Law Fairs, And What To Know Before You Go

Every time I give advice here, I do my best to cite what the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) has to say on the subject, as my guiding principle. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: They're the experts when it comes to this stuff.

I've probably linked to their website enough times that someone might start to wonder whether or not I'm being paid to promote them (I'm not), but I'm going to do it again here, because that's where you can find information on where they'll be hosting a law fair near you.

Law fairs tend to have two components: Forums and meetings. You can watch panel discussions about topics such as LSAT prep, diversity in applications, and financial aid half the day, and then spend the other half meeting representatives from the various schools that attend. Some fairs have representatives from over 150 schools, so it can be overwhelming at first, if you don't know what you're doing.

If you only think that you might want to go to law school, I'd recommend holding off on attending law fairs for the time being. Their purpose is not to sway conflicted students; law fairs are meant to give those of us who know that we want to apply all the advice that we need. This isn't meant to be a discouraging or exclusionary statement. However, in my experience, these fairs don't tend to offer much that would interest someone who isn't already fairly set on law school.

If you're able to attend a larger law fair, it's likely that there will be more forums than you have time in the day, particularly if you want to meet with school representatives, so prioritize which panels you know that you want to attend. If you have a fairly decent grasp on the LSAT, and you really need to get more information on what schools look for in a personal statement, you know where you need to be. 

When it comes to speaking to school representatives, again, the key is prioritization. You should know, generally, the schools which are in range for you. Speak to those representatives, ask questions with answers that aren't readily accessible on the school websites, and take notes so that they don't just blur together. Every representative that you meet there will be very friendly, but that doesn't change the fact that just by the nature of your LSAT score and GPA, there are some schools that you would never consider applying to. Time at these fairs is limited. Don't waste yours.

Ultimately, the best advice that I can give is that law fairs can be incredible resources, but you could attend every fair in the country, and it wouldn't be very useful to you if you don't already have a general idea of what you're looking for, and where you most need to focus your attention.