It goes without saying that getting academically dismissed from law school can be a humiliating experience. Regardless of what the circumstances were that caused your dismissal, whether it be an unexpected life emergency that threw you off course or just a sheer lack of preparation, getting dismissed sucks. Sadly, the worst part about dismissal isn’t the embarrassment you may face, instead it’s the lack of information regarding how to get enrolled back into law school. Other than a few vague articles discussing re-admittance policies, there’s not much information out there regarding practical steps you can take to gain re-admission. So here you are reading this post in hopes of finding answers to this question. Considering the lack of information out there, I don’t know whether I have the ability to do this topic justice. However, I will try my very best to de-mystify this issue and bring you at least a step closer to getting back on track to achieving that J.D. you covet.
So what’s the first thing you should do after being academically dismissed? At the risk of sounding like your typical law professor, the first thing you should do is “read the rules!” The American Bar Association outlines the rules that all schools should apply in considering a student for re-admission after a dismissal. According to Standard 501 of the ABA Standards:
“A law school shall not admit or readmit a student who has been disqualified previously for academic reasons without an affirmative showing that the prior disqualification does not indicate a lack of capacity to complete its program of legal education and be admitted to the bar.”
But what does that even mean? How does one make an affirmative showing that their dismissal is not based on an inability to complete their legal education? I was just as confused after reading this rule so I looked into how schools have defined this “affirmative showing.” Although my findings were scant at best, the Nova Southeastern law school and the Southern Methodist University law school (SMU) both indicate that a showing of external factors can satisfy this affirmative showing requirement.
Nova stating that, a student gaining readmission must include in their personal statement: “information that shows that external factors, not lack of ability created a barrier to their success in law study.”
Whereas SMU states that a student attempting to gain readmission must show that their dismissal was caused by a serious, unanticipated disruption which was unrelated to the student’s capacity to complete the required course of study successfully.
So this brings us to step 1:
1. External Factors
If you are seeking readmission to law school after an academic dismissal, you must show that your initial dismissal was based on external factors and not your inability to handle the coursework. Law school can sometimes cause students to have tunnel vision. It’s very easy to lose sight of the fact that life still goes on despite your coursework stresses. Therefore, when something major happens in life, i.e. physical or mental illness, the death of a family member or extreme financial loss, it’s very easy to get thrown off track. This is understood. If an external factor is what caused your academic dismissal, schools will generally be understanding of this situation. Just make sure to be clear about the external issue that caused you to lose focus. However, it’s even more important to show the admissions department that you have made the necessary steps to rehabilitate this issue and that you no longer foresee it as an inhibiting factor. We will discuss rehabilitation further in the next section.
So what happens if your academic dismissal was not based on external factors? I won’t lie to you, this makes it a lot more difficult to gain readmission. However, readmission may still be possible, if you can prove that you are rehabilitated and now possess the capacity to complete the legal coursework. Which brings me to the next step.
2. Rehabilitation
If you were academically dismissed based on non-external factors, it will be important to prove that during your period of dismissal you were rehabilitated and now possess the capacity to complete the legal coursework. If you fall into this category, it will be important to understand the root cause of why you went off track. Were you just not mature enough at the time to handle the professional law school environment or was the work load just too difficult? Whatever the reason, I would recommend maybe working a full time job during your dismissal period to show that you can survive in a professional environment. I would also recommend maybe getting a tutor who may be able to guide you through the 1L coursework that you failed. We offer an excellent tutoring service through the Law School Toolbox, so be sure to check it out.
You may now be wondering when is a good time to re-apply to law school after an academic dismissal? Is just a few months of rehabilitation sufficient or will you be required to wait a few years? This brings me to my last step:
3. Re-apply within the School’s Required Timeline
Standard 505 of the ABA rules used to provide that an academically dismissed student would have to wait two years before seeking re-admission to law school. However, in 2014 this language was removed from the rules. Therefore, as far as I could find, it appears that this timeline is now left up to a law school’s discretion. Therefore, if you have been academically dismissed, it’s important that you decide early on which school you would like to gain admission to on the next try. Once you decide this, contact that school directly to determine their policy for admission of academically dismissed students. There’s a possibility that these schools may still have a two-year requirement in place or they may have done away with this requirement like the ABA rules. Whatever the case, find out early on.
If you have been academically dismissed, I know you’re going through a difficult time. I hope these tips can help you to get back on track!
Looking for some help to do your best in law school? Find out about our law school tutoring options.
10-15-2018
This is a well-written article with good, structured advice. I would only add that a student in this situation may want to consider other degree/career options, especially those related to law. I found myself in such a situation in the late 1970s, when I was dismissed from an ABA/AALS accredited law school in New York City. I concluded that my best option was to go to graduate school at NYU and obtain a Master’s in Public Administration (MPA), which I successfully did, and it launched my career in public service and public management. I went on to a 30+ year successful career in public administration. Ironically, a few years after my dismissal, I retook the LSAT and applied to a handful of law schools and was accepted to an ABA/AALS accredited law school in CT.; my career was going very well and I decided to decline admission. I would impart the advice a Contracts professor gave me at the time, which was “to do what is right for you.”
Glad you enjoyed the post!
Thank you so much for your feedback! I think that it’s awesome that you found success in an alternative track. The possibility of alternative career options is definitely a point that I will include in future postings on this topic.
I am very happy that you enjoyed the post!
I’m so excited to see your success after law school! When applying for your masters program did you disclose you where academically dismissed from law school? I am currently taking another track to get my masters degree. Law school was not for me and I learned I did not want to become a lawyer.
Hey Pandora! Thank you for reaching out. I think it’s awesome that you have recognized your preference to seek another path and I wish you all the best on that journey. As for me, I actually was not dismissed from law school and I did not complete a masters program
following my graduation. However, I think that is an excellent option for students who recognize that law school is not ideal for them. Unfortunately, I can’t speak to whether disclosing a prior dismissal would be mandatory for admittance to a masters program. I would recommend that this is something a student researches before embarking on their masters application journey. However, if disclosure is required, I think that the rehabilitation steps outlined in this article would still be beneficial in their candidacy for their selected masters program.
Yes, you very likely have to disclose the fact that you were academically dismissed from a prior law school/degree program. At the time of my dismissal from a NYC-area law school and application to several graduate degree (MPA) programs at U. of Michigan, U. of Virginia, NYU and GW, I had to make that disclosure. I did point out that the dismissal was for academic reasons (not character). I even had my law school Contracts professor write a letter of recommendation for me. This was an example of “honesty being the best policy.” Hope this is helpful.
SR, Larchmont, NY
Thank you so much for this post. I was academically dismissed 2 yrs ago and there was no information besides the usual “are you sure this is what you want to do?” Of course I was sure. My son was caught in the “pipeline” and was recently diagnosed on the Spectrum. I had the same law school tunnel vision and it bit me hard. I went back to work paid for the lawyers to get him out the pipeline and we have acheived the honor roll. I went to get a paralegal certificate with 3.97 as a g.p.a and am currently working with leave and disability law. I miss law school so badly and it is where I truly felt alive. Im not sure if I will get my scholarship back but I cannot be complete until I return. Again, thank you for the encouraging and informative post.
Best of luck to you!
You’re welcome! Congratulations on all that you’ve accomplished thus far. I wish you all the best!
I went through this situation back in the mid-90’s when I was dismissed from a local law school for “academic deficiency.” I was 25, and it was the most devastating thing that happened to me and caused me to reevaluate everything I believed in both spiritually and professionally. I knew there was still nothing else I wanted to do, so I swallowed what little pride I had left and spent the next 2 years working as a legal assistant, taking language courses at a community college, studying to re-take the LSAT, getting diagnosed with a learning disability, and also getting therapy for my grief, anger and overall loss of self-confidence. I also worked very hard to make the personal statement in my application as effective as possible by focusing on what went wrong the first time, what I had done to fix things, and why I still believed that I could eventually become a successful law student and attorney thereafter.
Fortunately, I got accepted back into an out of state law school on my first try. Years later, one of the professors on the admissions committed told me that after reading my personal statement, she had fought for me to be accepted. The second time around was just as academically, financially and emotionally challenging, but I made it through, eventually graduating law school in the middle of my class. I immediately came back to Texas and passed the bar that summer on my first attempt.
It has been almost 20 years since then, and I am proud to be a solo attorney with a small but fulfilling practice. Although I still feel a little bitterness over what happened the first time, I will always be grateful for the second chance that I was given to achieve my goal of becoming a lawyer. Would I recommend going through it all again after being academically dismissed? Yes, but only after carefully thinking everything through and considering all of the sacrifices that you will have to make despite the odds not being in your favor, you decide that you really, REALLY want to be a lawyer.
By the way, I still have that dismissal letter that was personally signed by the dean of that first law school, in which he stated that I needed to seek another career path and wished me the best of luck in my future endeavors. I occasionally read it whenever someone tells me that I can’t do something or just to keep me humble and remind me of what I went through to get the brass ring.
It was the first time in my life that I was not in the honor roll. I felt ashamed angry and deeply disappointed. I understood that some how despite all my efforts I had failed. I was not able to deliver what was expected of me at that law school. I felt very sad but somehow I knew I was still very valuable and very capable. While I considered my options, I went into teaching and fell in love with the profession. At the same time, I started a realstate business. I discovered that I am very good at that and the business has grown very nicely over the years.
Looking back, getting dismissed was a blessing in disguise. As it later turned out, the field was very saturated at the time and only about a third of my friends,who graduated, manage to actually practice law.
I am waiting on my dismissal letter. I am not sure what I am going to do. It makes me sad. I tried so hard, but I studied in the wrong direction. I think I have to take the first year law student exam to get back in.
We’re sorry to hear you’ve been having trouble. If you’re interested in tutoring please fill out the contact form, and good luck!
After 2 years of law school I was dismissed for academic reasons in 2004. Two members of my family was going through some serious medical illness at the same time and I was driving back and forth 100 miles a day to check on them, and working full time and I lost my focus and there was just not enough time in the day. 16 years later, I still want to re-apply but feel at this point I will experience some age bias in addition to being academically dismissed. I have a professional career and I went on to get a Master’s degree and graduated magnum cum laude, but never lost the passion to graduate from law school and practice law, so I am reconsidering reapplying but wondering if it is really really too late? My other question is how do I put my 2 years of law school on my resume or bio and if I should because saying I have 2 years of course work in law school indicates failure? I could use some realistic truthful advise, comments, etc…. to help me move on…..
Most likely you would be starting over with your law school career at this point, so you’d probably be re-applying fresh. Best of luck with your applications!
I recently got dismissed. I submitted a petition to the school committee to allow me one more semester to raise my GPA and they said no. My whole year and half of law school experience was through zoom because of closure and the freaking pandemic. I should of just waited it out and came back in the fall of 2021. Now, I am going to get some type of law certificate at a community college to prove that I am capable and try to re-apply to another school. I am so disappointed but this isn’t the end.
Good luck with the process! Sorry to hear how tough it has been.
Hello. Where can I find info about applying to other schools? Do they even consider AD students?
This isn’t our area of expertise, but good luck!
I appreciated everything that was shared and the replies. I went to a regional law school in 2014 and after my 1L year I was dismissed. I had to wait one year to go before a committee and argue my case. At that time, my grandfather (who was like a father) had just passed away, I was struggling with depression and unresolved grief and I had also came to terms with my sexuality; realizing that I was gay. I was readmitted, though I did not have to reapply, rather just go in front of the committee and argue my case. The reality was that I had just started my journey and I was not ready to return back to law school. In coming out to my family–which might I add– are extremely conservative and religious, I realized that my struggle had just began. Going into my 2L year at that point, with a below average GPA, I feel like I was set up for failure. Starting my 2L year whilst being shunned by my family was one of the hardest things I had to overcome; all while trying to push my way back into law school and to make it into my 3L year. As it turned out, I made it through my first semester of my 2L year, but a 4 credit hour class, which I did poorly in (making a D+) resulted in me being .25 points from making it back to my last and final year of law school. realizing that I had almost 200,000 in debt and no JD to show for it; the days became back and I am still seeing a therapist weekly to help me work through the pain.
Still my dream is to go back to law school and I look for articles like this to give me hope that I can indeed make it happen again. At this point it has been almost 5 years and I completed the MBA that I was working on, while also in law school, which a 3.4 GPA. I am working at a child welfare social worker with the passion and hope of (still) one day obtaining my JD, because as corny as it sounds I want to make a difference on a bigger scale and I am still so passionate about law. Please, can anyone share a similar situation or some words of encouragement. I want to know that there are others out there that may have very well went through what I have and still–eventually– obtained the JD. I am determined and I am working on myself more and more to overcome the multitude of grief, depression and anxiety that I have. I know of others in my class that experienced the exact same thing as I, but none of them are looking to go back to law school, while i hope to one day do that, even if it’s in 5 more years. I would appreciate any input, suggestions, words of encouragement. Thank you for sharing a platform for this to be discussed.
Branden, I love your story. I was just academically dismissed from my law school today. I wrote a letter to the committee to explain why I should be given a second chance, which is to finish my second semester, but they declined to accept me back. So I decided hours after receiving the bad news that I can not return to look up encouraging articles to reapply because being a lawyer has also been a dream and passion of mine and I will not stop fighting for a second chance to fulfill my dream. I will reapply to other law schools , however in the mean time I will be looking for work in the state that I relocate to to attend law school, live out my lease and relocate back home to continue to pursue law school.
I was academically excluded from a regional level law school in the early 1980s. I was shocked and considered suicide at one point. I had never failed in anything in my life up to that point. I had to take one year off before I could re-apply. I lived at home and worked two jobs – one paying job as a night time security guard, on part-time volunteer job as a clerk to a local district magistrate. I gained perspective and realized that a lot of people struggle with law school. I also realized that my life long hearing loss, which I had always thought of as “mild or moderate” was actually “moderate to severe” and made trying to follow the rapid speech in classes a living hell. This was before the ADA. There were no accommodations, no note takers. You had to suck it up. I went back to school after writing an essay that emphasized my desire, my efforts during my time off, including my continuing interest in the law and my acknowledgement of my significant disability. I got readmitted. The second year back my mother died. My grades during my 3rd year were my best ever and I made a National Moot Court Team. My class rank wasn’t anything to write home about, but I graduated “cum degree.” 30+ years later, I’ve practiced law in private firms, local county law offices and am now doing policy at the federal level. I’ve enjoyed my career and am enjoying it. The nightmares still come back, occasionally, but I soldier on. Life is a series of challenges, and you have to keep on as best you can. You have more control over your life than you think, but less than you wish you had! Good luck!
I was dismissed in 2022. I moved four hours away from my spouse to attend law school. I tried to do an accelerated program, which sets students up for failure from the start. The first semester I had five core classes: Con Law, Crim Law, Torts, Contracts, and Property. All while working 20 hours a week, and commuting home every weekend.
I was on probation after my first semester but did not know this until week 7 of my second semester, which is when grades came out. I dropped to three classes around week 8 my second semester but I could not overcome everything with half the semester already gone. I did not appeal or try to argue against my dismissal because, without my husband, I felt like I was putting off what was going to happen in a semester anyway. I was depressed and too distracted.
Currently, I am getting ready to retake LSAT in hopes that I can improve my score. I want to reapply but also want to show that one year of poor law school performance does not mean I can not do this work. I can do this but I need my support system in place to be successful.
Since this experience, I started working with a legal services organization and it has only proved to me that I want this. When I reapply to school it will be right at 2 years since my dismissal and my husband will be able to go with me this time. I believe it will make a difference and I have kept the faith that this will happen for me.
And for those in my shoes, I have read that Faulkner and NSU will consider AD students. I am sure there are others but these are the two I know of off the top of my head.
I was academically dismissed in 2001. I was 1 point away from one I needed to continue. I became ill my last year, last semester, and I was not able to do it. I have since requested info on what it would need to do to complete my degree if accepted back to a regional law school. I was told that I would need to complete a full course load even though I was only 1 class shy of graduating. I’m a lot older and wiser now, but its my only regret in life that I didn’t finish. I’m seriously considering submitting my application but I’m sure if I’m ready to feel that level of rejection again. I have a peer mediation nonprofit that does a lot of good for my community but I could do a lot more if I could could complete the JD.