Oct. 18-23 marks pre-law week at ASU
Interactive map gives pre-law students clear picture of graduate placement
Pre-law students at Arizona State University are being accepted into competitive law programs across the U.S. after taking advantage of personalized services at the university’s pre-professional advising office.
A resume writing workshop, lawyer panel, free LSAT practice tests and a law school fair with admission representatives from more than 100 schools are among the activities planned at various venues on ASU’s Tempe campus during pre-law week Oct. 18-23. Information about pre-law week and the Oct. 22 law school fair (including tips) are online at http://prelaw.asu.edu/connect/events-and-organizations.
More than 1,000 ASU students were placed at law schools across the U.S. over the last three years, including 10 at Harvard, five at Yale and one at Stanford. Most ASU graduates were accepted at schools in Arizona, California, Texas and Michigan, according to Sara Lyness, assistant director of pre-professional advising.
Added recently to the pre-law advising repertoire was an innovative online Google map that details the law-school placement of ASU graduates over the past three years.
“I get asked all the time, ‘Where do students go after they graduate from ASU?’ The online map recognizes past graduates and guides future ones,” said Lyness, creator of the map, which is accessible from the pre-law website at http://prelaw.asu.edu.
To assemble the data for the map, Lyness spent months poring over detailed records from each law school in the files. Previously, that pile of records was all she had available when a student requested information about past placement of ASU students.
“We have so many students who want that information,” Lyness said. “With the online map, we now have a simple, visual way to present it to them.”
Also in the works is a canvas version of the map, which Lyness plans to use during advising sessions. Students can use the information to contact admissions offices at other schools and ask to speak to an ASU graduate studying there.
Advisers will also have the canvas map in tow when speaking to prospective students.
The pre-law advising office at ASU, located in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, assists students on everything from major and school selection to resume writing, application review and LSAT guidance. The office also helps students plan and coordinate research opportunities, internships and volunteer work while they are undergraduates.
“A lot of students who come to me know they want to do law school, but aren’t sure what to do with the four years in between,” Lyness said.
Garret Lievens, a senior majoring in communications and vice president of ASU’s pre-law fraternity, said pre-law’s advising services have been a “tremendous help” during his time as an undergraduate.
“The process of applying to law school and navigating your undergraduate career with that goal in mind can be a difficult task when taken on alone,” he said.
For more information, contact Sara Lyness at sara.lyness@asu.edu or 480-965-2365; or visit pre-law’s Facebook or LinkedIn pages.
Written by Maria Polletta (maria.polletta@asu.edu).
MEDIA CONTACT
Carol Hughes, carol.hughes@asu.edu
480-965-6375
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences