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January 29, 2010
Hello there, and welcome back to Fridays From the Frontline, Clear Admit’s weekly post featuring the lives of ‘blawgers.’ This week the community was a bit more abuzz, with many back and sharing the latest from their lives. 1Ls were focused on internships and interviews while other students were glad to receive their grades.
0L Sue shared her incredibly quick tirimisu recipe. 0L Ricky Nelson found himself questioning Facebook’s impact on real life relationships. 0L LSATLifer waited for his first acceptance letter after receiving five rejections, one deferral and one waitlist notification.
1L Valentina learned that her summer internship’s dress code is business professional, and asked for advice on where to get at least 3 . . . → Continue Reading
January 28, 2010
A Jan. 10 New York Times article put data figures to expected increases in law school applications this admissions cycle. Despite a relatively stable ranking, Cornell University Law School was one of the programs highlighted, with a significant 44 percent increase in year-over-year applications.
Now, according to the school’s Cornell Daily Sun, the application increase is even more impressive than previously reported, as candidates to the law school have increased by 52 percent ahead of the Feb. 1 application deadline.
Richard Geiger, the school’s dean of admissions who indicated to the Times that he was “thrown off” by the upsurge, reiterated his . . . → Continue Reading
January 28, 2010
The University of Michigan Law School has recently launched a new admissions blog, A2Z. The blog entries are written by Sarah C. Zearfoss, Assistant Dean and Director of Admissions. Though she has just recently begun writing posts, Zearfoss has already discussed a number of topics that may be of interest to current and prospective students alike. Her inaugural post focused on the reasons why pursuing a law career is a smart decision even in today’s tumultuous economy, while more recent posts have covered such topics as traits the admissions committee looks for when admitting candidates and avoiding common application pitfalls.
The A2Z blog is one of several recently launched law school admissions blogs. In . . . → Continue Reading
January 27, 2010
A Jan. 8 op-ed in The Los Angeles Times centered on law school oversight has generated much discussion over the last few weeks, and now has generated feedback from the president of the American Bar Association.
The original piece, written by Mark Greenbaum, a practicing attorney, advocates accreditation limits to scale back the legal marketplace. The response by Carolyn Lamm, as a letter to the editor and then expanded upon to Above the Law, defends the ABA’s regulatory role.
Specifically, while Lamm concedes the struggling economy’s effect on increased law school interest, she says that voluntary class reductions by law schools have, in part, stemmed the . . . → Continue Reading
January 27, 2010
Following in the footsteps of certain peers, Northwestern University School of Law has become the latest top-tier program to enhance its public service loan forgiveness alongside federal initiatives.
The move, outlined Tuesday in a school press release, follows Berkeley School of Law and Georgetown University Law Center, respectively, in offering full federal loan forgiveness for graduates who work in public interest law for ten years. As with the other schools, Northwestern’s plan dovetails off of federal loan modifications outlined in 2007′s College Cost Reduction Act and is individually tailored in accordance with debt and salary levels.
Additionally, the law school’s forgiveness program offers assistance over the first five years after graduation, thereby ensuring that . . . → Continue Reading
January 27, 2010
Most law schools offer addendum essays, in which applicants are required or have the opportunity to explain extenuating circumstances in their application, including serious issues including academic, professional, or criminal records. Today we’d like to offer some advice to candidates who are obliged to write essays responding to these circumstances.
1. Consider the requirements. Most schools do request that applicants write an optional essay to address certain issues, such as an academic probation or criminal record. In this case, it’s necessary that you answer the question being asked. However, some schools offer s broad optional essay option, in which students have the opportunity, but are not required, to discuss negative aspects of their candidacy. In deciding whether or not to discuss your . . . → Continue Reading
January 26, 2010
Welcome back to Trivia Tuesday, Clear Admit’s weekly peek into a leading law school program. Today we are considering the University of Chicago Law School’s weekly colloquia, known as Workshops, for which J.D. and LL.M. students can earn credit.
Workshops are a popular way for Chicago students who are interested in a particular legal discipline to get involved in cutting edge research while engaging with faculty and visiting lecturers on discussions of scholarship and innovations within the legal profession. This year, Chicago students are taking Workshops in subjects that range from the broad, such as Law and Economics or Law and Philosophy, to the specific, such as Constitutional Law or Regulation . . . → Continue Reading
January 25, 2010
This year Columbia made changes to its traditional first-year curriculum: no longer consisting solely of required courses, students now have a chance to choose from seven new elective courses in creating their spring schedules. Dean David M. Schizer, also the Lucy G. Moses Professor Law, states that this change was made so Columbia gave students the freedom of choice, allowing them to pursue their “professional passions” while in law school. This opportunity enables students to begin their professional training earlier in their academic career, states Schizer. In addition, these required electives also give first-year students the chance to develop closer relationships with their peers and professors, as these electives are smaller in size than typical first-year core . . . → Continue Reading
January 25, 2010
Announced Thursday, Duke University School of Law will begin a new degree program aimed at synthesizing legal theory and principles of business innovation.
Beginning in the fall, the Law and Entrepreneurship LL.M. Program will include courses on innovation, intellectual property, finance and business law. In total, the program is two semesters and 23 credits. There is also a practicum, which places students with an emerging company or a law firm, and a capstone research project.
In advocating for the program, Dean David Levi stressed the importance of legal counsel in a start-up environment.
“In America and, increasingly, on a global basis, we look to the entrepreneurial sector for creativity and solutions,” said Levi in a . . . → Continue Reading
January 22, 2010
Hi there, and welcome to a brand new installment of Fridays From the Frontline, Clear Admit’s weekly waltz through the ‘blawgosphere.’ This week summer jobs were on many first years’ minds while other bloggers were making changes to their sites, all for the entertainment and edification of their readers.
oL Sue provided her take on how to tackle the LSAT assumption questions. 0L Ricky Nelson was grateful to his parents for their financial backup, but felt guilty that not all future law students had similar support. 1L Anonymous participated in 3 summer job interviews in 18 hours. NYU ’12 Invisible Man sarcastically suggested that changing how one refers to their studies will . . . → Continue Reading
January 21, 2010
In this week’s Trivia Tuesday, we outlined the unique application process at Yale Law School, as the scholarly program relies on its full 60-person permanent faculty to review and rate applicants.
Additionally, a post this week on the (203) Admissions Blog reminded us of another distinctive feature of the school, as Yale’s law students are currently taking exams for last semester’s courses. This administration of post-winter break final exams is unlike most peer law schools.
And while the post speaks with clear subjectivity about the positive aspects of such a schedule, there are simple objective facts to be noted about this system: First, . . . → Continue Reading
January 21, 2010
A law school degree is no longer the “Golden Ticket” to success and wealth it once was, a recent New York Times article suggests. Prior to the economic recessions, law school graduates joining large firms could expect to receive regular salary increases according to a traditional pay scale. Also associated with these coveted firm jobs was a sense of security and perhaps, the article speculates, a degree of entitlement.
Now, however, in the wake of the recession and subsequent loss of 14,000 lawyer and legal staff jobs, those entering the law profession are encountering challenges past generations of lawyers never faced. First, a law degree from a leading institution no longer guarantees a position at a top law firm, as many firms . . . → Continue Reading
January 20, 2010
An upcoming conference held at Emory University School of Law offers discourse on opportunities and challenges facing female law students and women in legal professions.
The conference, “A Spectrum of Opportunities,” is hosted by the Legal Association of Women Students and features a day of panel discussions and speeches. According to a school press release, panel topics include “Developing Leadership,” “Path to Public Interest,” “Women in Human Rights” and “Empowering the Powerless,” among others. The panels are comprised of women working in both private and public law, and Louise Sams, a University of Virginia School of Law graduate and current head counsel for Turner Broadcasting System Inc., is the keynote speaker.
Though separate from the conference, . . . → Continue Reading
January 20, 2010
We’ve been offering a good deal of advice lately on how to conduct oneself and prepare responses to law school interview questions; today, we’d like to highlight the importance of thinking about what you might ask. Virtually all law school interviewers conclude their discussion by offering the applicant a chance to ask some questions about the program. While it might be tempting to claim that you’ve already learned all you need to know about the school, this is actually a great opportunity to gain additional insight, show your enthusiasm about a specific element of the curriculum or community, and demonstrate that you appreciate the opportunity to learn from your interviewer’s experiences.
Here are a few . . . → Continue Reading
January 19, 2010
A new institute set to begin this summer at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law will offer international law students the opportunity to immerse themselves in an American law school and the American legal system.
Within the five-week Summer Law Institute, students can earn up to eight course credits, including Introduction to the American Legal System, International Business Law and Cross-Cultural Negotiations, while obtaining a Certificate in American and Comparative Law. Students can then use many of the credits if they decide to matriculate at Maurer on the Master of Laws track.
“Our new Summer Law Institute will give international students a short but in-depth window into an American law school environment,” said Lesley Davis, the assistant dean for International Programs, in a . . . → 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.
Top-Law-Schools.com
NonTradLaw
Admissions BlogsAggregated posts from official admissions office blogs at the leading schools. Below are the seven most recent items.
Student and Applicant BlogsAggregated posts from law school student and applicant bloggers. Below are the seven most recent items:
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.
Law Faculty BlogsBelow are aggregated feeds from a range of law school faculty blogs.
General Topic Blogs
Subject-Specific Blogs
Concurring Opinions
Community BlogsThe five most recent entries from various sources of information for law school applicants.
Above the Law
The popular self-described "legal tabloid."
WSJ Law Blog
Wall Street Journal on the cases, trends and personalities of interest to the business community.
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