Spring Semester Brown Bag Series

Dear Pre-Law Trojans,

We have an exciting series of Brown Bag discussions coming up every Wednesday in February. That’s five (5), count ’em, five sessions designed to help you figure out whether law school is for you, and if it is, get you in! It all starts next week with “Is Law School for Me?” co-hosted by current USC Gould School of Law Students Jacob Griffith and Morgan Smith at 5 P.M, Wed. Feb 1st in THH 214.

Wednesday Brown Bag Series

“Is Law School for Me?” 2/1 5 P.M. THH 214

Tackling the LSAT Workshop 2/8 5 P.M. THH 214

Life as a Law Student 2/15 5 P.M. THH 106

Alternative Careers after Law School 2/22 5 P.M. THH 214

Navigating Law School Application Process 2/29 5 P.M. THH 214

JusticeCorps Volunteer Opportunities Perfect for Pre-Law Students

California JusticeCorps Program

JusticeCorps will be ON-CAMPUS Tuesday, January 24th @ 4 P.M. Location University Religious Center (URC) Rm. 205, please RSVP prelaw@usc.edu!

Applications can be found here:

Summer Application: https://sites.google.com/site/justicecorpssummerapplication/

Part Time Application: https://sites.google.com/site/justicecorpsapplication1/

Graduate Fellows Application: https://sites.google.com/site/losangelesfellowapp/

*Deadline for Full Time/Summer Application: February 10^th

*Deadline for Minimum Time Applications for USC: February 27^th

Please fax or mail ONLY TYPED applications to the LA JusticeCorps Program

Fax: (213)633-5057

Address:              111 N. Hill Street, Room 428J

Los Angeles, CA 90012

** Please note: February 10^th and February 27^th are PRIORITY deadlines; we will continue to accept applications after these dates have passed.

Annual ABA Legal Scholarships for Seniors/Current Law School Applicants

ABA Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund for 2012-2013 Academic School Year

Application can be found on http://www.ambar.org/DiversityScholarship

Completed applications must be postmarked no later than March 1, 2012

Purpose: To encourage racial and ethnic minority students to apply to law school & provide them with financial assistance

Award:

·       $5,000 of financial assistance annually to each scholarship recipient attending an ABA-accredited law school

·       Award made to entering first-year student may be renewable for 2 additional years ($15,000 award to attend law school)

Recipients will be selected based on qualifications for scholarship and NOT on the law school they plan  to attend; therefore, law students applying to ANY ABA-accredited law schools may benefit from the scholarships.

For further questions, please call (312)988-5642

Blackstonians Pre-Law Honor Society Recruiting!

Apply for membership to the Blackstonians Pre-Law Honor Society!

Blackstonians is a pre-law honor society that recognizes academic excellence in undergraduate students and strives to expand their knowledge and perceptions of the legal profession.  Students have access to a variety of events, speakers and resources that will enable them to focus on using law and the legal system for the moral improvement of society as a whole.

We will be hosting a number of great events this year for our members, and an upcoming info session (with snacks!) for those interested in applying!  Our first meeting/info session will be held on Thursday, January 19 at 5:00pm in VKC300A.

Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Legal Fraternity Recruiting!

Apply to join Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Legal Fraternity!

Join Phi Alpha Delta, USC’s professional pre-law fraternity for a reception downtown this Wednesday, January 18th, and Thursday, January 19th, at 5:15 PM, meeting at GFS lobby. Professional attire and RSVP is required. Sign up and learn more at uscpad.org. Drivers welcomed!

Please RSVP to ONE of the above Meet the Chapter Nights by either filling out the form on the website or emailing your name, major/minor, and one interesting fact about yourself to our Secretary, Mr. Jerry Ting at  secretary@uscpad.org.

The Bar?!

The bar may seem like a long way off, and it is.  But it is still something worth considering when applying to law school.  An important statistic to think about is the percent of each graduating class that passes the bar exam the first time around.  For those of you interested in taking the California bar, here are the most recent passage rates for ABA approved California law schools.  The average passage rate among ABA approved California law schools was 76%.

School	Pass Rate
USC	91%
Stanford	89%
UC Berkeley	87%
Pepperdine	86%
UCLA	85%
Loyola	84%
UC Hastings	80%
Chapman	79%
Cal-Western	79%
Western State	77%
Santa Clara	76%
University of San Diego	76%
UC Davis	74%
University of San Francisco	74%
McGeorge	69%
Golden Gate University	66%
Southwestern	64%
University of LaVerne	56%
Whittier	56%
Thomas Jefferson	33%

The average passage rate among ABA approved out-of-state schools with ten or more students taking the California bar exam was 66%.  The following out-of-state schools have a California bar passage rate at or above the California average.

School	Pass Rate
University of Texas	95%
Notre Dame	92%
University of Virginia	92%
Georgetown	91%
Harvard	91%
Yale	89%
NYU	89%
Vanderbilt	89%
University of Michigan	88%
Northwestern	87%
Duke	86%
University of Pennsylvania	86%
Columbia	85%
University of Minnesota	83%
George Washington University	82%
Boston University	80%
Emory	80%
Washington & Lee	78%
Cornell	77%
University of Chicago	76%

Research Fellowships for Pre-Law Students

The 2012 Summer Research Diversity Fellowships in Law and Social Science for Undergraduate Students:

• Application deadline is February 15, 2012 (with transcripts and Letters of Recommendation)
• To access materials, go online to http://www.americanbarfoundation.org/fellowships/index.html

Purpose:

• to introduce students to the rewards and demands of a research-oriented career in the field of law and social science
• to become more familiar with the American Bar Foundation

Eligibility:

• American citizens and lawful permanent residents
• Must be an undergraduate sophomore or junior
• At least a 3.0 GPA (on a 4.0 scale)
• Must be moving toward an academic major in the social sciences or humanities

Program, Tenure, & Stipend:

• 4 summer research fellowships will be awarded each year
• Each student will be assigned to an ABF Research professor who will act as a mentor and involve the student in his or her current research project
• Students will participate in seminars and field visits to become familiar with the facets of sociolegal research and the legal system
• Student will work in Chicago, Illinois for 35 hours a week for a period of 8 weeks
• Each student will receive a stipend of $3,600

CLEO: College Scholars Program in San Francisco

The Ultimate Preparation to Help You Become a More Competitive Law School Applicant!

Designed to identify, motivate and prepare students for a career in the legal profession. Committed students can learn how to successfully navigate the law school admission process and underwrite their success in law school by participating in the College Scholars program.

 

• When: Saturday, January 28, 2012 – 9:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.
• Where: UC Hastings College of the Law.  Click here for directions.

200 McAllister, San Francisco, CA 94102

 

• How: Register online at CLEO College Scholars.
• Who: All college students

 

For Freshmen:  The Road To Law School seminar aims to provide Freshmen an overview of the key components of the law school application process.

For Sophomores:  The Sophomore Super Saturdays seminar aims to help students further develop logical reasoning, reading comprehension and writing skills – the skills needed to become a competitive law school applicant.

For Juniors, Seniors/Post Graduates: Juniors Jumpstart the LSAT seminar aims to help participants understand the importance of systematic and timely preparation for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). Accordingly, juniors will be granted priority enrollment for the seminar