Ask them what courses they recommend, how they found an apartment and how they got a summer job – or anything else you`d like to know when you make your final decision. Also take the time to walk around the community, both on campus and throughout the city where the school is located. – The cafeteria and the community: In fact, I think it can be incredibly helpful to spend time in the law school cafeteria you attend. Beyond the official open house speakers, you`ll need to spend more time with students. Students studying or having a quick meal in the law school cafeteria are a wealth of honest information about their experiences at school. Plus, they could become future friends/mentors if you decide to go. Some schools have awarded them partial scholarships. Others did not give you money but are ranked higher. One is in your home state, where you hope to live after law school, but it`s not ranked as high as the others. Help! How will you find out all this before the filing deadline? If you can`t go to school, you can always get more information to help you decide. I would try to arrange a Skype or phone call with the admissions, and you could also ask them for the names of alumni in your area that you can reach. A big part of the law school`s admissions office`s job is to attract potential students. As part of this role, admissions offices welcome inquiries from potential applicants.
Contact the admissions office to learn more about the school and visit campus, attend a class, or get in touch with a student or alumnus. You`ll probably get the most candid information about a former law school that you know through other channels, such as mutual friends and colleagues. To fully understand the experience you will have as a student, it`s best to talk to graduates, as their experience is more likely to match yours when you attend this school. · What would you have liked to know before studying law? You`ll be able to speak more directly about a law student`s experience at this school, including information about student body personality, clinics, and other extracurricular activities. — What are the most common career paths for law school graduates? Ask this question to learn how to provide you with this information, as it should be an important criterion for determining where you go to law school. After all, the goal of law school is to create the legal career you want. They have already checked their websites, carefully researched their rankings, and analyzed their stats (see ABA Required Disclosures for informative statistics on each school: www.abarequireddisclosures.org). Admissions offices typically track who joins them and who attends events, campus tours or attends classes, and uses this information to measure the applicant`s interest in the school.
The more interested you appear in school, the more it can influence your application. Hillary Mantis works with law students, law students and lawyers. She is the author of Alternative Careers for Lawyers and director of the Pre-Legal Counseling Program at Fordham University. Questions about law school? You can reach them at altcareer@aol.com. While many factors play a role in choosing a law school, one of the most important is employment. You probably have a lot of questions. Where do graduates of this law school typically work? Can I repay my loans? What support does the school offer? These are probably just a few of the many questions that cross your mind. · What was the best thing about your experience in law school? 3. NALP Directory of Law Schools The annual NALP Directory of Law Schools provides information on demographics of enrolment, degree programs, special programs, honours, grading systems, etc. All U.S. law schools included in the directory have received at least one provisional ABA accreditation.
· What was the best learning experience at Law School? Some schools have excellent experience in local private practices or nearby local, state, and federal offices. Others will place a significant percentage of their graduates in corporate law. Make sure graduates` career prospects tend to be very good and that shared career paths align with your own career goals. Talking to current and former students is the best way to get an open account of the actual student experience in a law school. You`ll likely spend three years in school, and the stress of the academic side of law school makes it important to feel comfortable in other aspects of your life so you can focus on studying and career development. 5. EqualJusticeWorks Law School Guide: The EJW guide is designed to help applicants to public law schools determine which schools are best suited. It provides direct comparisons of financial support and affordability factors, faculty engagement, student leadership, provision of clinical, outpatient and pro bono opportunities, and curricular and extracurricular offerings in specific areas. Here are some questions you can ask current students/alumni: – What is it really like to be a student at this school? And what is social life like? Is the student body a close-knit group or do most people work and study alone? What is the competition for grades? These lifestyle questions are difficult to tactfully ask at a licensing office. [Learn three ways law school applicants can make a long list.] As important as rankings and stats can be, there`s no substitute for going to school and seeing if it`s right for you. Another benefit of talking to alumni is that these conversations give you material to use in your personal statement, interview, and other parts of the application process. The material can help indicate to the school in question that you have done independent research on the school and that you have a reason to apply other than the fact that the school is well suited from an LSAT or surrogacy perspective.
Are you considering applying to law school? How do you gather information about programs you are interested in? Let me know in an email or tweet. · To what extent did law school help you find a job and what resources did you use? Also see if they can give you information about the type of employers who participate in their on-campus interview programs in the fall and spring. This is very valuable information about who can potentially hire you down the line.
