One reader suggested that we profile Thomas M. Cooley Law School, and it is an interesting law school. I have known good attorneys all over the country that graduated from this law school.
Let me tell you first why I find Cooley Law so interesting. It is the largest law school in the nation as measured by full-time and part-time student enrollment. It is a private law school that is not affiliated with any university. It has multiple campuses in Lansing, Grand Rapids and Rochester, Michigan, but it started in 1972 by Thomas E. Brennan, Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, as what has to be the closest thing to a mom and pop operation as ever existed.
The law school was provisionally approved by the ABA in 1975 and was fully approved in 1978 and it is the only law school in the Country to offer full J.D. Programs at three distinct campus. It also offers LL.M. in Tax and Intellectual Property and cooperates in offering a joint-degree with a Master of Public Administration and an MBA with other institutions. Cooley also offers ABA-approved study credit in Toronto, Australia and New Zealand.
The biggest argument that critics have about Cooley Law is that median GPA for admitted applicants is 3.05 and the median LSAT is 149 but, in my opinion, what these critics fail to recognize is that perfect grades and high LSATs do not make the best lawyers, and they offer a lot of working students and opportunity to prove themselves and improve themselves.
Cooley was the first ABA-approved law school in the nation to have an officially recognized weekend program allowing students to earn a law degree by attending class on Saturdays and Sundays only. The law school is currently one of the few accredited law schools in the U.S. that does not require applicants to hold a bachelor's degree as a prerequisite to admission; another being Harvard Law. The law school has developed a formula and methodology for those wanting to apply without a bachelor’s degree.
The law schools moto is that the spirit of the law is in the heart of Man and the heats of Women.
Cooley Law has a page on its website that directly goes after the U.S. News rankings.
The cost for attending Cooley Law full time is currently $27,210 per year and approximately 85% receive loans and scholarships.
One of the things that I find particularly interesting, unlike all other law schools that like to play their cards close to their chest, Cooley Law gives you its Admission Formula on its website. No secret process here.
If you really feel the need to be a lawyer no matter what, then you do need to check out Cooley Law, and if you work full time, you might need to look at the school's Weedend Scheduling Option that allows you to earn a law degree by attending classes exclusively on Saturdays and Sundays at any of the school's three campuses.
Comments