Can I Go to Law School If I Started With Community College?
Monique Atkinson, Associate Law School Consultant
Can you go to law school with a community college background? In my time as an admissions officer, this question had the most simple reply: Absolutely. Heck yes. Please do.
Being a community college student or graduate is not a deficit to your application – it is a nuance. As the law school admissions process is based on the totality of your post-secondary experience, community college coursework is another layer of your journey to legal education.
Far more important than the presence of the additional transcript is the context it contributes to your story as a whole and the lived experience that comes with it.
Not only can you go to law school if you have studied at community college – your experiences are an asset to legal education. There is often a stigma placed on community college graduates that perpetuates the idea that they are uncompetitive or unmotivated in pursuing a traditional four-year institution. Not only does that reduce students to a single story, it negates the facts that community college is often the most flexible, accessible, affordable, and diverse post-secondary educational setting.
In other words, community colleges graduate brilliant and thoughtful folks who have often planned not only for themselves but for their communities, and they represent a range of meaningful perspectives. Why on earth would they not be highly sought after and competitive law school applicants?
Of course, there are best practices and strategies for making the most of your application process as a community college student or graduate. Let’s discuss:
What about the academics?
It would be facetious to state that your academic experience as a community college student is not an important factor. You may be wondering, is academic review similar or different for community college graduates?
Firstly, as you consider or move through your community college experience, it goes across the board that you should make the most of your academic experiences. If you haven’t already - make sure that you are taking courses that will be most beneficial to you (both in setting yourself up for success in the transfer process or in exploring your academic interests).
Once you head to your transfer institution - jump in to coursework that excites you, challenge yourself academically, and do your very best. Truly, when reviewing applications, it is a joy to see a student transfer with intention and make the most of their environment.
Community college grades are evaluated alongside your bachelor’s degree during the law school admissions process. The evaluation may look a touch different across law schools, but generally, law schools will have a few measures of your undergraduate academic performance.
Your overall or cumulative GPA
Your institutional GPA (from your degree-granting institution)
All of your undergraduate transcripts, including those from community college and any other schools
Other comparative data provided by LSAC.
So, depending on the relationship of your experience in community college and your transfer institution, an admissions officer may notice a few things.
If you had a strong record in community college but had difficulty with the transition to your transfer institution(s), there may be a noted difference between your institutional GPA and your overall GPA.
The same may be true if you may have had academic concerns as a community college student but found strategies or focus as you got more years under your belt.
Note: this is a similar case for students who didn’t attend community college or who transferred from one undergraduate institution to another, among other situations. You are not on your own here.
Also, thanks to good old-fashioned due diligence, the admissions committee will be able to put together the context of your academic experience from your transcripts and beyond.
They will see and consider that you were working full-time while in school, and they will see the trend in your GPA rising over time as you become more comfortable with your academic environment. Law school admissions officers are also humans, and while they are both considering a range of other factors – they understand that shifting academic environments can be challenging in a variety of ways.
Do you have a particular context that you think would be helpful for them to assess? Did you take a break between community college and undergrad, so there is an unexplained academic gap? Did you have a particular event or reason that impacted your transition to your four-year institution? As any law school applicant, you are always welcome to write an addendum (if needed).
How do I ensure a smooth transition?
When planning your academic pathway, be mindful of the opportunities and resources you want to access at your transfer institution. Speak with your advisor and make sure that you are creating a competitive application for your transfer applications and that you’ll have the appropriate credits to transition.
How do I make the most of my connections?
If you are currently in community college, connect with peers who are also considering legal studies – build a community and share resources. Maybe your community college has a pre-law organization or other clubs that will allow you to connect with students interested in the law. If it doesn’t, consider building your own!
If you have graduated, connect with your former classmates and fellow community college alumni on LinkedIn, learn more about their pathways and the avenues that they took to find success on a non-traditional path. You may find peers or mentors who can provide valuable advice on the process from the perspective of a community college graduate.
Remember, there are also professionals who are dedicated to supporting you. Have you met with your advisor? If you have graduated, have you connected with your community college alumni office? They may be able to connect you with services and supports specifically designed to help you with the process.
Am I at a deficit with gathering strong letters of recommendation?
When you transfer from a community college to complete your degree, you have a bit less time than students who began their studies at the institution to build connections with faculty that will ultimately yield strong letters of recommendation. The solution? Be intentional and start early! Be sure to make the most of your office hours, connect with your professors beyond the minimum classroom engagement, and build mentoring relationships with professors who have a wealth of knowledge to share on your areas of interest. More time at an institution doesn’t automatically mean stronger relationships with faculty. We put in the work to develop relationships that are meaningful to us. Intentional relationship building is the key – if you step on campus ready to connect, you’ll find the professors who will be excited to invest in you!
Now, if you were a community college transfer student who has since graduated and you weren’t able to develop those relationships during your tenure, hope is absolutely not lost. You can still reach out to your undergraduate professors with context that will help them to remember the strong skills and reflections you brought to the classroom.
Students will wonder if they should connect with community college faculty for law school letters of recommendation. The most important elements of an academic letter of recommendation is the strength of the academic relationship and the ability for a faculty member to speak strongly about your classroom performance (think: critical thinking, writing, research classroom engagement). If a faculty member checks those boxes, they can likely write a compelling letter. However, remember that recency is important. Why wouldn’t a student gather a letter of recommendation from their most recent institution, where they earned a degree? Be sure to answer more questions for the admissions committee than you raise.
Conclusion
In the end, having a community college background isn’t a deficit in the law school admissions process. Your experience across institutions is, on the contrary, an opportunity to build even more connections and to take intentional steps in each layer of your path.
The team at Barrier Breakers® Admissions Advising is here to support you through this law school application cycle! Whether it's through discounted advising for BIPOC, first-generation, and LSAC Fee Waiver applicants, our essay review services and courses, or just downloading our free Essential Guide to Applying to Law School, we're here to help make this process easier.
As always, feel free to reach out to us at hello@barrier-breakers.org with any of your questions! You can also submit a question to be answered on our weekly Break Into Law School® Podcast, streaming wherever your favorite podcast service is.