I know attending would be risky with it being new and not being accredited yet. However, they are offering me a full tuition scholarship. I would also be a dean’s fellow. They are making it hard to turn down. I feel like HPU itself has enough high profile connections to make up for the law school being new and having no status. I know there is also controversy with the Dean but the first time I met him he was preaching how we have to get back to ethics in the courtroom and not setting out to fulfill a political agenda. So I feel like the trump story is fabricated. If I don’t go to HPU I’ll likely be in 150k in debt. What are your thoughts?
Absolutely not! Not only is High Point unaccredited, but its very first 1Ls are setting foot on campus this August. The general reputation of High Point University absolutely will not make up for a complete lack of a legal alumni network, and you won’t even be allowed to sit for the bar exam in many jurisdictions. While I’m sure HPU wants to obtain ABA accreditation and doesn’t want to be an unaccredited degree mill, you absolutely do not want to be the first in the door. Remember, a full tuition scholarship doesn’t cover three years of living expenses, let alone the opportunity cost of not working full time during those three years.
Also, the Dean story is not “fabricated”. It was widely reported that he advised Trump that Pence could reject electoral college votes, and while he made a number of statements defending his reputation, Mark Martin has never actually denied that he did this.
I don’t doubt that Meadows called him seeking advice. But are we sure that he specifically told them they had the power to reject electoral college votes? Or is he just getting lumped in with their ideology based on the outcome?
Good lord. Why on earth would you waste energy defending this guy? Even if he weren't implicated in trying to overthrow the government, he's running a predatory scam.
Use your brain. Don't rush into law school just because you convinced yourself that you have to go right this very minute.
If he hadn't told them this, then he would have mentioned that in his statements. Instead he just pointed to his overall reputation and career - an admission by non-denial.
No.
From what I’ve read on this sub, probably don’t go to unaccredited unless you have a job lined up already and the role/firm just wants you to go to any law school for whatever reason. Low employment rates, bar passage rates (I believe most states won’t even let you take the bar without an accredited JD), and especially a new school doesn’t have any reputation or alumni you can lean on
You can’t even apply for most jobs or take many state bar exams unless you go to an ABA accredited law school. There’s over 100 ABA schools across the country; there’s no reason to ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓇 attend a unaccredited law school. Even with a full tuition scholarship
What are your other options? What are your career goals?
(My gut is that this can't possibly be a good idea, but I want to listen first.)
I ultimately want to do professional sports contracts working in a front office. I have been networking this last year and have made some good connections.
If you mean one of the big four leagues, you're gonna want Big Law for that, something like Proskauer or O'Melveny. That probably won't happen out of either High Point or Campbell.
I started the application cycle really late. So I don’t have that many options. My other law school option is Campbell they are giving me about 30k and COA is roughly 80k. My stats are decent (163 LSAT) so I’ve thought about delaying law school and applying again early next cycle.
You have the stats to go to an accreddited school. Even if you are super debt averse, there will be schools willing to give you money with a 163 and a decent GPA. Do not attend an unaccredited law school, delay going by a year and improve your application if you do not want to go to any you have offers from.
I would absolutely retake and reapply. You can't chance your career on HPU not getting accredited.
While people are rightfully calling out the unaccredited status, I will say that there is a difference between unaccredited law schools that have existed for decades and new law schools that the ABA is in the process of granting provisional accreditation. HPU needs to have a 1L class so that they can submit certain data, like faculty-to-student ratio, that the ABA has mandatory requirements for. To the best of my knowledge, no new law school has failed to achieve accreditation when asking for it; it's effectively a rubber-stamped process that takes time, but the gist of it is that they will be provisionally accredited by the time their first class graduates.
So then, assuming that happens, what sort of law school is HPU trying to build? The university's administration does not shy away from their vision of higher education. They don't want to be HYS; they want to be the private college that upper-middle class families, often of a conservative bent, send their children to when they can't get into any respected private institution but they don't want to suffer the indignity of a public school. The law school is going to be of a similar event. Daddy owns a local law firm and wants his daughter to take over, but she neglected her GPA and can't crack a 155 on the LSAT. She needs a J.D. from somewhere and money is no object, so we're going to send her to the right-leaning luxury school instead of West Carolina State School of Law. At the end of the day, this will translate to a law school that turns a nice profit for the larger university and has enough resources that bar passage isn't terrible, but has binary employment outcomes. If you had a job lined up coming into law school through your prior network or family connections you will turn out okay, but if you don't you will struggle immensely to find work post-graduation.
I think the biggest risk for attending a new law school is the very real possibility that it won't exist two decades from now. This is a common trend that has plagued new law schools. They're able to get a few initial classes in by giving them huge scholarships, like what you have received. They carry this momentum for a few years and have some normal classes. However, demand eventually dries up as tuition increases and the poor employment prospects become wider-known. Enrollment declines, and the law school shuts down. I don't necessarily think this will be the case here, given the unique and rich national clientele HPU has established as its student base, but this is a risk. If I had to make a long-term forecast, two decades from now HPU will be thought of as a peer to, and have employment outcomes to match, Liberty and Regent. Look at those two school's 509 forms to get a sense for what grads from those schools can expect for career prospects.
I personally wouldn't go to HPU, but I also wouldn't be satisfied with going 150k into debt unless we're looking at a T20. If at all possible, I would simply reapply next year.
Aside from what everyone is already saying here, if you are saying that your alternative to High Point is going to a law school at 150k in debt, you always have the third option of not going to law school. It's hugely unpopular on this sub, but not going to or delaying law school is always an option.
What are your stats and tiers ?
Do not go to an unaccredited law school. Just don't.