get into medschool, I believe.
Not to be argumentative, but there a lot of doctors and lawyers who are amoral arseholes and they all have some kind of college degree that got them into their specialty school.
I have always wondered at the necessity of getting a BA or BS (and it's mostly BS) before being allowed to actually study in the field of your choice.
ok, well regardless of how things *should* be, the fact of the matter is that most law schools require it. as i mentioned earlier though, there might be some that don't, and you can always talk to the advisors to see if an exception can be made.
So you spend 4 years studying irrelevant topics and then you are granted the right to attend law school where you BEGIN to study in your field of choice.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think a high school kid should be able to jump from post-pubescent studies to law school. It feels like a societal thing rather than a logical one.
Isn't your level of intelligence more important than how many classes you can pass? Let's be honest here, college degrees are based on getting passing grades in classes. If you can pass the entrance exam without a degree wouldn't that be sufficient evidence that you have the intellect to attend the law school? BTW, I am not talking about Harvard or Yale; there are plenty of two bit law schools out there.
One thing that a 4-year degree does teach is how to communicate, and how to learn. There are basic requirements for english, humanities, and social sciences that are designed to educate and broaden a person's horizons. They are also designed to force students to learn how to communicate, which includes expressing one's self in both written and verbal form along with learning how to understand written forms of communication.
Now, I think that a law program could be designed for students coming directly from high school that could shave a couple of years off the total. Maybe a 5 year direct law program. The first two years would consist of english, history, government, basic math, humanities, speech/debate. The next three years would consist of a normal law program. However, due to tradition, law schools don't do this kind of thing. I certainly don't believe that a high school student could cut it in a law program unless they were absolutely brilliant.
Ryan
Now, I think that a law program could be designed for students coming directly from high school that could shave a couple of years off the total. Maybe a 5 year direct law program. The first two years would consist of english, history, government, basic math, humanities, speech/debate. The next three years would consist of a normal law program. However, due to tradition, law schools don't do this kind of thing. I certainly don't believe that a high school student could cut it in a law program unless they were absolutely brilliant.
Ryan
I understand.
I am looking at this from a personal perspective. I have a few years of college oh so many years ago. I have never quit learning and probably have a better grasp of communications, history, humanities et al than most college graduates. I am not "educated" in the formal sense of the term, but I am "educated" through lifelong self study and life experience.
Maybe the question I am asking is if a person can be judged by the sum total of his knowledge as opposed to having a piece of paper that says he is educated.
There have in fact been unusual cases even at 'prestigious' law schools like Harvard. I have read of several instances of someone being allowed to enter a grad school despite the fact they had not completed a Bachelors or any formal equivalency. Most of them were accepted in a kind of politically correct social promotion (affirmative action + radical leftwing political activism like Eldridge Cleaver).
So if you're white, or a black who doesn't write polemic essays about the white world owing you and your children and your grand children and their grand children a high standard of living from cradle to grave, forget it.
Zebo
Elite Member
- Jul 29, 2001
- 39,398
- 19
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Limit the supply.$$
That's the only reason. Same with anything "professional". Like a contractors license is four years of at least "journey level" experiance before you can apply. Of course they say it's to protect the public but if you ask me if you can pass the testing even with DENTAL school they should let you be a dentist. It's like unions too. Time served not ability.
Some believe that college is a gatekeeper. It keeps people who do not have a degree out of the uper socio-economic areas of society. I don't really know if I agree with it, but it was something we discussed in a sociology class.
Do you have to have a law degree to practice law? Just wondering, I really don't know.
Do you have to have a law degree to practice law? Just wondering, I really don't know.
I think that people should be judged by the sum total of their knowledge in an ideal world. The problem is that many schools don't have the time to examine people on a case by case basis. While you may have met all the entrance requirements to go to law school (passed the LSAT, essays, recommendations, etc), law schools will not accept a person without a four year degree. These schools are out to make money, but they aren't out to waste your time or theirs. It also has a lot to do with appearances...
That being said, look at Frank Abagnale Jr. (con artist in the 50's). He actually passed the bar without anything more than two or three years of high school. He studied for two weeks and passed.
Ryan
Dont ask any sort of questions about the necessity of college on this board. I've found that most everyone thinks that without a college education, you are doomed to a life of flipping burgers or plunging toilets.
I only wish this were the way of the world. I have seen so many people that have no right doing jobs that they are doing but the have those jobs because a pice of paper says they passed a bunch of classes...half of which had absolutely nothign to do with their profession. They should have aptitude tests for any job out there and he/she with the highest score wins, regardless of educational background.
I only wish this were the way of the world. I have seen so many people that have no right doing jobs that they are doing but the have those jobs because a pice of paper says they passed a bunch of classes...half of which had absolutely nothign to do with their profession. They should have aptitude tests for any job out there and he/she with the highest score wins, regardless of educational background.
Damn, that made me laugh! Unfortunately, I'm just a white male who was born to and reared by poor but hard working former mid-western parents. With Mormon/Southern Baptist parents it's a wonder I'm not a basket case. Good people they were, though.
Back on topic, just for the fun of it I think I'll apply to a few of the law schools here in the So. Cal. area just to see what the results are.
Thanks for the feedback, guys.
My bitch is whining at my feet. I think she needs to go out.
Zebo
Elite Member
- Jul 29, 2001
- 39,398
- 19
- 81
Happy p[uppy
As a californian I believe you don't need to graduated an accedited law school to sit for the bar exam in that state.
In other words, there are plenty of CA law schools open to you. Check it out. One problem is you MUST notify all clients of this fact before retainer. NO law firm will hire you either. So if you just want to know law better and sue your nieghbor once in a while go for it , if you want to make a living, don't.
As a californian I believe you don't need to graduated an accedited law school to sit for the bar exam in that state.
In other words, there are plenty of CA law schools open to you. Check it out. One problem is you MUST notify all clients of this fact before retainer. NO law firm will hire you either. So if you just want to know law better and sue your nieghbor once in a while go for it , if you want to make a living, don't.
Originally posted by: AngryPirate
Dont ask any sort of questions about the necessity of college on this board. I've found that most everyone thinks that without a college education, you are doomed to a life of flipping burgers or plunging toilets.
i don't believe that... i have seen issues like this raised numerous times, and each time, the people who talk most about lives of flipping burgers are the ones who are paranoid other people will say those things.
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