Question of the Week - March

March 19, 2008

Q: I am a non-traditional applicant and have been out of school for a number of years. How will my application be evaluated?

A: At many law schools, including Lewis & Clark Law School, there is almost no such thing as a “non-traditional” applicant. Our applicants have very diverse backgrounds, experiences, and skills. Furthermore, the average age of our incoming students is 28, but we have many applicants who are in their 30’s, 40’s, and sometimes even 50’s or 60’s. We receive several applications from people applying years out of college who are often switching careers or may even be retired and are planning the next phase of their lives.

Our Admissions Committee reads every application file in its entirety, but not all factors are going to weigh the same for each applicant. For example, the GPA of someone who has been out of school for a long time will still be an element of importance in the application, but much less so than it would for a recent graduate whose academic performance is fresh and who has minimal work experience. Another example is that we will expect a recent college graduate to have letters of recommendation from professors, while someone who has been out of school for a few years would be more likely to have professional recommenders.

Please be assured that your work experience, age of undergraduate or graduate grades, and professional (rather than academic) recommendations will all be considered within the scope of your own background and experiences.

March 12, 2008

Q: I am aware that you have scholarships for incoming students, but do you have any that a student could apply for once they’re already enrolled?

A: Yes, we do have several scholarships available to currently enrolled students. Most of these are merit-based, or have other eligibility requirements. For the most comprehensive list, you’ll want to check out our “Scholarships & Awards” (http://www.lclark. edu/dept/lawadmss/ scholarships.html) page. The various scholarships provided by Lewis & Clark Law School are listed along with brief descriptions of the award. There is also information about outside (non-L&C) scholarships that we know of, and a couple of popular scholarship search engines you can use to do further research about other award opportunities.

March 5, 2008

Q: Can I take a couple of law classes before being formally accepted into the law school?

A: No, you cannot enroll in any courses for credit prior to being admitted to the law school. There is the ability to "audit" courses at the law school, but if you do so and later attend the law school, you cannot later transfer those in as credits toward your law degree. Auditing is meant for those that need a couple of courses for their employment or general knowledge, but not for later admission or to see if law school is something one would want to do. Only upper-division (not first-year) courses are available for auditing and only if they aren't already filled. The cost of auditing a course is $998 per credit (for example, a 3-credit course would be $2994).

We do allow prospective law students to sit in on a class or two as a one time visitor, but obviously, this is not the same as auditing. If you'd like to do that you can fill out our online visitor form at: http://www.lclark. edu/dept/lawadmss/ visit_request.html