Dr. Bear: I am privileged to be meeting w/Mr. P. Proehl on Oct. 2, to finalize a path forward on DL. Objective: To obtain a Bachelor's degree (via DL, CLEP, work experience & certifications) meeting the JD Admissions Requirements of Harvard Law School. I'm rushing, trying to make the 2002 fall entering class. Hopefully. Question: How do I ensure that my DL Bachelor's degree will be accepted by Harvard Law School? I am concerned, to avoid a costly mistake of lost time. How do I verify this, without inquiring directly at HLS, so as to avoid raising their eye-brows? With all due respect, it is my dream, passion and destiny to graduate from this specific school. Thank you for the privilage of your time, input and books. I just wish I found them fifteen (15) years ago! Would you please e-mail me, so that I may share my experience that I'm confident you will find of interest. Thank you! Respectfully, TJ
Well, I'm not Dr. Bear, but here are some thoughts. First, I seriously doubt that a degree from *any* school would be a guaranteed ticket into Harvard Law. Secondly, while a degree earned from an RA school through a combination of exam and portfolio is a perfectly legitimate and serviceable degree, some schools, particularly the Ivy Leagues, *might* look less favorably at a DL degree earned primarily via CLEP/DANTES/portfolio than one earned via DL coursework (i.e., Ohio University or Brigham Young, for example.) Aiming for Harvard, you will have extremely stiff competition in any case, so you will probably need a lot more than just an RA degree from a DL-focused school... in other words, you'll have to have something dazzling outside of your bachelor's degree (impressive publications, extensive work in the field and well-respected people in the field giving you highest praise in recommendations) to be able to compete against the gazillions of applicants coming from other Ivy and top-notch near-Ivy schools. Keep in mind that, if you're seeking to do this mostly via portfolio and exams, you really only have three choices: Charter Oak, Thomas Edison and Excelsior. All are pretty similar, probably equal in stature, though Excelsior and Edison might have a slight edge only because they are larger and there will be more folks from there that have gotten into Harvard. Also, keep in mind that, several years ago at least, Peter wasn't big on Edison or Excelsior, feeling (incorrectly, in my opinion) that they are so large they don't adequately service their students. If you're doing lots of portfolio, Edison is probably the best choice, since they place no upper limit on number of portfolio credits, and some folks earn 80, 90 even 100 credits based on portfolio. If you're doing lots of exams, several folks have reported that Charter Oak is a better choice, though their degrees are all "Liberal Studies", and this, combined with their lesser known name, might make them a slightly inferior choice. The other option is to choose a school like Skidmore or Eastern Oregon U or Regent U where DL programs are small in comparison to the campus programs. Here, your degree will not show that you did a DL program, but it will still show based on your transcript... and these schools typically have much narrower acceptance of portfolio and CLEP credits. So, to sum up, unless you have an inside track for admission, I think that Harvard will be a very challenging goal. Not completely unattainable, but probably very difficult. If it were me, I would take the standard route of applying to a bunch of schools ranging from Ivys down to small regional schools, to ensure that you get accepted somewhere. I don't think that it would be prudent, with *any* CLEP/portfolio-based degree, to place all your hopes on getting into Harvard based on that route. Hope that helps. Chip
I agree with all that Chip has written. A simple policy inquiry to Harvard will not raise eyebrows. The question for them could take this form: "Will a BA from Excelsior or Thomas Edison meet your 'must have a Bachelor's degree' requirement for admission?" That would, I am confident, produce a simple yes or no. My prediction (without any inside information) is that a degree from Edison and a strong showing on the LSAT would yield a higher chance of acceptance by a prestigious law school than a residential degree from a state university and a lesser showing on the LSAT. Please share with this forum what you learn. John Bear
Won't the biggest hurdles be: grades and references from professors, both of which would be lacking from an exam/portfolio degree. Places like HLS place an inordinate importance on such things...
This is where a "temporary" email address comes in handy if you are of the paranoid persuasion, e.g., [email protected].
