On March 19th, the Pre-Law Society (PLS) convened for our second meeting of the Spring 2025 semester.
With a focus on several professional workshops, the officers quickly addressed general business, discussing finances, membership, and exciting upcoming events.
President Olivia Discon unveiled the formation of two new committees, the Communications Committee and the Social Planning Committee, giving members an engaging new way to be involved with the Pre-Law Society.
Afterwards, Professor Yawn, advisor to the Pre-Law Society, presented scholarships to select students: Timi Akindele, Lindsey Castro and Michelle Moya, based on their attendance in previous events.
He then urged the attending members to consider the importance of acting on the information they gain from the Pre-Law Society, highlighting the success of some graduating seniors to motivate the younger members of the organization.
Pre-Law Professionals Workshop
President Olivia Discon then gave a preliminary workshop on basic business etiquette, discussing appropriate business attire and email etiquette.
We then broke off into groups, with members selecting which of the various workshops they wished to attend. These workshops are important because they provide students with valuable knowledge on professional attire, email etiquette, law school timelines, and the law school application process including key do’s and don’ts.
Law-School Timeline Workshop
Led by Pre-Law Advisor Jean Loveall, this workshop aimed to provide clarity to underclassmen about how to carry themselves during their undergraduate programs to best prepare for law school.
During their freshman and sophomore years, Ms. Loveall advised students to select their majors and minors and focus on building a strong academic record and cumulative GPA. Additionally, she advised underclassmen to join PLS, take a mock LSAT to gauge their strengths and weaknesses, begin to think about building their resumes and schedule an appointment with a pre-law advisor each semester.
During the Fall of their Junior Years, Ms. Loveall advised students to begin developing criteria for their choice of law schools and begin to think about professors who might write them letters of recommendation. Here, Ms. Loveall stressed the importance of developing personal relationships with professors, as it leads to stronger letters of recommendation. Ms. Loveall also advised students to begin thinking about their personal statements and to create an LSAC account.
During the Spring semester of Junior year, students were advised to take a practice LSAT and figure out when they want to take their actual LSAT, drafting a study plan accordingly. Students were also told to narrow their law school search and to begin drafting the other components of their application (e.g. the personal statement and optional addenda) in accordance with the standards set by their chosen law schools. Furthermore, students were told to request their letters of recommendation and to request that their transcripts be sent to LSAC. Most importantly, students should continue to meet with their pre-law advisor.
During the Fall of their Senior years, students should register for and take the LSAT, finalize the components of their applications, fill out their FAFSA forms and apply to law school. From that point forward, students must wait for responses from law schools.
Applying to Law School Workshop
This workshop, led by seniors Christina Biello and Hunter Hagan, focused on the process of applying to law school, which the two seniors had diligently undergone during the prior semester.
To begin with, they taught attending members how to make an LSAC account, perhaps the most pivotal step on the journey to law school (As it’s literally impossible to apply without one). Afterwards they ran through a variety of the procedural aspects of applying to law school, such as how to ask for letters of recommendation and how to submit your transcripts to LSAC.
Chrissy and Hunter then discussed some tools available to students that make the process of applying to law school less daunting, such as LSAC forums and the LawHub platform. They also provided a copious amount of advice on topics such as the LSAT, Personal Statements and the benefits of applying for fee waivers during the application process.
Resume Building Workshop
The Resume Building Workshop, led by Olivia Discon, focused on strategies for building a strong resume. Olivia outlined her five step approach to building a strong resume, after graciously sharing her first resume as a necessary example of what not to do when making a resume.
Olivia’s first step is to identify the resources available to you. She highlighted the Career Success Center as a resource available to students on campus, which provides them with templates on their resumes, as well as advice on how to improve them. The second step is knowing how to order your education and work experience. This step focused on understanding how to organize information on your resume, and recognizing what qualifies as relevant experience.
The third step is to know your strengths. Here, Olivia emphasized the difference between hard and soft skills, as well as knowing what skills are relevant for the job you are applying to.
The next is to become a stronger candidate. To do so, a student must utilize opportunities, list the honors they’ve achieved and any volunteer opportunities they may have been involved in. Olivia’s fifth step is to Advance Professionally, Intentionally. Olivia outlined what she refers to as the STAR test (situation, task action result) as a framework to bring purpose and clarity to each section of your resume.
Our next meeting is on April 16th; Stay tuned for our next blog!
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