Big 3 to Lawyer/Law School in CA - Feedback Requested

[slaterjack]

I wrote this all out and accidentally erased it so let's try this again.  I am looking to get the easiest BA I can so I can sit for the LSAT in CA.  Ease is my first priority followed by speed and then cost.

The TESU BALS capstone scares me.

(1.)  I have seen a few templates around, but do any exist that are step by step, specific, and updated for example "take this, then this, then this, enroll after this and do this and you will get this BA"?  Or is there anyone for hire on this site perhaps to make a custom game plan for an individual?
(2.)  If I get financial aid once enrolled at the end, is everyone paying out of pocket for each clep/dsst/study.com etc test 1 at a time?  or can a Pell Grant be obtained to pay for tests and study materials prior to enrollment?
(3.)  Is 1 capstone easier than the other 2 schools?
(4.)  Are there any organized groups that complete degrees together on set dates?
(5.)  Is there any chance you could do all the necessary credits for a school before enrollment and not get accepted?
(6.)  BAin4weeks states "excelsior college no longer grants credit for the gre subject exams" is this to be concerned about?  I am leaning towards TESU or COSC anyhow, and more so TESU because of the amount of grads on this site.
(7.)  Is a GPA made up of the capstone grade since other credits will be P, or are the test scores calculated into a % towards GPA?
(8.)  Am I waaaay more fluttered then I should be?

Thanks in advance

[mysonx3]

(1) What you're looking for doesn't exist, but we are here to help you plan this out.

(2) You can't get financial aid to cover alternative credits, but there are several very cheap options (CLEPs are free through Modern States, OnlineDegree.com is only $9 per course, Saylor is $25, etc.)

(4) Not that I'm aware of

(5) Not unless you don't meet admissions requirements or there's some major red flag that would stop them from accepting you

(6) Nope, nothing to worry about. There are plenty of other ways to get credits besides GRE

(7) When you apply to a law school, most are going to have you apply through LSAC, which will calculate your GPA. If you do not have at least 60 graded credits, you will not have a GPA through LSAC.

(8) Probably. You got this!

[slaterjack]

@mysonx3 Are you saying on number 7 that I can't test out of half of them because I need letter grades? or are you saying they will calculate it from 60 credits and find a GPA from my total transcript? Or will I have to find a school that does not apply through LSAC?

[Merlin]

If your goal is to enter law school you should probably figure out which law school you want to attend and understand the admission requirements before you start your degree plan, so you can be sure to incorporate those requirements into the plan.

For example, if your chosen school requires 60 graded credits, you should probably determine which graded credits those are and also plan where to take them. Some schools may insist on those credits coming from a 4-year school, but if not, you can take them at a community college for much cheaper.

For some schools, they are looking for a minimum GPA, but in many cases, a lack of a GPA (or less than 60 graded credits) can be worked around by coming in with a combination of other factors, like a higher LSAT score, excellent references, amazing application essay, an impressive career history, or even having the right connections. That said, the graded credits and GPA is easier to manage than some of the other things if you plan ahead accordingly.

As for paying for alternate credits, if you end up taking courses at a CC you can get a Pell grant or other financial aid to pay for your courses and books, and anything you have left over can be used to pay for alt. education courses via Study.com, Straighterline, or CLEP. Whatever you do, if you end up planning your final degree from TESU, don't take any extra courses from there that are not required; the per-credit costs at TESU (even with Study.com discount) are too high. Look for CC or other online options.

One caveat with the above, regardless of the course number/level, TESU considers all coursework from community colleges (even 300+ level) to be lower-level. So depending on the degree plan, you may need to aim for the majority of your GenEd courses to come from the CC. The law school will probably evaluate the courses themselves and may consider them upper-level if they are 300+ level courses, but TESU won't. So if there are upper-level courses that you need for the TESU degree, you should look at Study.com options for those, unless they are required for the law school as well, in which case you might need to look at taking a few courses from other online 4-year schools, like CSU Global, etc.

FYI, you can probably ignore at least 80% of what you read on BAin4Weeks. That is an OLD site and last I saw, it was woefully out of date. Online education changes quickly, particularly at TESU. The best bet is to look at the degree forum wiki and just read the forum posts (current and older) here for a few weeks to get up to speed.

We were all new once, so you're probably making it all seem harder than it should be. Take it slow and you'll get there.

[mysonx3]

You can still apply through LSAC without 60 graded credits, however what I am saying is that in this case you will have your GPA shown as N/A on your application. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is something to keep in mind. Law school admissions are HUGELY driven by GPA and LSAT scores (which are big factors in law school rankings), so having an N/A GPA *could* lead a school to pass over you for someone who can boost their average GPA.

[shadowgem]

LSAC should calculate CLEP scores into your gpa conversion for admission purposes if the school you attend issues letter grades for CLEP exams when issuing credit. TESU does not issue letter grades for CLEP scores, but I'm not sure if COSC does this.

Also, iirc COSC will issue letter grades for courses taken at alternative credit providers when you submit the transcript directly from the alternative credit provider such as SDC, SL, Davar, ect, whereas TESU does not do this. I wonder if this practice by COSC could make it easier to achieve 60 graded credits while using alternative credit providers to earn your Bachelors degree.

Charter Oak does have a paralegal program, so it does have some course offerings that could be beneficial to pre-law students. It does appear that many COSC graduates were admitted into law school programs. You may want to review this COSC Graduate Acceptance Schools List to see if any of the law schools you are interested in applying to may be listed.

Both Charter Oak and TESU require two graded courses now at a minimum. A cornerstone course and a capstone course. From what I understand, at TESU both of these courses require solid writing skills to be successful. Written communication is an essential skill for getting through law school and in practice as a lawyer. I would encourage you to challenge yourself to do everything you can along the journey to develop your research and writing skills and not let the fear of a capstone course intimidate you. Writing is formulaic and a process anyone can master, but its much easier with regular constructive feedback on how you can improve. Unfortunately many alternative credit providers don't offer consistent feedback in writing courses, so you just may want to keep that in mind when selecting how and where you take some of your required writing courses. 

That said, I have seen many on this forum discuss how much more rewarding (rather than terrifying) the capstone process actually ends up being for them. Additionally many have accredited the success in that course leading to them being more prepared for their Master's programs. So don't let the fear of the capstone stress you out. The purpose of a capstone paper is usually is to demonstrate you can solve an identified problem in your field of study. A lawyer's job is often all about solving problems for his/her clients. This is an excellent opportunity for you to demonstrate that skill imo.

[slaterjack]

LSAC should calculate CLEP scores into your gpa conversion for admission purposes if the school you attend issues letter grades for CLEP exams when issuing credit. TESU does not issue letter grades for CLEP scores, but I'm not sure if COSC does this.

Also, iirc COSC will issue letter grades for courses taken at alternative credit providers when you submit the transcript directly from the alternative credit provider such as SDC, SL, Davar, ect, whereas TESU does not do this. I wonder if this practice by COSC could make it easier to achieve 60 graded credits while using alternative credit providers to earn your Bachelors degree.

Charter Oak does have a paralegal program, so it does have some course offerings that could be beneficial to pre-law students. It does appear that many COSC graduates were admitted into law school programs. You may want to review this COSC Graduate Acceptance Schools List to see if any of the law schools you are interested in applying to may be listed.

Both Charter Oak and TESU require two graded courses now at a minimum. A cornerstone course and a capstone course. From what I understand, at TESU both of these courses require solid writing skills to be successful. Written communication is an essential skill for getting through law school and in practice as a lawyer. I would encourage you to challenge yourself to do everything you can along the journey to develop your research and writing skills and not let the fear of a capstone course intimidate you. Writing is formulaic and a process anyone can master, but its much easier with regular constructive feedback on how you can improve. Unfortunately many alternative credit providers don't offer consistent feedback in writing courses, so you just may want to keep that in mind when selecting how and where you take some of your required writing courses. 

That said, I have seen many on this forum discuss how much more rewarding (rather than terrifying) the capstone process actually ends up being for them. Additionally many have accredited the success in that course leading to them being more prepared for their Master's programs. So don't let the fear of the capstone stress you out. The purpose of a capstone paper is usually is to demonstrate you can solve an identified problem in your field of study. A lawyer's job is often all about solving problems for his/her clients. This is an excellent opportunity for you to demonstrate that skill imo.

wow thank you so much for the info, I feel a lot better now that I've been reading more and more and understanding the capstone more in depth.  I will take your advice and research the acceptance school list because that could help me narrow my focus a bit more.  Again, thank you.

[ReyMysterioso]

From my experience...the Business Administration capstone at COSC consisted of reading a couple weekly assignments, a required two posts in the message board per week, a required response to at least three others' posts in the message board. An individual research paper, and two group project papers. The final group project. essentially being a full blown business plan for a business concept your group makes up from scratch. It was a little stressful, but not REALLY difficult. My only real stress was I wanted nothing less than a perfect 100 for my group, and by gum, we got it!
On the message board part....you get graded on the quality of your message board posts. Essentially you regurgitate your take on what you read in the assignment that week and try to question or bring insights into others' regurgitations.

The cornerstone course was an easy class I would describe as "How To College 101." A couple research papers on more or less whatever you want within a broad range, and message board posts. It's a gatekeeper course to basically make sure you can read and write coherent sentences, and that you understand how to write a college research paper.

I can't speak for TESU or Excelsior as I haven't taken any courses there, and I can't speak for capstones in any other subject as Business Admin was my major. Hope this info helps.

[cookderosa]

I wrote this all out and accidentally erased it so let's try this again.  I am looking to get the easiest BA I can so I can sit for the LSAT in CA.  Ease is my first priority followed by speed and then cost.

The TESU BALS capstone scares me.

Easy- What scares you about the Capstone? I think lawyers do a lot of writing....
Speed- it shouldn't take longer than 2 years starting from 0.
Cost- it shouldn't cost more than $10,000 starting from 0.

[slaterjack]

I don't mind writing, but was initially very confused. Then on youtube I saw a bunch of video short projects on a variety of different subjects so I was overwhelming myself for no good reason. Since this post I have completed Ethics 312N and just registered to complete the TEEX Cyber courses so I am gaining confidence for this process (thanks to this board) and am just taking it slow and steady. My biggest hurdle I have was concerned with was paying out of pocket for each test because I simply don't have the funds right now to just drop a 100 here and there, but I am looking at the possible CC courses/grant road. I received forbearance from my last school, but have to wait until it's complete (it's been almost a year and I have been told it should be any day this month) before I can apply for any type of aid so in the meantime I'm going to finish what is free/cheaply available and continue from there.