Questions To Ask At A Law Fair

Questions To Ask At A Law Fair: You may have read our 10 tips for attending your first law fair and decided to sign up for a law fair or two this fall. Great! If you haven’t read that post yet, make sure you do so before attending a law fair!

So, you’ve registered for a law fair. Now what?

Questions To Ask At A Law Fair

Here is a list of questions to ask a law fair broken down by category. This is a very comprehensive list. Do not plan on asking all of these questions to each representative.

Pick 3-6 questions from this list to ask at a law fair and feel free to repeat those to each representative.

A few things to think about before we list specific questions to ask at a law fair:

Reflect on what the most important factors are in your personal decision to attend law school. Ask questions related to your interests or needs.
Can you only attend law school if you receive a scholarship? Be sure to ask questions from the scholarship category.
Do you have a passion for international environmental law and are only looking for hands-on programs in that field? Be sure to ask questions from the curriculum category.

Tailor these questions to your specific needs.

QUESTIONS TO ASK AT A LAW FAIR

Admissions Questions To Ask At A Law Fair

What are the required components of your law school application?
When do you begin accepting applications?
When is the application deadline?
What is your acceptance rate? (how many applications received and how many students admitted from those applications)
When do you suggest I submit my application? When do you receive the bulk of your applications?
Can I submit an application before I receive my LSAT score?
How long after I apply can I expect a decision to be rendered?
When do you begin reviewing applications decisions and handing out decisions?
How will applicants be notified a decision is made?
Do you employ rolling admissions?
Do you have an early decision program?
Do you conduct interviews?
Do you waitlist students?
What does the waitlist process typically look like?
In the last few years, have you gone to your waitlist?
What time of year do you typically go to your waitlist?
What do you look for in a personal statement?
What do you look for in an outstanding letter of recommendation?

LSAT/GPA Questions To Ask At A Law Fair

What are your school’s 25/50/75 percentiles for GPA/LSAT?
How many times do you allow students to take the LSAT? / Is there a cutoff for the number of test scores you will consider?
Do you accept the June/July LSAT for entry that fall?
How do you treat multiple LSAT scores? Do you average the schools, consider all scores, or look at the highest score?
How do you evaluate advanced/honors/graduate level courses on my transcript?
How is my choice of major evaluated in the context of my transcript?

Scholarship Offerings/Financial Aid Questions To Ask At A Law Fair

What sort of scholarships packages do you offer students?
Do I need to apply separately for scholarships or will I receive automatic consideration when my application is reviewed for admission?
What percentage of first-year students receive scholarships?
What is the average award of a scholarship?
Is the scholarship renewable for all 3 years?
If the scholarship is not renewable, what are the metrics to retain it?
How many students retain it/lost it from year-to-year?
If you lose a scholarship after your 1L year, can you earn it back in your 3L year?
Do you have need-based scholarships? What are the financial qualifications?
What are other scholarships based on? Merit, experience, LSAT, GPA, ethnicity, undergraduate institution, etc?
Are scholarships awarded on a rolling basis?
If there a deadline to be considered for scholarships?

Curriculum Questions To Ask At A Law Fair

What are some of the competitive advantages of your school?
What areas of law does the school specialize in?
What is the student/professor ratio?
What are your clinic offerings?
How competitive are the clinics?
How many courses do you offer in “X” field? (fill in the blank with: corporate law, environmental law, international law, ect.)
What is the grading curve structured for first-year students?
What journals do you offer?
What co-curricular do students participate in? (E.g., Moot court, mock trial, ect.)
How are students chosen to be a part of law review/moot court/other co- curricular? (Can I write-on or must I “grade-on”?)
What percentages of students are able to participate in those programs?

Career Services Questions To Ask At A Law Fair

What is the job placement rate for students that graduate last year?
Is that higher or lower than in past years?
Are those students all working in the legal field? (You don’t want to hear job statistics that include a part-time gig at Starbucks).
Of the students that found long-term, bar-passage required jobs, how many found those positions through the career services office?
What kind of support does the career services office offer to students in their 1L, 2L, 3L years and after graduation (if you’re looking to switch jobs after a few years into practice)?
Does the school have on-campus interviews (OCIs) for students in their 1L and 2L year?
What does that process look like?
How many firms participate?
Do OCIs occur once or twice a year? (fall and spring?)

Bar Preparation Questions To Ask At A Law Fair

How many students pass the bar on their first try? (Ask for past July and February results)
Does the school have any internal resources for bar preparation for their students?
How do most students at that school prepare for the bar exam?
Does the school have partnerships with external bar prep companies? Which ones?

Part-time Programs/ Non-Traditional Students

Are the incoming credentials of students in a part-time program different than your full-time program?
Are you looking for anything different for the part-time program vs. your full-time program, or is the review process the same for both?
Do you have an evening program or evening class offerings?
Do you have a part-time program?
If so, are the scholarships awarded the same as those offered in the full-time program?
Do you offer summer courses? If so, how many classes are typically offered?
How long does it take for a part-time student to graduate?
Are there options to switch from a part-time program to a full-time program?
What is the average age of your incoming student?
Do you give preference to candidates with work experience?
If my undergraduate grades are old, how do you weigh them relative to recent graduates?
Is there a certain background or experience that you look for in successful law students?

Other things: Housing, Student Orgs, Culture

Do you provide on-campus housing to students?
How much does it cost?
Is it charged with tuition each semester? Will you need to pay up-front for a semester or year of housing at the start of the year, or can you spread the cost over each month?
What percentage of students live on-campus vs. off-campus?
What are some things that students like most about living on-campus?
What do students like least about living on-campus?
Do all students get lockers in the law school?
Are there any mentorship programs between 1Ls and upperclassmen?
What is the overall culture like between students and professors?
Do you find that most students form study groups or study individually?

There are a lot of questions to ask at a law fair. The important thing to remember is that you’re there for you!

There’s no magical question you should be asking. Don’t worry about what an admissions representative may think of your questions. Rather, focus on soliciting the information that matters most to you and your decision-making process.

We hope this post on questions to ask at a law fair is helpful!

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Questions To Ask At A Law Fair