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September 2, 2010
In a recent post to the Admissions Blog from William & Mary Law School, Faye Shealy, Associate Dean for Admissions, welcomed the Class of 2013 to the school’s campus. In her post, Shealy expressed enthusiasm for the day each year when the entering class of 1Ls arrives on campus, going so far as to call it her “favorite day of the year.” This year, the matriculating students arrived on August 16th to begin orientation, during which time they had a chance to hear from the school’s Dean, as well as meet their peers and professors for the first time.
According to Shealy, part of the reason why she’s so excited to meet the new students each year is . . . → Continue Reading
September 2, 2010
In early summer, we shared with you our advice about identifying the types of people you should select to be your recommenders. Today we’d like to describe the qualities your recommenders should have, as this will help you select the professors, TAs and employers who will most effectively promote your candidacy in letters of recommendation and the LOR service that LSAC introduced this year.
Most importantly, recommenders should be able to speak to your record of academic success and intellectual ability, as well as your critical thinking skills and written and oral communication abilities. These are the top attributes that law schools are interested in learning about through . . . → Continue Reading
September 1, 2010
The Harvard Law School Human Rights Clinic, with the help of two HLS students, recently published a report on the legal ramifications of mining claims on the Takla Lake First Nation people of British Columbia. Susanna Knox ’10 and Lauren Pappone ’11 accompanied HLS lecturer Bonnie Docherty on a fact finding trip to Canada in September of 2009. The trio conducted interviews in remote parts of the Takla Lake First Nation’s over 27,000 square kilometers of territory, a third of which has had its mineral claims staked by outsiders. The report that the clinic ultimately released, “Bearing the Burden: The Effects of Mining on First Nations in British Columbia,” determined that Canadian mining laws benefit mining interests over those of the First nations people. The report also pushed the Canadian government to elaborate on its stance on this issue. Knox, who graduated this summer and now works for the Southern Environmental Law Center in North Carolina expressed how meaningful this work for her: Continue reading
September 1, 2010
In an effort to meet the needs of our growing audience, we’re pleased to announce that the Clear Admit Law School Admissions Portal will now regularly feature LSAT practice problems, test-taking advice and more. Content will be provided by a range of test preparation companies, many of which were profiled in the Clear Admit Guide to LSAT Preparation Companies (a free publication available for immediate download). As such, stay tuned to this site for expanded coverage of the LSAT, helpful test-taking strategies and more!
Without further ado, today’s sample problem comes from our friends at PowerScore LSAT Preparation:
Linear Setup Challenge
The following item represents a scenario and corresponding rules similar to those found in an actual Logic Game. To complete this challenge, diagram the setup and include a representation of all sequences, blocks, etc. Then, answer the corresponding question.
Problem
A College dormitory manager must assign five students—P, Q, R, S, and T—to five different floors of the dormitory—floors 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6. The assignments must comply with the following restrictions:
P must be assigned to the floor directly above Q.
R must be assigned to floor 6.
1. Which one of the following must be true?
(A) P must be assigned to floor 3.
(B) S must be assigned to floor 5.
(C) T must be assigned to floor 5.
(D) S cannot be assigned to floor 1.
(E) T cannot be assigned to floor 2.
Continue reading
August 31, 2010
Late last week, Northwestern University announced that the dean of its School of Law, David Van Zandt, will leave the University at the end of December to take on his new role as president of The New School in New York City. A member of the Northwestern faculty since 1985, Van Zandt has served as dean of the law school for the past 15 years. He will replace The New School’s current president, Bob Kerrey, on January 1st, 2011.
During his tenure as dean of Northwestern Law, Van Zandt led a strategic plan to make the school more competitive. His efforts resulted in the creation of the largest JD-MBA program in the United States, a dramatic increase in annual giving, and a rise in the school’s public profile. Northwestern Law has also become the most diverse top-tier law school in the country as a result of Van Zandt’s guidance. Continue reading
August 31, 2010
Welcome back to Trivia Tuesday, Clear Admit’s weekly look at special programs and opportunities offered by leading U.S. law schools. This week we’re exploring the wealth of interdisciplinary study opportunities available to students at UC Berkeley School of Law, which we discuss in greater detail in the recently released Clear Admit Guide to University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.
In recent years, Berkeley Law has made a concerted effort to provide its students with an interdisciplinary legal education in which instruction in traditional legal subjects is supplemented by an exploration of related academic disciplines. By emphasizing cross-disciplinary study, Berkeley Law encourages its students to not . . . → Continue Reading
August 30, 2010
In a recent New Jersey Star-Ledger article, John Farmer, Jr., the dean of the Rutgers School of Law at Newark, says that although law students currently face great challenges with respect to employment, a legal education is still valuable.
In the article, entitled “The Real Value of a Legal Education,” Farmer identifies some of the problems of legal education. He notes that law school application and enrollment numbers are at a record high, leading some members of the bar to question how legal educators can admit such large numbers of students, knowing the uncertainty of the job market. According to Farmer, law schools should prepare students for the challenging job market, and law students should keep . . . → Continue Reading
August 30, 2010
Anna Ivey, the founder of Ivey Guide Consulting and former Dean of Admissions at University of Chicago Law School, is back on the Clear Admit Law School Admissions Portal with another great application tip:
“How Should I Present My Military Service in My Applications?”
by Anna Ivey
Anna, I am an Iraq veteran and I have read that military service is anywhere from “extremely valuable” to law school admissions to something akin to any other job. What is your take? Is there anything I should do to highlight its strengths while also countering its possibly negative connotations?
As for another, more specific question: I am struggling with whether to include my platoon’s “number of enemy captured/killed” . . . → Continue Reading
August 27, 2010
Monterey College of Law in Seaside, California is the first accredited law school, among the 220 or so in the U.S., to provide students with iPads as part of a BARBRI supplemental curriculum program. During the second phase of the program, iPads will be given to members of the law school faculty who are interested in using the tool to enhance their course materials.
Monterey College of Law, which is a four-year evening J.D. program, is a suitable testing ground for the iPad pilot program given the fact that the median age of enrolled students is 38, many of whom hold full-time jobs. The aim of dispensing iPads to current law students is to give them up to 700 additional . . . → Continue Reading
August 27, 2010
Hello and welcome to Fridays From the Frontline, Clear Admit’s weekly round up of law school applicant and student news. This week many dormant bloggers sprung to life as their 1L experiences began in earnest.
0L Danielle insisted that she wouldn’t post to her blog again until she scored a 90th percentile result on an LSAT practice test. 0L Paralegal submitted her first law school application and already checked the status of her application twice.
1L think.evolve experienced her first three days of law school, thankful that her mother was at home looking after ‘Trooper’ but wondered how her schedule would be adjusted once her mother left. 1L Ricky Nelson performed a few mathematical equations after learning . . . → Continue Reading
August 26, 2010
This September, James Tysse, a 2006 graduate of UVA Law, will serve as one of four U.S. Supreme Court fellows during the upcoming 2010-2011 session. Tysse was selected from among eight finalists after two days of intensive interviews, which took place last January, with Elena Kagan and former Justice O’Connor, a dinner at the Supreme Court and an introduction to the Chief Justice.
During his time serving at the U.S. Supreme Court, Tysse will specifically work at the Sentencing Commission where he’ll conduct research of sentencing guidelines. Tysse developed an interest in this area while he was studying for his JD at UVA and specifically points to a class on criminal law and psychiatry taught by Professor Hafemeister. Since graduating, . . . → Continue Reading
August 26, 2010
According to a recent New York Times article, recent law school graduates are choosing to pursue public service positions, even when saddled with heavy law school debt, or, in some cases, even when offered high paying jobs with larger law firms.
One such example of a recent graduate who has chosen to remain in public serve is Nathan Richardson, a 2009 graduate of Chicago Law School. Like many law students before him, Richardson accepted a summer position with a large law firm between his 2L and 3L year, and, at the end of the summer, was offered a full-time position with the group following graduation. After the 2008 economic downturn, however, the firm he was set to join in 2009 . . . → Continue Reading
August 25, 2010
Earlier this month, members of Harvard Law School’s classes of 2011 and 2012 wrote a letter to the oval office to provide further support to Professor Elizabeth Warren‘s bid for becoming the director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB). Earlier in the summer 162 HLS alumni members also announced their belief in Warren’s suitability for the position. President Obama is required to nominate the individual who will go on to fulfill this role, and alumni and students alike provide strong arguments for their current or past professor’s fit for the job. The 67 students who signed this most recent letter were all taught by Warren in one or both of her Contracts or Empirical Studies courses and presented three main reasons that they believed that the CFPB would benefit from Warren’s intellect and experience. Students concluded with a strong overall expression of their belief in Warren:
Continue reading
August 25, 2010
With much of the law school admissions process focused on the LSAT, today we’d like to offer some advice to make the process of enrolling and studying for, as well as taking, the test, as painless as possible:
1. Obtain an LSAT Fee Waiver. Everyone taking the LSAT must pay a $136 fee, mandated by the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC), the organization that officially organizes and administers the LSAT. However, LSAC offers need-based fee waivers that cover the entire cost of the test, allowing examinees to take two LSATS within two calendar years, as well as use the LSAC Credential Assembly Services for free. Interested test-takers must submit an application at least six weeks before the registration deadline for their intended LSAT test. This application can be obtained on LSAC’s website and submitted online or through mail. The application must include proper documentation that demonstrates that the examinee is fully unable to pay the LSAT fee. Continue reading
August 24, 2010
Hello, and welcome back to Clear Admit’s Trivia Tuesday, where we take a look at the academic programs and experiential learning opportunities that differentiate the leading U.S. law schools. Today, we are looking at Stanford Law School’s Foreign Legal Study Program, which is aimed at students who hope to pursue transnational law careers.
To help its graduates become familiar with foreign legal systems and prepare for work with lawyers and clients from other countries, Stanford Law offers a Foreign Legal Study Program in which 2Ls and 3Ls study at a law school abroad for one quarter. The school maintains formal international study exchanges with five law schools around the world, including Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, Germany and Peking University Law School, . . . → Continue Reading
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Clear Admit’s Recent Posts
Discussion BoardsBelow are the five most recent posts from several discussion boards popular among applicants and students.
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Admissions BlogsAggregated posts from official admissions office blogs at the leading schools. Below are the seven most recent items.
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If you'd like us to add your blog to the feed, simply send us an email. School News BlogsStraight from the source. The latest press releases and news items streaming from the leading schools.
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General Topic Blogs
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Concurring Opinions
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Above the Law
The popular self-described "legal tabloid."
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Wall Street Journal on the cases, trends and personalities of interest to the business community.
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