$$ For Political Science Majors!

Applications are now being accepted for UNLV Political Science Department scholarships. Several undergraduate Political Science majors will be selected to receive a $500 scholarship for the Fall 2009 semester. Eligibility requirements are listed below. Application forms are available on the Political Science Department website.

Eligibility Requirements:
• Must complete a UNLV scholarship application
• Must be a UNLV Political Science undergraduate major
• Must be enrolled full time (12 credits or more)
• Must have a cumulative collegiate G.P.A. of 3.25 or higher

Application Procedures:
• Must submit official transcripts for all work completed at universities other than UNLV
• Must present one letter of reference
• A statement of Goals (maximum of 250 words)

Deadline:
Application must be received in the Political Science Department by Friday, April 3, 2009. Recipients will be notified by Monday April 27, 2009

UNLV Prelaw Featured in "Learning in the Future"

UNLV Prelaw's Fan Page has been featured in UNLV Learning Technologies Specialist Michael Wilder's blog, "Learning in the Future." Check it out!

Law School Forums & UNLV

This weekend, I attended the Los Angeles Law School Recruitment Forum. Admissions representatives for almost 150 law schools attended the forum, along with probably 1,000 (or so) prelaw students. Students had the opportunity to mill around, asking questions directly to admissions represenatives from their favorite schools. In addition to this, the forum boastes a prelaw advisors table (at which I served for several hours) where prelaw students could ask questions about the application and admissions process. There were several workshops available, including a "Diversity Information Panel," "Financing a Legal Education," "About the LSAT," and "What Do Lawyers Do?" In all, students appeared to be quite impressed with the forum (see this promotional video on the LSAC website).

The good news is that the Western Association of Prelaw Advisors (WAPLA) is planning to host a similar function right here at UNLV in October, 2009. Keep your eyes right here for updates on the UNLV event!
Because this is in the planning stages, now is the perfect time to make your suggestions known. What kinds of presentations would you like to see at this kind of event? What resources would be helpful to you? Submit your suggestions to UNLV Prelaw's Facebook Page today!

ABA Standards for Law School Faculty

In the March 2, 2009 edition of Inside Higher Ed, Doug Lederman's article (Calling In the Big Guns) details the increasing tensions between the ABA and the American Law Deans Association. Why should we care about this? The debate centers around the freedom of law school deans to set the conditions of employment for their law faculties. The ABA's "Standards on the Hiring and Employment of Faculty Members" presents several restrictions on the law school deans. Lederman characterizes the debate this way:

On one side, many law deans have argued that the requirements represent unwarranted intrusion in their schools' affairs, and drive up costs. On the other are advocates for some law school employees, particularly clinical faculty members and librarians whose status would be most likely to change if the standards were eliminated. They have portrayed the deans' campaign as an attack on tenure and the academic freedom that tenure exists in part to protect, an assertion the deans dispute.

The most important front of this debate has to do with the status of clinical law professors. Because these clinical programs are of such interest and importance to law students, the future of these positions is important to all of us.

2009 Official Guide to ABA Schools

The LSAC's 2009 Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools is here! This is an invaluable resource for students hoping to go to law school.

Do you have a chance at getting into a top-tier law school? Find out using the UGPS/LSAT Search. Just follow the link from the Official Guide page and click "Return to Search." Here, you can search last year's admission profiles based on undergraduate GPA and LSAT score. Just input your information, and you'll see how you compare with the mean for each ABA-Approved and LSAC-member law school. The graphic to the right gives you a probability range indicating how likely it is that you'd be accepted to a given law school based on your GPA and LSAT score (using the previous year's admissions numbers). Enjoy!

Practice LSAT (Kaplan)

Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions is hosting a free practice test on UNLV's campus. The test will be held on Saturday, February 21. The practice test will begin at 1:00 pm in BEH 104. To register, visit kaptest.com/practice.

[Note: This information is provided as a courtesty to UNLV Students. UNLV Prelaw does not endorse any particular test preparation company.]

Training and Recruitment Initiative for Admission to Leading Law Schools (TRIALS)

The application deadline for the TRIALS program is fast approaching! You must submit a preliminary application, receive a password, and submit a secondary application by March 1! Final-round applicants may be asked to participate in telephone interviews and take a test in logical reasoning. You will receive a decision by April 15th.

TRIALS is a residential scholarship program that helps talented and motivated college students of modest means gain admission to the nation’s leading law schools. This rigorous five-week summer course enhances opportunities for students of underrepresented backgrounds by bolstering their skills and focusing their goals.

This is sponsored by a partnership of NYU School of Law, Harvard Law School, and the Advantage Testing Foundation.