Event offers law students guidance

Dressed in everything from suits to cutoffs, hundreds of students filled Alumni Hall Thursday for Law Day, an annual event that makes admissions officers from across the country easily accessible to students interested in going to law school.\n"These are the people who really do decide admissions," said Mac Francis, assistant director of the Health Professions and Prelaw Center and advisor. "They are the ones who give you a thumbs up or thumbs down."\nRepresentatives from over 100 law schools were represented at this year's Law Day, an impressive number considering there are only 187 law schools in the country.\n"This year, (Law Day) is about the size of the Chicago forum," Francis said. "Very few colleges get this opportunity."\nBefore the doors to Alumni Hall opened at 11 a.m., students gathered at 9 a.m. in the Georgian Room for a panel discussion with four admissions representatives from the law schools at St. Louis University, George Washington University, University of Dayton and IU.\n"I want to make sure I have all the information I need going into taking the LSATs," junior Jackie Jednachowski said. "I'm curious to hear what (admissions officers) are looking for because applying to law school is extremely different than the last time I applied to colleges."\nAfter each representative gave a brief overview of their school's admissions process, students asked questions on a variety of issues, including personal statements, preparing for the LSATs, letters of recommendation and scholarships.\n"The most important thing you will take with you out of law school is your transcript," said Dennis Long, assistant dean of admissions for IU's law school, when asked if a law school's ranking mattered to potential employers, "Your grades will be there forever."\nStanding just outside Alumni Hall at 10:55 a.m., senior Elizabeth Sloan held the red ticket she got at the panel discussion. The red tickets took students straight to the front of the line to enter Alumni Hall.\n"They talked about some ideas I hadn't thought of before, like how you should pick a law school where you will do well and not one that's necessarily ranked high," Sloan said,\nInside Alumni Hall, tables covered in their respective school's banners created a pathway for students to follow that led them past each school. Students and admission representatives mingled and exchanged information. The last two tables were occupied by the University of Wisconsin and the College of William and Mary law schools.\nBeth Kransberger, assistant dean of admissions and financial aid at the University of Wisconsin, described an intensive but fun fall that law school representatives follow, traveling across the country to meet prospective students.\n"This is the best part," she said. "Providing access opportunities to us, and accessing the vision to who (the students) are."\n-- Contact senior writer Kathleen Quilligan at kquillig@indiana.edu.