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I just wanted to give my quick thoughts on the LSAC forum I attended.
1.) Many of the schools were giving out fee waivers (didn't apply to me since I'm applying next cycle) but for the most part it seemed like most were giving them out.
2.) The seminars that I attended were quite informative:
I went to the Forum 101 and What do Lawyers do ones and both had very generous Q&A's. The 101 one had a couple of Admissions people running it so it was quite nice to ask specific questions that you may not be able to ask otherwise. The Lawyer one had about 6 attorneys working it, most of them practiced different disciplines of law so they brought a wide perspective. Again, there was a nice Q&A and they also stayed afterwards in the hall to talk to us (this was fantastic since there was an M&A attorney that I got to chat with).
3.) A lot of heavy hitter admissions/deans were at the booths. As mentioned in another thread, great way to network and setup a contact within the law school you are targeting.
Overall, definitely worth the time if you are applying the same cycle or if you have never been to one. If you have already done a lot of your homework on your target schools, it may be redundant. I was in the latter but I still walked away with some new knowledge. Hope this helps.
Comments
I'm so happy you posted this! I had planned on going to the Houston LSAC this year before I decided to wait and go next year for fee waivers. Since we live in Dallas, I didn't think it was worth the drive to go this year if I have to go next year. Glad to hear it was informative can't wait to go next year!
I also attended the Houston LSAC and enjoyed the sessions and speaking with admission personnel and alumni. I went to the Forum 101 session as well and received some good information. @tringo335 I remember you posted about whether to go to this forum or not considering you were not applying until fall 2019. I too am not applying until fall 2019 but decided to go anyway since I live in Houston. I thought I'd ask one of the panelist if I should go and meet with the schools considering I was not applying until fall 2019 and she stated by all means go and meet them and showcase your strong personality lol.
So, I'm not sure how to handle this going forward. Should I keep in touch with those I spoke with since they provided me with their contact information or should I wait to attend another forum closer to when I plan on applying and begin the networking all over again?
I would definitely link up with them! Even a quick 'nice to meet you; excited to apply next year...' type of email. Then when you apply next year they may still remember you![:) :)](/forums/resources/emoji/smile.png)
I will do that. Thank you for your response!
Anytime!![:) :)](/forums/resources/emoji/smile.png)
@tringo335 Yes definitely worth the drive, especially since we are all applying next year. I don't know if they'll do Houston again (maybe they rotate to Dallas) but I feel like there is a good chance one of the 2 cities will be used since they are the main markets in this region. The only major schools that weren't there were HYS (waste of time for them haha) and Georgetown (which was one school I hoped to talk to.....sighs).
@smartaone2 that is the same question I struggled with. I have done a ton of research on schools so I didn't have a ton to ask the schools which made me feel like I wasn't able to make a deep enough connection to go reach out. I feel like next year, for me at least, it will be easier to go make contact since I will be in full school search mode.
Aww man Georgetown wasn't there :-( I hope they are there next year I'm interested in meeting them. And yea I saw HYS wasn't there lol. Harvard has pretty good online webinars so I usually attend those.
I know there is a D.C. and NYC one so they probably stuck to those. I guess they don't pull enough Texans to merit the time to recruit down here. Who knows haha
I also went to the Houston LSAC Forum and thought it was really helpful!
It took about an hour to navigate through the schools I wanted to talk to, so I spend most of my time there attending the workshops.
I really enjoyed the workshops they provided. There was a lot of great information and I think it was the best use of my time there; especially their workshop on financing a legal education.
So if you go next year, I recommend checking out the workshops!
Ahh maybe
.... What schools are you aiming for? Were there any significant admissions people you met with? Were they really helpful? How long were the lines to meet folks? (yea I have a lot of questions my bad ha!)
@akeegs92 I agree. I will make send a "Thank You" email to those that I spoke with, but I definitely want to attend another forum during the year I plan to apply. Well wishes to you both! @tringo335
@tringo335 For me, a lot of the schools I'm looking at are in TX: University of Texas, SMU, University of Houston (graduated from Texas A&M and my folks are here). Out of state wise, looking at UVA (dream/reach school), Georgetown, Ohio State and University of Cincinnati (spent my teenage years and first two undergrad years in Cincinnati; very comfortable there.
Again, I have done a ton of research on all my target school, so I didn't talk to a ton of schools. I went to UVA's table since I have never spoken to them before. They had a recent alumni working the table; works at Baker Botts. He unfortunately couldn't give me a ton of info on the inner workings of admissions (which most of my questions were about of course haha).
The other significant one (other dream school) I talked to would be the University of Texas. The gentleman I talked to was an assistant dean if I'm not mistaken. I picked up a card but it was a general card for the school with none of his personal contact info. He was quite helpful with admissions questions. I guess it just depends who they decide to tap to run the booths.
Line length wise, it was very long for UT and the University of Houston (obviously most popular schools in the state). After that the lines were pretty manageable. Kind of depended how many people were running the booths too (UT had 3, UH had 3, UVA had 1) and how popular the school was. I'm not really looking at any IVY or northeast schools so I can't give you a ton of info on them. Just be ready to commit a good chunk of your day, especially if you are looking at a lot of schools.
I guess the main thing is to be prepared with questions for each school. The couple of questions that I asked that were general, the representatives pushed me to be more specific. Have a plan and know what you want to ask.