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

[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.