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Pre-Law Websites

National Website

PLANC
Prelaw Advisors National Council
 
Regional Websites

MAPLA
Midwestern Association of PreLaw Advisors

SAPLA
Southern Association of PreLaw Advisors

SWAPLA
Southwest Association of PreLaw Advisors

PCAPLA
Pacific Coast Association of Prelaw Advisors

WAPLA
Western Association of PreLaw Advisors
 
 

NAPLA Pre-Law Resources

Publications and Online Resources:
The following resources are designed to help you evaluate law schools

The Official Guide to US Law Schools provides information on each of the American
Bar Association-approved law schools, including 25th and 75th percentiles of LSAT scores and GPAs.

Catalogs and bulletins published and distributed by law schools are available by contacting the schools or on their websites.

Law School Admissions Profiles, published by the Midwest Association of Pre-Law Advisors, contains detailed profiles of most ABA-approved law schools.

The NAPLA Law School Locator and The Boston College Law School Range Finder, produced by Joe Burns and Dom DeLeo, members of the Northeast Association of Pre-Law Advisors, helps applicants assess their quantitative credentials in relation to the LSAT and GPA requirements of law schools, and to identify schools they might want to explore further.

The NAPLA-SAPLA Book of Law School Lists contains information about law schools, including joint degree programs, areas of emphasis without graduate degrees, treatment of multiple LSAT scores by individual schools, schools that grant one-year deferrals, bar passage rates at a number of schools, schools that award non-need-based scholarships, study abroad, student journals, and much more.

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Internet Resources

Boston College Law School Locator

The Boston College Law School Locator (prepared by Dom DeLeo) lists the 25th to 75th percentile LSAT scores and GPA ranges of first year classes at accredited law schools. This means that half of a law school's entering class scored in the range indicated. The Locator can help you identify schools where your scores and grades are most competitive for admission and help you gauge your chance of admission at a particular school. The chart is useful in evaluating law school choices but cannot determine where you should or should not apply. The law schools are placed in cells on the chart according to their 25th percentile scores.

The NAPLA-SAPLA Book of Law School Lists

This is an extensive directory of law school academic programs, areas of emphasis without graduate degrees, joint degree programs, schools that award non-need-based scholarships, schools with evening divisions, study abroad programs, and much other useful information.

FinAid sponsored by the National Association of Student Financial Administrators

This site will help you find loans, scholarships, military aid, financial aid and applications. It also provides you with a free scholarship search.

Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, International

P.A.D.'s Pre-Law Program resulted from extensive P.A.D. Sponsored research and surveys which demonstrated that no national organization was effectively addressing the needs of pre-law students. When the results of P.A.D.'s research was presented to law students, attorneys, and judges on the floor of the 1980 P.A.D. International Convention in Hot Springs, Arkansas, it was decided that Phi Alpha Delta would accept the challenge to better equip pre-law students for the rigors of law school and the legal profession. The fundamental objective of P.A.D.'s Pre-Law Program is to assist undergraduate students to make an "informed choice" in selecting law as a career, deciding which law school to attend, and in preparing for the rigors of law school. Phi Alpha Delta remains the only Law Fraternity and the only national legal organization of any kind with a national Pre-Law Program committed to meeting the needs of undergraduate students interested in the law.

Prelaw student services: www.ilrg.com

This is a categorized index of more than 4000 select web sites in 238 nations, islands, and territories, as well as more than 850 locally stored web pages and downloadable files, this site was established to serve as a comprehensive resource of the information available on the Internet concerning law and the legal profession, with an emphasis on the United States of America. Designed for everyone, lay persons and legal scholars alike, it is quality controlled to include only the most substantive legal resources online. The selection criteria are predicated on two principles: the extent to which the resource is unique, as well as the relative value of the information it provides.

Law School Admissions Council (LSAC)

Law School Admissions Council offers laws school admissions research data, publications and news online with no account needed.
www.lsac.org Online LSAT Registration , Essential LSAT Information

Online Directory to law schools

pages:www.dir.yahoo.com/Government/Law/Law_Schools

General pre-law information : www.findlaw.com/studyskills

This source provides you with information regarding what to do before beginning to study in law school. The Legal Learning Study Skills Workshop, is devoted to helping you achieve your goals in law school from Carolyn Nygren, author of the Starting off Right in Law School series of books.

Access Group www.accessgroup.org

Access Group, a nonprofit organization, has specialized in providing student loans for graduate and professional education for nearly 25 years. We offer federal and private student loans, money-saving payment incentives, borrower education materials, and a full range of online services for students and schools. Learn more at Access Group.

American Bar Association www.abanet.org

As the world's largest voluntary professional membership association, the ABA has access to expert opinions, quality research and objective, high-quality reports-information that you can trust. Plus, the ABA offers a national platform to exchange ideas, discuss ethics, and explore important legal issues. This site also includes links to the council on Legal Education (CLEO).

The National Association for Law Placement: www.nalp.org

Since 1971, NALP has served as the premier source of information for legal career planning and recruitment. NALP's mission is to meet the needs of all participants in the legal employment process for information, coordination and standards. NALP's members include virtually every ABA-accredited law school and legal employers (law firms, government agencies, corporations, and public interest organizations) from across the country. The law school career services professionals and lawyer personnel administrators who represent their institutions in NALP work together to advance NALP's mission.

The National Jurist magazine www.natjurist.com

The National Jurist Magazine, founded in 1999, is the premier e-commerce company specializing in multi-publisher legal information products. Since our inception, we have dedicated ourselves to serving pre-law students, law students, attorneys, other legal professionals, and anyone else interested in the law.

The National Law Journal www.ljx.com/nlj/

Law.com is a single, comprehensive destination for legal information and e-law services on the Web. In addition to the main Law.com site, Law.com incorporates a vast collection of legal related Web sites, including: · Law News Network -- the most current and complete source for legal news anywhere · Lawstuffusa.com -- the world's largest online law bookstore for students and legal professionals · Links to global Law.com sites -- the New York Law Journal's Web site, www.nylj.com; Cal Law, www.callaw.com; and Tex Law, www.texlaw.com

Article about why the various law school rankings are not valid: www.aba.org/journal/mar98/03FSCHOL.html

The Law Engine!'s huge amount of law-related info: www.fastsearch.com/law/

ABA Career Resource Center's Pre-Law Toolkit

The ABA Career Resource Center's Pre-Law Toolkit, sponsored by the National Association for Law Placement, is now available online. You can access it at http://www.abanet.org/careercounsel/prelaw.html.

The ABA Career Resource Center's online Pre-Law Toolkit for School Counselors includes all-new resources for use in the classroom and interactively, as well as relevant links within and beyond the ABA.

For further information, please enter the Toolkit on the Career Counsel website using the above link, and feel free to contact Jill Eckert of the ABA Career Resource Center at 312.988.6215 or eckert@staff.abanet.org with suggestions and questions.

Directory of Law School Public Interest & Pro Bono Programs  www.abaprobono.org/lawschools

The Directory of Law School Public Interest and Pro Bono Programs is now available online through the website of the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service and its project, the Center for Pro Bono, at www.abaprobono.org <http://www.abaprobono.org>.

The Directory provides current information on law school public interest and pro bono programs and curricula. The Directory is designed to help both prospective law students interested in public interest and pro bono programs find the law school that best matches their interest and to assist individual law schools seeking to develop stronger pro bono and public interest programs. Strong public interest and pro bono programs at the law school level are important for the support and training they provide to students interested in public interest careers and for their role in teaching every law student about his or her role in achieving justice for all.

Law schools were surveyed over the winter of 2002 for information on relevant programs. 148 of the 187 ABA-accredited law schools completed and returned at least one survey. The information in the Directory was collected from returned surveys, follow-up contact, public information sources, the 1999 edition of the ABA Directory of Law School Public Interest Law Support Programs and the 2001 edition of the AALS Law School Pro Bono Handbook. The "How to Use" section of the Directory contains tips for searching the directory.

To use the Directory, visit http://www.abaprobono.org/lawschools

Equal Justice Works www.equaljusticeworks.org/legaleducationreport

Equal Justice Works is providing advisors with an opportunity to both preview their new Guide to Public Service and provide feedback. Their primary goal is to provide law school applicants with an easy-to-use tool, free of charge, that will broaden their knowledge of schools' commitment to public service and help them make more informed choices about which law schools are the best fit for them. Given the level of interest in public service within the advisee population, you may find this Guide to be a valuable research tool to include among those you recommend to all those considering law.

NOTE: The following commercial services are listed in order to inform prelaw advisors. Their inclusion should not be construed as an endorsement by NAPLA. You may use them at your risk. The reviews of these commercial services we have obtained from prelaw advisors is mixed. This web site has received no compensation from these commercial entities for their listing.

Kaplan Educational Centers

Princeton Review (LSAT PREP)

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  Applying to Law School

Choosing Wisely: NAPIL's Public Interest Guide to Law Schools. Michael Caudell-Feagan. National Association for Public Interest Law, 1992.

Getting Into Law School Today. Thomas H. Martinson and David P. Waldherr. New York: Macmillan, 1994.

How to Write a Winning Personal Statement for Graduate and Professional School. Richard J. Seltzer. Princeton, New Jersey: Peterson's Guides, 1993.

Inside the Law Schools. S.F. Goldfarb. New York: Penguin Books, 1993.

The Insider's Guide to the Top Fifteen Law Schools. Cynthia L. Cooper. New York: Doubleday, 1990.

Law School Companion. Paul M. Lisnek, Steven I. Friedland, and Chris M. Salamone. New York: Random House, Inc., 1995.

LSAT: The Official Triple Prep Plus. Newtown, Pennsylvania: Law School Admission Council, 1995.

Official ABA Guide to Approved Law Schools. New York, NY: American Bar Association, updated annually.

The Official Guide to US Law Schools. Newtown, Pennsylvania: Law School Admission Council, updated annually.

The Official LSAT PrepTests. Newtown, Pennsylvania: Law School Admission Council, updated regularly.

Perfect Personal Statements. Mark Alan Stewart. New York: Macmillan, 1996.

Pro Bono in Law Schools. Chicago and Washington, DC: American Bar Association and National Association of Public Interest Law, 1991.

The Student Access Guide to the Best Law Schools. Ian Van Tuyl. New York: Random House, 1995.

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 Minority Advising

Directory of Financial Aids for Minorities, 1993-95. Gail Ann Schlachter. San Carlos, California: Reference Service Press, 1993.

Thinking About Law School: A Minority Guide. Newtown, Pennsylvania: Law School Admission Council, 1995.

  Financial Aid   

Directory of Financial Aids for Minorities, 1993-95. Gail Ann Schlachter. San Carlos, California: Reference Service Press, 1993.

Directory of Financial Aids for Women, 1993-95. Gail Ann Schlachter. San Carlos, California: Reference Service Press, 1993.

Financial Aid for Law School: A Preliminary Guide. Newtown, Pennsylvania: Law School Admission Council, 1995.

Financial Aid for the Disabled and Their Families, 1994-96. Gail Ann Schlachter. San Carlos, California: Reference Service Press, 1994.

Financial Aids for Minorities in Business and Law. Garrett Park, Maryland: Garrett Park Press, 1994.

Scholarships, Fellowships, and Loans: 1994-95. Deborah M. Kirby, Ed. Detroit: Gale Research, Inc., 1994.

The PLANC Financial Aid Toolkit is posted on the PLANC web site (www.planc.org) and is available to pre-law advisors to use in providing information to students and alumni about Financial Aid for Law School!

The site includes handouts and other resources that can be made available to students and alumni who are interested in law school. Pre-law advisors from non-profit educational institutions are granted permission to use this product. Informational materials on the web site can be reproduced and distributed to advisees, or incorporated into a pre-law advising web site.

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 Careers in Law

Careers in Law. Gary Munneke. Lincolnwood, Illinois: VGM Career Horizons, 1993.

Directory of Legal Employers. Washington, DC: National Association for Law Placement, 1994.

From Here to Attorney. J. Robert Arnett II, Arthur Coon, and Michael DiGeronimo. Belmont, California: Professional Publications, Inc., 1993.

Full Disclosure: Do You Really Want to Be a Lawyer? Susan J. Bell, Ed. Princeton, New Jersey: Peterson's Guides, 1992.

Guide to Law Specialties. Washington, DC: National Association for Law Placement, 1996.

How to Land Your First Paralegal Job. Andrea Wagner. Estrin Publishing, 1992.

Law Firms Yellow Book. New York: Leadership Directories, Inc., 1996.

Law Register International By Specialties and Fields of Law. Shirley D. Phifer, Ed. Cleveland, Ohio: Lawyer's Register Publishing Company, 1994.

Majoring in Law. Stefan Underhill. New York: Noonday Press, 1995.

Opportunities in Law Careers. Gary A. Munneke. Lincolnwood, Illinois: VGM Career Horizons, 1994.

Paralegal Internships: Finding, Managing, and Transitioning Your Career, Ruth-Ellen Post, J.D., West Legal Studies, 1999

Paralegal: An Insider's Guide to One of the Fastest-Growing Occupations of the 1990s. Barbara Bernardo. Princeton, New Jersey: Peterson's Guides, 1993.

So You Want to Be a Lawyer: A Practical Guide to Law as a Career. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1994.

The Insider's Guide to Law Firms. Sheila V. Malkani and Michael F. Walsh, eds. Mobile, Colorado: Mobius Press, 1994.

The Legal Profession: Is It For You? Wayne L. Anderson and Marilyn J. Headrick. Cincinnati, Ohio: Thomson Executive Press, 1996.

The NAPIL Director of Public Interest Legal Internships 1995/96. Washington, DC: The National Association for Public Interest Law, 1995.

The Student's Guide to Legal Internships. Washington, DC: National Internships, 1996.

Washington, DC Internships in Law and Policy. Winston-Salem, North Carolina: Career Education Institutes, 1996.

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Additional Resources
Law school catalogs and bulletins

Law School Admissions Profiles (admissions profiles of most ABA-approved law schools made available to sole or coordinating pre-law advisors by LSAC)

Notebooks with career information, law school rankings, and scholarship opportunities

Videotapes and audiotapes of programs on law schools or legal careers

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  RELATED LEGAL RESOURCES
 

Law-Related Organizations

American Bar Association (ABA) at http://www.abanet.org/ is the national organization of the legal profession. The Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar of the ABA is identified by the U.S. Department of Education as the "nationally recognized accrediting agency for professional schools of law."

Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) assists economically and educationally disadvantaged applicants in preparing for law school.

Law School Admission Council, LSAC or Law Services, is a nonprofit corporation comprised of 193 law schools in the U.S. and Canada that provides services to the legal education community.

National Association for Law Placement (NALP) is a professional organization of law schools and legal employers which provides information about placement and recruiting trends.

Higher Education and the Handicapped (HEATH), a national resource center for persons with disabilities, produces a free booklet "Students with Disabilities and Law School."

Contact information for these organizations is provided in The Official Guide to U.S. Law Schools.

Legal Research Links

Internet Legal Resource Guide http://www.ilrg.com/

Find Law http://www.findlaw.com

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Copyright © 2008  Northeast Association of Pre-Law Advisors. All rights reserved.

All Pre-Law Advisors from non-profit educational institutions are
granted permission to use this product. Technical support is not available through NAPLA
.

Please contact Dom DeLeo with comments and suggestions at deleo@bc.edu