Mac Francis, director of the HPPLC and the prelaw advisor, organized the event, which will take place throughout the day Thursday at the Indiana Memorial Union.
He handled event publicity and contacted regional colleges to invite their students and faculty to attend as well.
“Students at smaller colleges or universities that don’t have this type of thing — they’re just missing out on this opportunity,” Francis said. “It really does give you a competitive edge.”
Richard Hvale, a health professions advisor at HPPLC, has been involved in the organization of every Law Day since the fall of 2009.
“This is an extraordinary opportunity to talk with admissions representatives from more than 100 law schools,” Hvale said.
In addition to learning about differences between law schools, students might be surprised to learn about the wide spectrum of career opportunities that may be available to them after graduating law school, Hvale said .
“We tend to form our views of various careers from watching media, and these views may be quite limited,” Hvale said. “Law, just as medicine and other professional areas, are in actuality quite broad, and while you may not be attracted to one specialty in a professional area, you may be very drawn to another area.”
Law Day will be broken down into three events, including a panel question-and-answer session, the IU Law School Fair and a mock admissions committee meeting.
All of these events will take place in the IMU.
All events are free and open to the public and do not require pre-registration.
Law Day will kick off with “What ACTUALLY WORKS in a Law School Application!”, a panel with a question-and-answer session from 9 to 10:45 a.m. in the Frangipani Room.
The panel, comprising three admissions officials from different law schools, will discuss common applicant mistakes, what works and what doesn’t.
The IU Law School Fair has been the nation’s largest university-sponsored law school fair for the past 11 years.
The law fair will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Alumni Hall.
“The law fair is a personal, one-on-one connection between the student and the law school,” Francis said. “It really brings them together so that they can have good discussions.”
Francis said these discussions can potentially lead to beneficial connections, in addition to providing students with answers to their specific questions.
“Most schools send their deans and assistant deans of admissions, so these are people who can actually influence the admission decision,” Francis said.
In order to make the most of their time at the law fair, students are advised to review the list of schools that will be in attendance, pick several schools they are interested in visiting and come prepared with questions to ask the schools’ representatives.
Francis also said students should keep an open mind when looking at prospective schools.
“I would also advise everybody to check out at least three schools spontaneously that they hadn’t considered at all,” Francis said. “Sometimes there are hidden treasures out there.”
A list of tips and advice for students attending the law fair can be found on the HPPLC website.
The final event of the day will be Law Day’s first Mock Admissions Committee Meeting.
The meeting will take place in the Dogwood Room in the Tree Suites from 3:15 to 5 p.m.
“We’re going to have actual admissions officials from three different law schools, and they’re going to openly discuss actual applicant files with people in attendance,” Francis said.
The mock committee, made up of representatives from three law schools, will present real applicant files as they would be presented by the admissions committee.
By engaging and encouraging them to participate, the event aims to familiarize students with all aspects of the admissions process.
“It’s really an eye-opening experience, and students often leave with a positive attitude because they learn that it really is about more than the numbers,” Francis said.
Francis said Law Day is an interesting and entertaining way for students to learn and gain a competitive edge against those who don’t have access to similar opportunities.
“Take advantage of it,” Francis said. “It’s really a great benefit of being at IU.”
