Law School Expo

I got in my car just before lunch-time today to drive up to Wake Forest University and attend a graduate and professional school expo to which several law schools had sent admissions representatives. When I got into my car, I discovered a nasty surprise.

My windshield was cracked!

Yes, again.

Yes, the new windshield that I just installed two months ago!

Grrr. Well, at least this crack is on the passenger side and not immediately in my field of vision as the other crack was.

So, I drove up to Wake Forest and parked in an area on the grass just west of the quad that they often use for over-flow parking. I made my way into the Benson center and registered. I dunno whether it says more about folks graduating from Wake Forest or about current trends in graduate schools, but about 95% of the 75 or so schools there were law schools. Several others were MBA programs (including UNCG).

The first person with whom I spoke was Karen Britton, the representative from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UTK). I asked her many questions about the school and city and found her answers very helpful, both in particular about her own institution and about the law school admissions process in general. UTK didn't immediately pop into my head when I originally thought of where I might like to attend law school, but the low application fee attracted my attention and when I looked more closely, I found that I might be a strong candidate. Karen mentioned that many of their students work as summer associates at firms in Nashville, which is also the largest market for their graduates, something that weighs in UTK's favor with me.

Diane Finger of Wake Forest U was interested to hear about what had led me to consider a career in the law and told me about an upcoming admissions information session. Megan Jordan of Elon U answered yet more questions about accreditation from me and explained why their brand-new law school is well-positioned to earn ABA accreditation. Melissa Fruscione, whose e-mail message tipped me off to this event, spoke of how much Notre Dame U has to offer as an institution and a community. Cristi Head of Virginia (UVa) was rather encouraging and gave me an application fee waiver (worth $70) when I voiced my reluctance to even apply in light of my numbers and UVa's reputation (a top 10 law school).

I also spoke to Anne Richards of George Washington University and, finally, Mweni Ekpo of UNC Chapel Hill. (Mweni was constantly surrounded by a crowd and I wanted to make better use of my time than waiting.) I picked up a brochure from U South Carolina and signed their mailing list, but there was no one at their table at that moment. Everyone to whom I spoke answered my questions sincerely and candidly and took their time; I never felt rushed, even when I pounced on Mweni just as the expo was wrapping up.

I saw representatives from Columbia U, Vanderbilt U, Stanford U -- big names among law schools. There were folks from Charlotte and Charleston, two new private, for-profit law schools that are opening in those cities. There was even a representative from Chapman U, a medium-sized, private university in Orange County, California, that my friend, PJ, had tried to sell to me! NC Central U was conspicuously absent. I was disappointed to see that there was no representative from Samford U and WVU, two schools that are on the outer ranges of my radar, but about which I'm interested to see more information.

Going into the expo, I felt that I had little chance of receiving a fat envelope from Georgetown, UVa, or Vanderbilt but I felt relatively safe in applying to UNC Chapel Hill and WFU. Much of what I heard confirmed some of my suppositions, but I now fear that UNC Chapel Hill and WFU are "reaches" for me, too. I must admit that this is a little disappointing. I had hoped to receive a bit of encouragement, but that was as much as I received -- a little. Many to whom I spoke agreed that much would depend on my personal statement and other materials with which I supplemented my application.

Application fees are expensive (as much as $75 for the schools on my long list), so I'll shorten my list quickly and won't go out on many limbs. I will apply to UNC Chapel Hill, WFU, and Elon because those are my top picks. I'll apply to NC Central U and UTK because I think that I'd be a strong candidate. I'll apply to UVa because I have a fee waiver. Then, I'll wait patiently by my in-box to see what avenues open themselves to me. :J