Non-Traditional Law school route.

[AlvinG]

If you wanted to dip your feet into the pond a bit first, UMPI offers a Pre-Law minor: http://catalog.umpi.edu/preview_program....turnto=190

Thanks! 
I was looking into Liberty University at their pre-law degree, but then stumbled across SNHU/WGU. I signed up for WGU’s accounting degree, because I figured the tax portions could really help, but the transfer credit’s were fairly minimal. That’s actually how I found out about Sophia. I took College algebra, Statistics, Environmental science, intro to business. Then stumbled across SNHU, and noticed with their general studies degree I’d be able to transfer in max Sophia credits and all of my prior community college credits. I then un-enrolled from WGU.
The attorney I know out of Nashville did finance as a major, and on the Lsat he didn’t practice, and only scored a 145 haha. Left room for improvement.

Being non-traditional, I’m not too terribly concerned with going to the best of the best school, due to debt. I did criminal Justice, most 100-200 level courses dealt in criminal law. We reviewed criminal court cases, I’ve written 5,000+ word papers, I’ve cited sources.
With law school, keeping a planner is a key to survival and putting 2-4 hours, every day, towards it. For the next 3-4 YEARS. 
That’s your drops mostly, it’s a huge commitment and most get burned out.
Traditional law school still receives up to 25% drops 1L.

I was hoping someone would possibly have experience with ace credits and CBE, or had possibly tried that route before. 
UMPI is great for a school, and quite possibly with their cost I may very well go with them for a BLS, depending if there’s crazy hoops. I plan to take 30 more credit hours graded, I’ll have 60 total for the GPA calculator on LSAC.

If you messed up and know your GPA is terrible, you can go to TESU as a 113 credit hour transfer, and as long as you’re under 60 Graded credit hours, Lsac will not calculate your GPA. “Say it’s a 2.0?” 
That then doesn’t count against the school, and if you can nail a 165+ on the LSAT, you’re a shoe in. Once again might not hit a tier 14, but it’s very possible to overcome a low GPA.


https://www.lawpracticetoday.org/article...t-arrived/

This is a good read ^^^^.

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@AlvinG, you can do a specific degree instead of a general studies degree at SNHU.  If you're just going for a general studies degree, they're too expensive.  I would suggest doing the UMPI BLS and you want to make sure to get at least 60 graded credits.  Another option for that is to do UMPI BLS, and then add a BA or BABA to that afterwards... You want to look at the institution and state requirements, some will only grade the last 60 credits and some grade everything.

Thank you. researching UMPI now, and another user pointed out that they do have a Pre-Law minor! 
I did notice SNHU was going to cost right at $9,900 for 30 credits, and that’s pretty pricey. Thankfully not as pricey as my local university cash cow.

[rachel83az]

So, the pre-law minor isn't in YourPace. That shouldn't be a problem, so long as all of the classes are available. Other students have gotten non-YourPace minors added to their degree. I checked; most of the classes are in YourPace. PHI 151 - Introduction to Philosophy is NOT available. If you want this minor, you could take Philosophy 101: Intro to Philosophy from Study.com and transfer it in. StraighterLine also has an Intro to Philosophy that looks like it'd work. I'd probably choose SDC over SL, but it depends on what you're looking for. Unless I accidentally overlooked one, the rest of the minor is available through YourPace.

[dfrecore]

My vote is UMPI - either the BLS if you don't care, or else the English, PoliSci, or CJ majors. English is a popular major Law School, since you do a heck of a lot of writing in law school, and UMPI's degree is more geared towards Professional Communications/Journalism, which I think would work (you don't need English Lit for law school, just need to know how to write well).

If you can go ham on Sophia courses, and get the GEC done, then anything else you need (including a month or two of SDC), then I think you can finish in 2-3 terms. 2 terms for sure with the BLS, and 2-3 with any of the other 3. These are ALL great options, and having a bachelor's degree is much more useful than an AA/AS or 60cr. And I think it can be done for the same price that you'd pay for an AA/AS at most schools. It's really a win-win.

If you list your courses taken better, it's more helpful (nobody knows what Art 101, Crmj 101, 102, 201, 202, 1340 are - you need to list the course number, course name, and number of credits for all of your CC courses. We might find that you are very close to completing a CJ degree, which would certainly be nice.

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Also don't know what Heath elective, communication elective, & fundamental of design are from SOphia - much more helpful if you put the Sophia name on there, rather than the name the school you're transferring to gives it (if you're transferring, it helps to ALSO know that info, but knowing the Sophia name is more helpful in general).

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To get the UMPI GEC, you just need:
American Gov
Bio or Chem Lab
Spanish I
Ethics

And the CJ major is probably partially completed with what you already have, and the rest (up to 30cr) can be done via Study.com. So this could cost you well under $5k to complete.

[AlvinG]

My vote is UMPI - either the BLS if you don't care, or else the English, PoliSci, or CJ majors. English is a popular major Law School, since you do a heck of a lot of writing in law school, and UMPI's degree is more geared towards Professional Communications/Journalism, which I think would work (you don't need English Lit for law school, just need to know how to write well).

If you can go ham on Sophia courses, and get the GEC done, then anything else you need (including a month or two of SDC), then I think you can finish in 2-3 terms.  2 terms for sure with the BLS, and 2-3 with any of the other 3.  These are ALL great options, and having a bachelor's degree is much more useful than an AA/AS or 60cr.  And I think it can be done for the same price that you'd pay for an AA/AS at most schools.  It's really a win-win.

If you list your courses taken better, it's more helpful (nobody knows what Art 101, Crmj 101, 102, 201, 202, 1340 are - you need to list the course number, course name, and number of credits for all of your CC courses.  We might find that you are very close to completing a CJ degree, which would certainly be nice.

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Also don't know what Heath elective, communication elective, & fundamental of design are from SOphia - much more helpful if you put the Sophia name on there, rather than the name the school you're transferring to gives it (if you're transferring, it helps to ALSO know that info, but knowing the Sophia name is more helpful in general).

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To get the UMPI GEC, you just need:
American Gov
Bio or Chem Lab
Spanish I
Ethics

And the CJ major is probably partially completed with what you already have, and the rest (up to 30cr) can be done via Study.com.  So this could cost you well under $5k to complete.

Course Title: INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS Sophia Course Number: BUS1001 
Course Title: COLLEGE ALGEBRA Sophia Course Number: CA1001
Course Title: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE Sophia Course Number: ENVS1001
Course Title: INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICS Sophia Course Number: STAT1001 
Course Title: U.S. HISTORY Sophia Course Number: HIST1001
Course Title: INTRODUCTION TO NUTRITION Sophia Course Number: HLTH1010 
Course Title: ART HISTORY II Sophia Course Number: ARTHIST1002
Course Title: INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Sophia Course Number: CS1001
Course Title: HUMAN BIOLOGY Sophia Course Number: HUMBIO1001 
Course Title: FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING Sophia Course Number: BUSI1010 
Course Title: PROJECT MANAGEMENT Sophia Course Number: PM1001 
Course Title: U.S. HISTORY II Sophia Course Number: HIST1002 
Course Title: PRINCIPLES OF FINANCE Sophia Course Number: FIN1001 
Course Title: VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS Sophia Course Number: VISCOMM1001 
Course Title: CONFLICT RESOLUTION Sophia Course Number: CONRES1001
Course Title: INTRODUCTION TO WEB DEVELOPMENT Sophia Course Number: CS1005
Course Title: INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS Sophia Course Number: PHIL1002 
Course Title: INTRODUCTION TO CHEMISTRY Sophia Course Number: CHEM1001 
Course Title: ART HISTORY I Sophia Course Number: ARTHIST1001
Course Title: Microeconomics Sophia Course Number: ECON1002
Course Title: Macroeconomics Sophia Course Number: ECON1001

Directly from Sophia Transcript as of 07/03/2023.

English 1010- English Composition 1
Art 1035- Introduction to Art
CRMJ 1020- Intro to Legal Process
CRMJ 1010-Intro to Criminal Justice
English 1020- English Composition 2
Psych 1030- Introduction to Psychology
Sociology 1010- Introdutction to Sociology
CRMJ 1340- Criminal Investigation
CRMJ 1355- Understanding Terrorism
CRMJ 2010- Introduction to Law enforcement
CRMJ 2020- Introduction to Corrections
4.0 GPA, Community college Brick and Mortar that I attended online. 
I then Applied to, The University of Tennessee Knoxville, and was accepted. 
I didn't attend/debt. I did hang up my acceptance award and still have my congratulations card haha.

So, from that point these are in full the classes I've completed. 2 separate transcripts. The only school I've applied to so far with bulk credit has been SNHU, and I have all the General Education requirements complete, other than an Intergration and culminating course which is like race or diversity, and 2 level 300 courses of my choice in either business or CRMJ. The rest at SNHU would be electives which can practically be anything, or "easy." Hopefully that clears up any course confusion. Thank you for the help really!


I believe I've maxed out Sophia courses other than Touchstone heavy courses and SCI labs.

[Insert Name]

If you are hoping for financial help to go ABA after a degree, but are fine with going non-ABA without a degree, why not get the degree (probably faster than you were planning by going through a different school) and give the ABA a shot? Worse case, you end up with a degree and a non-ABA.

[Jonathan Whatley]

There's a lot of legal work that interfaces with accounting and finance – and not only in big business practice environments, but in retail general practice: tax, financing and debt, estates, etc. An accounting or finance major, minor, or concentration could be handy to pick up.

[dfrecore]

Intro to CJ is the only course that is 100% the same; but there may be some courses that may come in as electives, but no way to know until you apply and get an eval.

[bjcheung77]

@AlvinG, are you still in TN State, or have you moved to CA? I would go for the degree that you are interested in most, review the replies you have and see which one suits you more, is within budget, and the program courses intrigue you most. Just make sure to have all the pre-requisites completed for the several law schools you are going to apply to, in CA or out of state as well (if any, as back up options).

[HogwartsSchool]

Pre-law. Avoid going down that path. It won't help for the LSAT, admissions and taking law school courses. Get a bachelors degree with something you enjoy and can get the highest GPA.

[AlvinG]

@AlvinG, are you still in TN State, or have you moved to CA?  I would go for the degree that you are interested in most, review the replies you have and see which one suits you more, is within budget, and the program courses intrigue you most.  Just make sure to have all the pre-requisites completed for the several law schools you are going to apply to, in CA or out of state as well (if any, as back up options).

Hello, sorry for the late response. 
We’ve moved away from TN and now reside on the west coast very close to CA. My wife’s originally from California, and she wants to raise our kids there which I support. It’s a great state in my opinion with lots for the family to do. When we lived in TN we would spend X amount of money per year traveling to other states for the beaches and theme parks. 
Southern California close to Anaheim is where we’re looking.

I want to do intellectual property in Silicon Valley dealing with tech company mergers and acquisitions. But, that’s a reach and I’d likely need to get into the tech edge program at Santa Clara. Possibly doing a second bachelors when I can afford it, online at an Abet/Cac/Csab/Csac college for software engineering (Patent bar requirement later on) Penn state Global.

Then there’s the regular me who would feel complete not  stressing, and being able to work full time these next 3-4 years while attending a non-aba. Working for the state as a public defender, prosecutor, and eventually judge. Possibly being so content with not having excess student loans that I can start my own firm and help out the lower class who can’t afford counsel.

I’m content with both choices, and I’m definitely not rooting for the debt outcome honestly haha. 
I told my wife if all my income has to pay the bills I’m okay with it.
 I want to do this more than anything.