Law School admissions officials are often asked “can you become a lawyer if you have a DUI?” The fact is, there is a small barrier to law school with a DUI.
The reason the question comes up in regard to law school and not other graduate programs is that law students will presumably apply for admission to the bar of at least one state. And, the board of legal examiners requires a certificate of good moral standing for licensure.
As part of their background check, the state bar association will do a thorough background check. This will include pulling your criminal record, credit record, and more. You’ll even have to list every address at which you have lived any time in your life.
The bar will be looking specifically for indications of “moral turpitude.” In an attempt to protect the profession, they will exclude anyone who might steel client’s money or otherwise reflect badly on the profession.
Because law schools know that you will eventually have to go through this scrutiny, they try to see if you’ll be disqualified before they accept you. They don’t want to invest their time and your money in an education that you can’t use.
The law school will ask you whether you have ever been arrested for any crime. You’ll need to list all arrests and convictions, even if they happened when you were a juvenile, and even if they were expunged.
Having said all of that, will a DUI disqualify you from going to law school? Not in and of itself. If your record shows that you are an otherwise upstanding person of moral character, you can still be admitted to law school. However, multiple arrests or a single arrest with great bodily harm may put your application into doubt.
Be upfront with the law schools you apply to about your record. Don’t assume you can hide anything. Even if the law school does not find out about your DUI, the bar will. And, they will also find out that you lied to the law school which further puts your moral character in doubt.
You can go to law school after a DUI, but you will need to go the extra mile to show that you have the character it takes to be admitted to the bar.
By: J. T. Lawrence
Posts Tagged ‘Law School Admissions’
Law School Requirements – What it Takes, in a Nutshell, to Apply to Law School
March 4th, 2010
Every law school has a set of requirements, what I have referred to as the law school requirements, that are the bare minimum standards that all students – no matter how “special their situation” – must meet. For the most part, every law school shares the same objective and subjective requirements, though the quality of these requirements may vary from school to school.
The first law school requirement for essentially all law students is that they obtain an undergraduate bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university before attending law school. In connection with obtaining this degree, the graduate must submit a transcript to his or her prospective law school so that the school can evaluate the student’s grade point average (“GPA”).
Next, every prospective law student must take the Law School Admission Test (“LSAT”). As with the GPA, different schools may have different standards when it comes to their minimum required LSAT score, but every school requires that a score be submitted.
The above factors constitute the objective factors that every law school will use to evaluate law school candidates. Fortunately, most law schools do not make law school admission decisions based solely on objective criteria unless your GPA and LSAT scores are exceptionally high.
Many of the subjective factors are not requirements, but two generally are. These are the personal statement and recommendation letters. The law school application personal statement gives prospective law students the opportunity to demonstrate their individuality, address deficiencies or other problems in his or her application and, of course, demonstrate writing ability.
Similarly, letters of recommendation give the law school admissions committee the opportunity to gather extrinsic information regarding the law school candidate from someone besides the prospective candidate.
There are other subjective requirements that may be considered by a law school in making an admissions decision, such as diversity issues and familial relationships with the school, but such matters are not required to be considered for admission.
The above items are the law school requirements, but the greatest success goes to the law school applicants who go above and beyond the law school requirements and give the law school admissions committee something extra. The greatest rewards in life go to the outstanding, and when it comes to getting into law school its no different.
This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website. The author’s name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.
H. Jefferson, Jr. is an expert on on law school admission, having applied to and been admitted by 11 of the top law schools in the United States. To learn more about the the techniques and strategies you can use to get into the law school of your choice, visit http://www.coverttactics.com.
By: H. Jefferson, Jr.
Law School Requirements What it Takes, in a Nutshell, to Apply to Law School
October 2nd, 2009Every law school has a set of requirements, what I have referred to as the law school requirements, that are the bare minimum standards that all students – no matter how “special their situation” – must meet. For the most part, every law school shares the same objective and subjective requirements, though the quality of these requirements may vary from school to school.
The first law school requirement for essentially all law students is that they obtain an undergraduate bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university before attending law school. In connection with obtaining this degree, the graduate must submit a transcript to his or her prospective law school so that the school can evaluate the student’s grade point average (“GPA”).
Next, every prospective law student must take the Law School Admission Test (“LSAT”). As with the GPA, different schools may have different standards when it comes to their minimum required LSAT score, but every school requires that a score be submitted.
The above factors constitute the objective factors that every law school will use to evaluate law school candidates. Fortunately, most law schools do not make law school admission decisions based solely on objective criteria unless your GPA and LSAT scores are exceptionally high.
Many of the subjective factors are not requirements, but two generally are. These are the personal statement and recommendation letters. The law school application personal statement gives prospective law students the opportunity to demonstrate their individuality, address deficiencies or other problems in his or her application and, of course, demonstrate writing ability.
Similarly, letters of recommendation give the law school admissions committee the opportunity to gather extrinsic information regarding the law school candidate from someone besides the prospective candidate.
There are other subjective requirements that may be considered by a law school in making an admissions decision, such as diversity issues and familial relationships with the school, but such matters are not required to be considered for admission.
The above items are the law school requirements, but the greatest success goes to the law school applicants who go above and beyond the law school requirements and give the law school admissions committee something extra. The greatest rewards in life go to the outstanding, and when it comes to getting into law school its no different.
This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website. The author’s name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.
My long time friend and mentor H. Jefferson, Jr. is an expert on on law school admission, having applied to and been admitted by 11 of the top law schools in the United States. To learn more about the the techniques and strategies you can use to get into the law school of your choice, visit lawschoolacademics.blogspot.com
By: sebastian foss
