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Related Discussions
Disadvantage of online jd degree
Darrin.lovard.allen
Core Member
I found an aba accredited jd
degree. I am looking to going into public interest law so I should be fine right?
Comments
It's not ideal. I'd do a lot of research too, to double check that it would be acceptable by the state bar where you want to practice. It would limit your ability to participate in clinics and get other hands-on experience. It's good that the ABA seems to be loosening some restrictions in this area, but just make sure to cover all your bases before committing to a program like that, to make sure it would be acceptable everywhere.
Hamline has one, and Syracuse is starting one next year, with ABA blessing. It has my attention, too. Half online, then visits to the campus a couple times a semester for hands-on training? Sounds good. I have been weighing it heavily. Possibly less debt (by a lot). If I go to state school, I have to move and leave family here.I'll have living and travel expense, at the very least; with a hybrid, I'd only have travel and maybe some increased internet bills. But the online options are not as good schools, and in a region I dont see living in afterwards.
I dont have a solid end-goal. I want to keep an open mind and see where I fit. There are an awful lot of niches in law, and I dont want to go in with a narrow focus. It might be naive, but the approach has done wonders in my life and led me to some great things.
I'm not even sure if I will be in the SW or Pacific NW in 10 years.
Right now, I'm weighing regional (which are #27 and #44 I think) and in the SW vs hybrid (Syracuse is #88). I have a rough lsat score, so will probably not be comitting this cycle. I have a great gpa, and I know I will eventually have a respectable lsat to match.
My dilemma is: is the better school worth all the extra expense and trouble? Will going to a not-as-good school hurt me in the long run? Would I be short changing myself by going online when I could be rocking it at a bigger school? (That idea bothers me, that maybe I am) Would it be better to have less debt and more family time instead?
Anyway.. I will be watching this one. I hope it gets lots of discussion!
From the research that I have done on this you will not end up saving money by going online. The tuition to both programs when I inquired was the same as their on campus programs. Scholarship money is essentially non existent for these programs.
As far as being chained geographically to where the schools are located, I don’t think that you will find that to be a problem for the reason that you think. In fact if your JD is obtained online you cannot sit for the bar in NY, so Syracuse definitely would not limit you to NY. However, due to the newness of these programs I believe that you will find yourself much more restricted geographically than you would if you went to a much lower ranked brick and mortar program.
http://jdinteractive.syr.edu/faqs/
Just a comment, without having looked at the links, that some online courses have a mandatory extra "technology" fee.
I have not run into this yet. Along with emails from the schools discussing the program, they have mentioned scholarship funds. However, they did not specify if their scholarships applied to online programs, so, there is a possibility that maybe they are being sneaky? But yeah, this would be an absolute deal killer. I'm comparing full ride to full ride potential, which would make tuition the same in my calculations.
If it's too good to be true, then it probably is.
@wrhellams point had me looking into scholarship opportunities for Syracuse's program. In their FAQ, it states:"Limited merit-based scholarships will be awarded to selected incoming JDi student during the admission application process. The College of Law also maintains an outside scholarship database that students can use to apply for other scholarship opportunities." So, whether there are any full-rides given is questionable. I'm tempted to apply just to see what their response is, and report back for everyone else who is considering it.
This is merely an assumption, but I feel pretty certain that the scholarships will be extremely limited in number and value. The people that will be most interested in attending online, in my opinion, will be more apt to pay sticker than other candidates. Again, in my opinion this delivery option is not geared towards stronger candidates but more towards those that want to go to law school no matter the cost.
I'm a bit behind on this, but I flat out asked Syracuse because I had been considering it, as well. They told me right off the bat that the online program will never give more than 30% of tuition in award.
As for the other person who said that you can't practice in NYS, that's not true. I checked (I'm in NYS). The online programs like Mitchell-Hamline -- if you do the Executive JD , not the hybrid one!! -- will allow you to take NYS bar. Syracuse, being in NY, obviously would (at least, I'm 99% sure).