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If You're Law School Bound - I Want To Help You Get There!!!
#1
Greetings all. I want to help any student wanting to go to law school and doing independent study/testing to earn your undergraduate degree.  I'm digging in and giving back to those who want to do it on a shoestring budget like I was.  I wanted to be a lawyer.

I started my personal educational journey back in 2012. I finished my bachelor degree with Thomas Edison State University (college at the time) with honors in August 2013 (16 months total time) and took the LSAT the same year.  By the Fall of the next year (August 2014) I was sitting in an ABA accredited law school. I turned 42 that year.  I graduated in May 2017.  I served as the Student Bar Association President and I had a powerful and life-changing experience.

My offer is simple.  If you are considering going to law school I will be willing to answer any questions you have about testing, studying, and navigating this process. I want to help you reach your education goal. Period!  

I credit this site, InstaCert and several of the users on here for their excellent information.  I took the July administration of the Bar and I am waiting for results.

Paying it Forward,
Jonathan
2017 - Juris Doctor
University of the District of Columbia David A Clark School of Law

2013 - Bachelor of Art - Liberal Arts 
Thomas Edison State University
120/120 credits

16 Months of Independent Testing

TESC
3-Liberal Art Capstone

9-ALEKS CREDITS
3-College Algebra
3-Intermediate Algebra
3-Trigonometry

51-CLEP Credits
3-Info. Systems & Computer Applications
3-History of the US II
3-American Government
3-Prin. of Microeconomics
3-Prin. of Macroeconomics
3-History of the US I
6-Analyzing & Interpreting Literature
6-Social Sciences & History
6-Humanities
3-Psychology
3-Sociology
3-Human Growth & Development
6-College Composition

33-DSST Credits
3-Intro to Law Enforcement
3-Criminal Justice
3-Civil War & Reconstruction
3-Personal Finance
3-Environment and Humanity
3-UL-Substance Abuse
3-UL-Organizational Behavior
3-UL-Money & Banking
3-Western Europe Since 1945
3-UL-Rise & fall of the Soviet Union
3-UL-History of the Vietnam War

Other Credits
1- Information Literacy (Penn Foster)
23-FEMA ISP  Credits
[-] The following 11 users Like jnewton0828's post:
  • cookderosa, davewill, Ideas, jsd, Kelly Green, Life_One, MSK9, sanantone, sburch1991, tifferbugz, Trying2BSuperwoman
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#2
Are you willing to share your TESU GPA and LSAT scores? Or a ballpark figure maybe?
Northwestern California University School of Law
JD Law, 2027 (in progress, currently 2L)

Georgia Tech
MS Cybersecurity (Policy), 2021

Thomas Edison State University
BA Computer Science, 2023
BA Psychology, 2016
AS Business Administration, 2023
Certificate in Operations Management, 2023
Certificate in Computer Information Systems, 2023

Western Governors University
BS IT Security, 2018

Chaffey College
AA Sociology, 2015

Accumulated Credit: Undergrad: 258.50 | Graduate: 32

View all of my credit on my Omni Transcript!
Visit the DegreeForum Community Wiki!
[-] The following 1 user Likes jsd's post:
  • mysonx3
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#3
How did you get around the lack of graded credits when applying for law school? Was it an issue for you, or did you find a school that didn't care?
Completed:
BA History & Psychology, Thomas Edison State University, March 2020
ASNSM Mathematics, Thomas Edison State University, March 2020

Up Next:
JD, Cornell Law School, Class of 2024

Link to all credits earned: Link
Reply
#4
(10-23-2018, 01:40 PM)mysonx3 Wrote: How did you get around the lack of graded credits when applying for law school? Was it an issue for you, or did you find a school that didn't care?

I think it's pretty common that some schools don't actually care about graded credits. I simply submitted my transcript like any other law school student. I applied to several.  I got wait accepted to three and waitlisted on one and denied on two or three.  

Where are you interested in going?

(10-23-2018, 01:33 PM)jsd Wrote: Are you willing to share your TESU GPA and LSAT scores? Or a ballpark figure maybe?

The stated GPA on my transcript is 4.0.  But the Capstone is the only graded work that I have on my transcript. So to me, although it was sufficient for acceptance, it is not an accurate measure of student performance.  LSAT score was a 155 on first sitting and stayed with that score.  I advise that you study for the LSAT. I did not do too much prep for it and went in almost raw. It is very possible to ace that gimmick.
2017 - Juris Doctor
University of the District of Columbia David A Clark School of Law

2013 - Bachelor of Art - Liberal Arts 
Thomas Edison State University
120/120 credits

16 Months of Independent Testing

TESC
3-Liberal Art Capstone

9-ALEKS CREDITS
3-College Algebra
3-Intermediate Algebra
3-Trigonometry

51-CLEP Credits
3-Info. Systems & Computer Applications
3-History of the US II
3-American Government
3-Prin. of Microeconomics
3-Prin. of Macroeconomics
3-History of the US I
6-Analyzing & Interpreting Literature
6-Social Sciences & History
6-Humanities
3-Psychology
3-Sociology
3-Human Growth & Development
6-College Composition

33-DSST Credits
3-Intro to Law Enforcement
3-Criminal Justice
3-Civil War & Reconstruction
3-Personal Finance
3-Environment and Humanity
3-UL-Substance Abuse
3-UL-Organizational Behavior
3-UL-Money & Banking
3-Western Europe Since 1945
3-UL-Rise & fall of the Soviet Union
3-UL-History of the Vietnam War

Other Credits
1- Information Literacy (Penn Foster)
23-FEMA ISP  Credits
[-] The following 3 users Like jnewton0828's post:
  • davewill, Kelly Green, Life_One
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#5
Did you get any scholarships? And were any of the schools that you got into ranked?
Northwestern California University School of Law
JD Law, 2027 (in progress, currently 2L)

Georgia Tech
MS Cybersecurity (Policy), 2021

Thomas Edison State University
BA Computer Science, 2023
BA Psychology, 2016
AS Business Administration, 2023
Certificate in Operations Management, 2023
Certificate in Computer Information Systems, 2023

Western Governors University
BS IT Security, 2018

Chaffey College
AA Sociology, 2015

Accumulated Credit: Undergrad: 258.50 | Graduate: 32

View all of my credit on my Omni Transcript!
Visit the DegreeForum Community Wiki!
Reply
#6
(10-23-2018, 01:45 PM)jnewton0828 Wrote: I think it's pretty common that some schools don't actually care about graded credits. I simply submitted my transcript like any other law school student. I applied to several.  I got wait accepted to three and waitlisted on one and denied on two or three.  

Where are you interested in going?

My concern is that if the school in question uses LSAC's credential assembly service, LSAC won't calculate a GPA for me and there will be none on my application (obviously the school will look at my transcripts, but starting with a GPA of N/A is scary to me).

I haven't decided where I want to go just yet. I'm waiting until I have a better idea of my numbers, as I am taking some community college classes that will factor into my overall GPA. Tough to narrow it down without some idea of where my GPA/LSAT will land.
Completed:
BA History & Psychology, Thomas Edison State University, March 2020
ASNSM Mathematics, Thomas Edison State University, March 2020

Up Next:
JD, Cornell Law School, Class of 2024

Link to all credits earned: Link
Reply
#7
Star 
From 0 to JD in just over 4 years? THAT is amazing!!  CONGRATULATIONS!!  Smile
Reply
#8
(10-23-2018, 01:56 PM)jsd Wrote: Did you get any scholarships? And were any of the schools that you got into ranked?

I got a scholarship offer from two of the schools I was accepted to.  They were merit based and not need based.  They were not full scholarships.  

The school I attended was ranked 7th for clinical legal training by U.S. News & World Report's Best Law Schools 2016 .

For me I wanted to attend a school to become a public defender and then a solo practitioner and therefore the rankings were not of major concern.  If your goal is try to get on with a top law firm, you may want to consider targeting your school selection with based on the rankings. The truth of the matter, in my opinion, is those rankings are a source of prestige and not one of actual preparation to practice law.  I have a close friend of mine who graduated this past spring and called me to ask how to draft a motion.  We laughed because, he paid over $200k for his legal education and barely knew how to draft a motion.  But my un-ranked rinky dink public school had me in court representing real clients in clinic (criminal and clinic) in my second year of law school as a student lawyer.  To me that has significant value. On graduation, I could hit the ground running.

(10-23-2018, 03:00 PM)Kelly Green Wrote: From 0 to JD in just over 4 years? THAT is amazing!!  CONGRATULATIONS!!  Smile

Kelly,

Thanks.  So many others can do it too, if they use the same tools I did.
2017 - Juris Doctor
University of the District of Columbia David A Clark School of Law

2013 - Bachelor of Art - Liberal Arts 
Thomas Edison State University
120/120 credits

16 Months of Independent Testing

TESC
3-Liberal Art Capstone

9-ALEKS CREDITS
3-College Algebra
3-Intermediate Algebra
3-Trigonometry

51-CLEP Credits
3-Info. Systems & Computer Applications
3-History of the US II
3-American Government
3-Prin. of Microeconomics
3-Prin. of Macroeconomics
3-History of the US I
6-Analyzing & Interpreting Literature
6-Social Sciences & History
6-Humanities
3-Psychology
3-Sociology
3-Human Growth & Development
6-College Composition

33-DSST Credits
3-Intro to Law Enforcement
3-Criminal Justice
3-Civil War & Reconstruction
3-Personal Finance
3-Environment and Humanity
3-UL-Substance Abuse
3-UL-Organizational Behavior
3-UL-Money & Banking
3-Western Europe Since 1945
3-UL-Rise & fall of the Soviet Union
3-UL-History of the Vietnam War

Other Credits
1- Information Literacy (Penn Foster)
23-FEMA ISP  Credits
[-] The following 1 user Likes jnewton0828's post:
  • Kelly Green
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#9
(10-23-2018, 06:37 PM)jnewton0828 Wrote: The school I attended was ranked 7th for clinical legal training by U.S. News & World Report's Best Law Schools 2016 .

This is a little misleading. You should be very proud of your accomplishments, but a niche category ranking of the USNWR is certainly not the same as USNWR's overall law school ranking (for which University of the District of Columbia [Clarke] did not qualify for ranking).

depending on what you plan to do with your degree after passing the bar, this could be irrelevant. So I understand if this doesn't matter for you. But in the law field, school prestige is unfortunately still VERY important in most of the fields overall --- and falling outside of the T50, let alone not being ranked, is significant for the good ol' boys club. Eventually this will change, of course (with any luck).

Again, this is probably not relevant for your situation so I'm not making a statement about your circumstances. And your explanation of why this doesn't matter to you is definitely valid. I'm not trying to be critical.

Aside from Clarke, were any of the other schools you got into ranked in USNWR's overall ranking (not category-specific)?
Northwestern California University School of Law
JD Law, 2027 (in progress, currently 2L)

Georgia Tech
MS Cybersecurity (Policy), 2021

Thomas Edison State University
BA Computer Science, 2023
BA Psychology, 2016
AS Business Administration, 2023
Certificate in Operations Management, 2023
Certificate in Computer Information Systems, 2023

Western Governors University
BS IT Security, 2018

Chaffey College
AA Sociology, 2015

Accumulated Credit: Undergrad: 258.50 | Graduate: 32

View all of my credit on my Omni Transcript!
Visit the DegreeForum Community Wiki!
[-] The following 1 user Likes jsd's post:
  • sanantone
Reply
#10
is law school like the movie Legally Blonde ?
Reply


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