Capital University, as well as several other universities, has begun to offer students the option to undertake in a pre-law concentration as a replacement for a minor. This program allows students, typically majoring in Political Science or Economics, to start taking classes that get them ready to graduate one year early and enroll in law school. This program allows students to save a year's worth of money that would normally be spent on undergraduate classes and complete a year's worth of law school at the same time. However, like any situation, there are pros and cons. The pros, as have been previously stated, are mostly financial. It is possible that receiving a law degree and entering into the work force roughly a year early could as be seen as a benefit. Some of the cons to the pre-law track can be associated with the law school being attended which, in this case, is Capital University Law School. According to StartClass.com, a website that evaluates all law schools across the nation and compares them based on several quantifiable factors, Capital Law School has below average median LSAT, median UGPA and employment rate for graduates. However Capital's bar passagerate is above average, at 84.7 percent.
While saving money and getting an early start may be appealing, students who attend Capital University Law School may be getting less of a bang for their buck and more of a mediocre pop. Capital isn't the only school with a this type of early enrollment program. Many universities across the country offer a similar program including Texas Tech University, Case Western Reserve University, and Duquesne University. Another factor to consider is the undergraduate experience within itself. College is the best four years of some people's lives and to end that prematurely may not be ideal. While it is possible to drop out of the program, maybe because of a change of heart or major, you have already been set on a path for a certain major and to take certain classes to complete said major in three years.
Therefore, it may even require an extra year of undergraduate school if someone decides to change their major completely. Capital and these universities all have law schools with various strengths and weaknesses academically, but the question still remains for the undergraduate. Is it better to save money and enroll in law school early,or wait the full four years and explore post-graduate options?
