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Join Ms. JD as our Social Media Coordinator!
By Katie Day • September 10, 2019 •Ms. JD, Careers, Law School, Pre-Law, Features
Do you have crazy social media skills? Is your smart phone always ready to Tweet, Pin, and Post? Do you have a passion for women helping women? If you answered yes to these questions, you might be just the person we are looking for! Ms. JD is seeking a part-time Social Media Coordinator to join us as an independent contractor to help build and manage our social media outreach strategies. As an independent contractor, the Social Media Coordinator will exercise her or his own independent judgment and discretion to support Ms. JD’s online presence. What will you be doing? As…
Three Key Elements for a Powerful Personal Statement
By Stratus Admissions Counseling • September 12, 2019 •Law School, Pre-Law
Editor's Note: All opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors. When a law school admissions officer reads your personal statement, what three words do you want to come to mind? Ideally, the classic triumvirate: passionate, tenacious and successful. There are multiple reasons why this traditional combination works and why it is so important to clearly establish these traits in your application to law school. Identify Your Passion. Everyone has something she is passionate about. If you are unsure of where or how to start your personal statement, this is a natural place. Whether your passion is in a…
Managing the Costs of Law School
By Caambridge Horton • July 30, 2019 •Writers in Residence, Law School, Pre-Law
The costs associated with seeking higher education can be astronomical. At this point in time, debt is an issue that plagues many students and their families. As the nation becomes more sensitive to the negative implications associated with student debt, it is essential to seek ways to keep the costs of receiving an education low. 1. Make sure you apply to law school early The majority if not all law schools have rolling admission. Rolling admissions means the law school evaluates applications as they are received and continue to evaluate applications until the seats are filled for the incoming class.…
So You Are Thinking About Law School?
By Caambridge Horton • May 30, 2019 •Writers in Residence, Law School, Pre-Law
If you browse the internet, you will find many sources providing information on topics from “things you should know before going to law school” to “things I wish I knew before law school” and many of these articles seem to all have a common theme where they stress the importance of doing your research. While there are many sources including entertaining YouTube videos where you can follow a law student in “A Day in their Life,” I thought I’d provide you with one more informative article on what you should know if you are thinking about attending law school. 1.…
Just in time for graduation, the ABA tightened its bar pass standard for law schools
By Jen Reise • May 21, 2019 •Law School, Pre-Law, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job, Other Law School Issues, Features, Advice on Passing the Bar Exam
Thousands of new lawyers celebrated their graduation this weekend and, in time-honored tradition, celebrated for approximately one day before turning to studying for the bar exam. On Friday, the ABA announced that it was tightening its accreditation standard for law schools’ bar passage rates. The new standard will require law schools to have a bar pass rate of at least 75% within two years of graduation. Overall, this rate was 88.57% for the most recent year, but bar passage rates are highly correlated with LSAT scores. This change puts the pressure on bottom-tier law schools, i.e., those that admit the…
Considering a Career Switch into the Legal Industry?
By Vanessa Stephens • March 26, 2019 •Law School, Pre-Law
One of the most challenging and rewarding decisions I made in my career was enrolling in law school after working for several years. At the time, I reached a point in my career where I started to build credibility and expertise in my field, but I found myself increasingly interested in the laws impacting the healthcare industry. I also knew getting back into “school-mode” would be an adjustment. But because I didn’t have family or close friends that were attorneys, I had to learn what attorneys did and what I would learn in law school. To those of you reading…
Preparing for Law School? Check out these do’s and don’ts.
By Paige Marie Robinson Greene • March 25, 2019 •Law School, Pre-Law
This post was written by Mackenzie Koppenhofer, a 2019 Ms. JD Fellow. The year before beginning law school is a difficult one: you have a lot of fears and doubts based on rumors and articles about the difficulties of law school, you don’t quite know what to expect, and trying to juggle the application process alongside your other responsibilities can be overwhelming. All of these things definitely bogged me down during my application process: I was working full time as a restaurant manager, had just graduated from undergrad, and no one in my family had ever gone to law school.…
Choosing a law school: Four factors that matter, besides the U.S. News rankings
By Jen Reise • March 13, 2019 •Careers, Firms and the Private Sector, Nonprofits and the Public Interest, Law School, Pre-Law
With the 2020 U.S. News rankings of law schools finally out, there’s a lot of discussion about the winners and losers this year. But as an individual applying to law school, rankings don’t tell the whole story. Here are four factors to consider in order to identify what the best law school is – not in general, but specifically for you. Location You’ll make important connections in law school, and most will be in the surrounding legal market. You’ll clerk at a local firm, network with local attorneys, and learn about the business and legal landscape of that community. In…
What’s a “good” LSAT score?
By Jen Reise • February 11, 2019 •Law School, Pre-Law
January 2019 LSAT scores are coming out Friday. What does your number mean for your future prospects? I remember studying hard for the LSAT and waited in fear to hear how I did – but when I finally heard, I still wasn’t sure what that meant for my law school prospects. Here’s what I wish I had known: A perfect score on the LSAT is 180, and the lowest is 120. The average score of LSAT test takers is right around 150. But the LSAT score you need to get into law schools is generally above that average – and…