Connecticut Law School Fair

During the fall 2019 semester, members of the SHU Career Development team had the opportunity to attend the Connecticut Law School Fair held at Quinnipiac University. A portion of the day allowed students across Connecticut to gain insight from guest panelists into the law school admissions process. The representatives came from QU Law, Penn State Law, and the University of Richmond School of Law.

Here are some quick tips we gathered from the day.

Resources

  • Use LSAC.org as your one stop shop to register for the LSAT, explore programs, research upcoming law school forums, and apply to law school
  • org is a great free resource to help you prepare for the LSAT

Application Process

  • Be sure to send all transcripts from the schools you have attended, including military
  • Your application is intended for you to prove why you are an asset to the school and a chance for you to differentiate yourself
  • Be sure to answer all of the questions asked of you
  • You CAN ask for application fee waivers
  • Each institution has their own deadlines (applying early is great, but they would rather you submit your best)
  • You do not always need to include a diversity statement. Include one only if it is different from a personal statement. It goes beyond ethnicity/race: ask yourself, what do you bring to the school (experiences, background), something that might not be obvious from the rest of the application
  • “Character and Fitness”, simply put, is explaining items that may come up during a background check (student loan default, bankruptcy, criminal history, academic probation). Provide full disclosure-explain it thoroughly and what you have learned from the experience/how you’ve grown
  • An addendum is used when you really want to add something to the application that hasn’t been explained yet (e.g., why your GPA dropped one semester)

Personal Statement

  • You do not have to have a compelling story to tell, it simply needs to be authentic and unique to you
  • It likely will not make or break your application
  • Your main goal is to focus on your motivation for pursing a career in law

Letters of Recommendation

  • You will need approximately 2-4, and ideally a mix of representation such as faculty and former internship supervisors
  • Do not worry too much about the professional title of the recommender, but more so on the quality of the letter

Scholarships

  • Most scholarship reviews are based on GPA and LSAT scores

LSAT

  • Is now digital and is offered each month except December
  • You may take the writing sample on your computer at a later time

Resume

  • All work experience is good experience (relevant or not)
  • Representatives are looking for quality not quantity. They would rather you hold a leadership role in a club you have been involved with for four years, rather than a list of memberships to random clubs you only participated in for a semester or so
  • Length doesn’t matter as much, it is ok to go over one page
  • There is no “one” thing that will get you into law school

Final Tip

Find someone to go through the process with you as an accountability buddy!

 

By Patti Moran
Patti Moran