<p>It has been so long since I went to law school that I have no idea of the answer to this question.</p>
<p>Would law school admissions offices see graduating from college in 3 years instead of 4 as an advantage for purposes of law school admission?</p>
<p>I'm asking because my son, a high school junior, is considering law school after college. He might take additional AP exams if there would be an admissions advantage to graduating from college in 3 years. For example, his school offers Psychology but not AP Psychology, so he would take the regular Psychology class and self-study for the AP exam.</p>
<p>I really don’t think they’d care. It might even hurt him, because, being younger, he’d likely be less mature (quite a few law schools lean towards accepting applicants a few years out of college for this reason). It would also likely make it harder for him to get work experience while in college, extracurricular involvement, and he wouldn’t be able to develop extended relationships with his professors.</p>
<p>If it’s a money thing and graduating early would save you quite a deal of money, I’d say go for it. But don’t do it because you think it’ll help you in law school admissions.</p>
<p>As a general matter, it won’t likely make much of a difference in law school admissions whether your son graduates from college in three or four years. It would not be seen as an advantage. In fact, your son may be disadvantaged if he is unable to become a leader in college organizations, get to know his professors as well, or to work at jobs and internships that he might otherwise have obtained with an additional year of college. </p>
<p>Additionally, your son may be disadvantaged later in the job interview process. (This depends upon circumstances, of course. If your son is particularly mature, has significant part time work experience, or other notable factors on his resume, age be much less of an issue). </p>
<p>I can speak solely from my long experience interviewing law students on campus for positions as summer associates and permanent associates at a large NYC law firm, but generally, someone who seems too youthful, or too green, will almost certainly be disadvantaged in the hiring process when compared to older, more experienced peers. When hiring, we are often most impressed by applicants who have worked part time during high school and college, who have had responsible jobs during summer breaks, who have foreign language fluency, who have particular and relevant experience, such as in the fields of accounting, finance, investment banking, pharmaceuticals, or other client industries, and, of course, who have outstanding grades in law school. It is also significant that our applicants be mature, articulate, and confident, since they will have early and frequent client contact. In my experience, these traits are most likely to be found in candidates who took time off between college and law school. </p>
<p>I hope that this will be helpful.</p>