ABA Law Schools accept DL degrees?

I am considering enrolling in a DL bachelor's degree program. Assuming that the DL school is regionally-accredited; should I assume than any traditional, ABA-approved law school will accept the bachelor's degree?

Any opinions, especially from someone who has done this, would be greatly appreciated.

 

I can't answer that for sure, but it is my understanding that the ABA scoffs at accrediting DL law programs.

However, since there is generally no distinguishment made between a degree obtained via online or on-campus, how would they know? In short, they probably wouldn't. It's the same degree with the same accreditation as it's on-campus counterpart.

I know there are folks who can give you a much better idea.

 

Depends

Will a DL degree be acceptable? Yes, any regionally accredited bachelors degree would be acceptable.

Would it harm you in the admissions process? Maybe, depends on the school and your LSAT score. Some schools are notorious for shaving points off of your GPA based on the quality of the undergraduate institution (UC Berkeley and UCLA in particular are notorious for this -- for example, a student who graduated from Cal State Los Angeles would need a 3.4 GPA in order to be equivalent to someone who graduated from UCLA with a 2.9 GPA!). However, this obviously isn't something unique to DL schools so picking a DL school won't harm you any more than picking Generic No Name Residential University. Also, although prestige plays a role it is usually not the deciding factor. After all, University of Phoenix graduates have been accepted and enrolled in Harvard Law, so a DL degree won't outright disqualify you: if you ace the LSAT and have a good GPA you'll be fine (the LSAT is the most important factor in law school admissions and a high LSAT score would prove that you "earned" your high GPA).

 

Thank you for the info. I am hoping to apply to the University of Miami Law School, and I'm worried that I'll go through all this work to get a bachelor's via DL, only to not be accepted because my degree is from a DL school.

 

If University of Miami is your goal I wouldn't worry about where your bachelors is from as long as it's regionally accredited. If you work hard to get a high GPA and study hard to get a relatively high LSAT score you'll be fine. Be aware that Miami is relatively competitive, the 25th percentile LSAT is 153 and the 75th percentile LSAT is 158; the 25th percentile GPA is 3.16 and the 75th percentile is 3.59. Instead of worrying about how your undergrad degree is perceived, work to get your GPA/LSAT above those 75th percentile numbers; if you do that you will have very little to worry about.

FYI, if you have more law school related questions you might want to visit these sites and post on their boards:

http://www.nontradlaw.com
http://www.lawschoolinsider.com
http://discuss.princetonreview.com/forums/index.cfm?cfapp=6

 

The way I understand it, most law schools group apps into three piles based on LSAT/GPA:

1. Probable admit (goes to review for personal statement and cursory examination of letters of recommendation) and most likely admitted.

2. Borderline admit (will look more carefully at personal statement, goals, school you went to, etc.)

3. Auto Reject (LSAT and GPA are too low for a real examination of application).

So, if you have an LSAT and GPA around their median, the school you went to will have more play in the process. If your scores are way above or below their medians, they won't be so important. Right now, the applicant pool to law school is really high in numbers, so if you are talking 3 years from now, everything could change. When the economy stinks, law school admissions is brutal. If you have a good GPA (3.4+) and a 158 LSAT you should be in group 1 for Miami. Anything below that and they'll probably look more closely.