Missed Networking Opportunities: Approaching employability from another angle, employers may be concerned about a part-time student’s lack of law-related experience. The law school experience reaches far beyond the classroom, with moot court, journals, law school clinics, student organizations, judicial externships, summer clerkships and law school activities offering law students a multitude of opportunities for experiential learning and networking. Senior Consultant Heike Spahn, a former Assistant Director of Admissions at the University of Chicago Law School, mentions that “one of the keys to obtaining a full-time position after graduation is a summer clerkship. Many part-time students attend summer school, which might hinder their ability to accept certain positions.” Future career path considerations down the road have to be taken into account when determining to go into a full- or part-time program.

Additionally, while usually eligible to participate, part-time students who work full-time jobs rarely have time for these extracurricular activities. Additionally, while certainly networking through outside employment has its advantages, classmates are future colleagues. Limited campus face-time puts part-time – especially evening – students at a disadvantage in this regard.

Managing Multiple Responsibilities: Part-time students also need to make sure they have enough time to handle the often overwhelming responsibilities of school, full-time work and outside responsibilities. Law school is challenging, especially if you are attending part time. Taking on the additional demands, part-time students should be prepared that their grades or performance at work might evidence the multiple priorities in their lives.

Heike adds that “attending law school part-time often translates to a full-time commitment. Part-time students should expect to spend 40 hours per week working towards their law degree in addition to their employment and other responsibilities.” The level of commitment that pursing a law degree requires is something that cannot be taken lightly.

Finances: Although attending law school part-times allows students to stretch the cost out over four years, it is worth mentioning that the final tab for part-time is often higher than completing the degree full-time in three years. The additional two semesters mean a whole additional year of university fees, which can be substantial. Additionally, the charge per credit hour is often more part-time than the full-time division. For example, at George Mason Antonin Scalia Law School, tuition for the full-time program for out-of-state residents for the 2019-2020 academic year is $40,740 per year, or a total of $122,220. Tuition for a part-time student will cost $133,860 for four years. “In addition,” comments Heike, “students should recognize that part-time students will have an additional year of housing and other costs such as child care and insurance that are related to law school attendance.” Finally, part-time students are typically ineligible for law school scholarships.

Transfer: For students who are interested in transferring schools, starting in a part-time program might not be the best option. Some schools require completion of the first year before being eligible to apply to transfer.

Part-time programs can certainly be a viable option for obtaining a law degree – the admission standards are often slightly more lenient, and the path to the full-time division is sometimes easily pursued. However, students should carefully weigh the other implications of part-time enrollment versus waiting another year and strengthening their application (retaking the LSAT, getting additional work experience, building an alternative transcript) for application to the full-time program at their school of choice.

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