Cleveland State University College of Law welcomes applications from individuals demonstrating academic excellence and writing proficiency, but whose LSAT scores are at or below CSU|LAW’s published 25th percentile; these applicants may be admitted through the Legal Career Opportunities Program (LCOP).
Students admitted to CSU College of Law through the LCOP program have successfully demonstrated strong academic ability and writing proficiency; however, their LSAT score may not reflect their greater potential.
The LSAT is designed to measure skills that are considered essential for success in law school: the reading and comprehension of complex texts with accuracy and insight; the organization and management of information and the ability to draw reasonable inferences from it; the ability to think critically; and the analysis and evaluation of the reasoning and arguments of others.
These skills can be strengthened through hard work and practice. Through CSU College of Law’s LCOP program, our faculty experts will work to diagnose and correct any area of weakness before the start of your Fall semester.
Highlights of LCOP include providing you with the following additional resources:
- Two coordinated courses – Torts and Legal Process – through which you will develop skills and study habits that will help you in all your courses.
- A two-week head start: the LCOP program begins two weeks before other first-year courses. During that two-week period, your professors will meet with you for three hours a night. You will learn to read and brief cases, which is the primary method by which you will learn the law in your first-year courses. You will develop learning strategies. And you will study the legal system, legal authority, legal analysis, and kinds of legal reasoning.
- Small classes to facilitate individual attention.
- Regular one-on-one meetings with your professors.
- Frequent writing assignments and exams with individualized feedback.
- A semester-long focus on the skills that are considered essential for success in law school: the reading and comprehension of complex texts with accuracy and insight; the organization and management of information and the ability to draw reasonable inferences from it; the ability to think critically; and the analysis and evaluation of the reasoning and arguments of others.
The LCOP Application Process
There is not a separate application process for LCOP; instead, the Admissions Committee could recommend admission into the LCOP program for a student whose credentials are lower than we prefer for admission but whose file shows the promise of success.
Acceptance to LCOP is highly selective.
Students admitted to CSU fCollege of Law through the LCOP program are required to begin their first year of legal study approximately 3 weeks before the start of the fall semester. Attendance and participation in LCOP is required for those admitted to the LCOP program. Both full-time and part-time day students will have an evening course obligation through the Fall semester.
Transfer students are not eligible for admission through the Legal Career Opportunities Program (LCOP).
Required Summer Academic Program
The LCOP program begins in early August prior to the start of the fall semester, with two weeks of intensive study at no additional tuition cost. You will begin your study of Torts and Legal Process with Associate Dean Carolyn Broering-Jacobs (Clinical Professor of Law and LCOP Professor) and Professor Nicholas DeSantis (Director of Academic Support). At the end of this two-week period, you will join your 1L colleagues for Orientation Week, and you will continue your Torts and Legal Process classes through the Fall semester, with Torts meeting three times a week and Legal Process meeting once a week.