Empire State College - Any info.?

I'm planning to enroll in Empire State College's Historical Studies program. They are regionally accredited which is what I was looking for in a DL program. My ultimate goal is to enter law school.

Question: Is a degree from this school good enough to get into a University of Miami or similiar law school? The reason I ask is that it is ranked as a third tier school with U.S. News and World Report's college ranking guide.

 

Empire State is actually rated regional liberal arts-north-third tier, which is considerably different than national third tier.

In any case, I think graduate/law schools look at far more than the pedigree of your undergrad degree. I'd concentrate more on your GPA, LSAT scores, and references.

If pedigree is important to you, Syracuse University (national-third tier) offers a limited residency B.A. http://www.suce.syr.edu/isdp/

Bruce

 

Dammit, I hate typos! Syracuse is actually national SECOND tier......

Bruce

 

I earned an M.A. in Labor and Policy Studies from Empire State, and I generally was pleased with the program. However, the courses were not letter graded. If that is the case with the historical studies program and you decide to go ahead with it, then you should arrange with your professors to include their own unofficial letter grades in your learning contract evaluations.

Based on my own experience as a law student and law professor, I'd say that if you earn your degree from Empire State, law schools that are less familiar with it will weigh your LSAT score very heavily in making an admissions decision. For schools like Miami, a Empire State degree + strong rec letters + LSAT score in the mid-80s percentile would make you very competitive for admission, esp. if you have other "good stuff" as part of your application.

Good luck!