How To Make the Most of Conference

How to Maximize Your Experience at The National Black Pre-Law Conference and Law Fair

If you are an serious about going to law school, you should make every effort to attend The National Black Pre-Law Conference and Law Fair. But most importantly, you should attend with a certain proactive and strategic mindset.

Unfortunately, many prospective law students attend these events and fail to really maximize their experience. For the law school recruitment fair, some merely browse, pick up view books, take any pens, pads or other freebies they are giving away, fill out information request forms, ask a few questions about the different law schools, and then simply leave. With the many panel discussions and workshops offered, many only attend a few without really taking the time to attend as many as they can and consider which will be most beneficial. When they go, they passively take in the information given, don’t stick around, and go straight home instead of sticking around and networking.

If you are really serious about getting into law school in the current highly competitive admissions environment and you truly want to make the most of your experience at The National Black Pre-Law Conference and Law Fair, then you must go in with a purpose and a plan.

This event provides you with golden opportunities that you should not casually overlook or dismiss. In fact, this event should be something that you go in prepared for, poised to make a positive, professional and lasting impression, and focused on taking complete and full advantage of the opportunities offered that you would not otherwise get sitting behind your computer at home or at school.

Here are a few tips to help you truly maximize your experience at The National Black Pre-Law Conference and Law Fair:

1.
Wear business casual or business professional attire. When you go into a professional pre-law conference and law school recruitment event, you should not go there looking like you just rolled out of bed. Try to dress well for that day. Put on a suit or dress slacks. Dress the way that you would if you were going to a reception or interview where you need to dress “business casual” or “business professional.” Dress how you think a lawyer would dress going into a client meeting or to court. In other words, dress to impress. Make the effort to get that hair cut or get our hair done. Project yourself as a professional starting with your outward appearance. Let your outer appearance reflect that you are taking the event seriously and that you genuinely understand that something you walk away that day could make a difference.

2.
Bring professional contact cards and exchange them. Go to your local business supply or printing store such as Office Depot and order professional contact cards. These cards should include your name, the school you attend, your expected year of graduation, current and permanent mailing addresses, phone numbers and your e-mail address. Whenever you meet someone, ask for their cards but also have your own professional contact cards ready to hand out too. You don't want to have to put your own contact information on a piece of paper. Your having a card ready shows your seriousness and professionalism. It's a must when you are serious about networking.

3.
Prepare for the event beforehand and go in with a plan. When you are planning to go to the NBPLC, you should prepare and have a plan. Try to find out who will be there and what will take place at the event beforehand. Find out which law schools will be in attendance ahead of time. What law school administrators will be speaking? What lawyers will be speaking? What workshops will be conducted? Who are the key players that you need to meet? After determining this information, you should strategize as to what you hope to accomplish at the event in order to make sure that it is productive for you.

If a number of law schools will be attendance, you should already know which of those schools you are most interested in talking to. If different informational sessions will be conducted, you must decide which ones you will attend. You should never just decide to go to an event, then wander around aimlessly and just then figure out what you want to do once you get there. You should already know what you need to accomplish - what you need to attend and who you need to meet - well beforehand.

Prepare a short introduction that you plan to say to the people you meet. This is so important. This is something you should practice and prepare beforehand. During this intro, you should tell who you are and what you are interested in. For instance, "Hello! I'm Joe Brown. I'm a junior at the University of Houston. I'm currently majoring in English and Political Science. I'm currently involved in the mock trial and debate teams. I'm interested in practicing civil rights law." Of course, you can change this up a bit depending on the people you are interacting with, but this is helpful to provide some context to the people you come into contact with.

5.
Prepare to ask intelligent questions, instead of the overly broad and obvious ones. At the law school recruitment fair portiona, in particular, it’s definitely not a good idea to go up to an admissions representative and ask them a broad blanket question such as “Tell me about your school.” Wouldn’t that irritate you? With information so widely available via the Internet and in numerous law school admissions resource books such as the ABA Guide to Law Schools and the U.S. News &World Report’s Ultimate Guide to Law School, you are wasting this limited opportunity for valuable face time. The last thing you want to do is make the person irritated when your goal should be to make such an impression that this person thinks that they would want someone like you at their law school – as long as your law school credentials are equally as impressive. Do your background research beforehand on your own time. You shouldn’t have to ask a law school about their median GPA and LSAT scores when this information is widely available. You should already have a good idea of the ranking and what tier they are in, as well as generally what the different schools have to offer. Unlike there being over 3,000 colleges and universities in the country, there are only about 190 American Bar Association approved law schools. This is a manageable number for you to take some time to find out about them, and consider some of your top choices. You might run across schools you haven't considered. Therefore, try to find out about areas of specialization or what might make that law school different. However, again, do the research on questions you can easily find the answers to on your own time.

Try to ask questions or gain further insight on issues that are not readily revealed on the law school’s website or in other resources you’ve reviewed. Prepare your list of questions that you otherwise could not get the answers to before you get there. Ask about contacts for their minority (i.e. Black Law Students Association) or specialty organizations (i.e. Public Interest Law Association), their percentage of minority/diverse students and faculty, any academic support programs they offer, the best time to submit admissions applications, whether they can connect you with law school alumni, if you can join their mailing list, if you would qualify for any special summer programs, whether there is both fall and spring admissions, whether there is both a full-time and part-time program, whether there are joint degree programs, the job outlook and availability of career search counseling and resources for graduates from the law school, among other things that are not as apparent.

6.
Treat all law school representatives respectfully. You want to try to get in front of those people who are the decision makers who could determine if you get into law school of your choice or law school period, you should never talk to any person representing a law school in any kind of way. You can’t afford to get too comfortable or familiar with them, or disregard them. These people are professionals and should be treated with the utmost respect. You can’t look at a person and make an assumption about who they are and how much power they have in making admissions decisions. If they aren’t the dean or director, they were likely asked by the dean or director to be there so don’t underestimate their input. Take the time to do research and find out who the admissions staff are and learn a little about them. Some schools even provide you with pictures and biographies on their websites. You need to understand that your face-to-face interactions with these persons can and do matter, even if you are interacting with a student or an alum.

7.
View your interactions with admissions representatives as an informal interview – Put your absolute best foot forward. Look at your interactions with law school admissions representatives as an informal interview. Expect to put your best foot forward the entire time you are there. You must pay very careful attention to everything you say and do as you are always “on.” If they really like or truly dislike you, they just might make note of that. Be approachable, confident, friendly, likeable, and articulate. Express your interest in the school and the study of law with genuineness and passion. With the competitive nature of the admissions process, you are in no position to be arrogant or nonchalant no matter what you think you have going for you. Remember that there are numerous others with just as much going for them or more. When greeting them smile and extend a firm, warm handshake. Be courteous. When you do have that limited time with them, really listen to what they have to say. Express interest in staying connected and state that you really want to learn even more about the school, believe you have so much to contribute to the law school community, and definitely hope to pursue attendance. At all times, remind yourself that you want to be remembered in the most positive light possible and that no applicant is guaranteed a seat. This is the chance to present your best you. This is not the time to expose your less than stellar LSAT performance or share your fears about whether law school is right for you. These are the people you are trying to impress and you only want to display strengths and never any weaknesses. Believe me, the connections you make with admissions reps at these events can make a difference if you do your best, make yourself memorable, stay connected - and then follow that up with an outstanding admissions application package.

8.
After a workshop presentation or panel discussion, introduce yourself to the speakers. If you have participated in a workshop presentation or panel discussion featuring law school administrators, law students, and lawyers, you should not just pick up your belongings and leave after it is over. This is what most people do, and it's a mistake and missedopportunity. Take the extra initiative to go that extra mile by approaching the speakers after the session and letting them know that you enjoyed the presentation or discussion, and what they had to say. Show your genuine appreciation. Be sure to give them your business/contact card and ask if you can get theirs and if it is okay to contact them. If they don’t have any available or have run out, request their e-mail addresses or links to their websites. Never walk away empty handed, and always express your interest in keeping in touch. They won't know who you are unless you are willing to take the initiative to make yourself known.

9.
If there are sessions you were unable to attend, ask other event participants to get the handouts for you in order to exchange the information. If you attend an event where concurrent workshops or activities are going on at the same time and you want to attend them all, ask a few other participants who are attending sessions you are unable able to make to get the handouts for you and/or to take notes for you. You should also agree to get extra handouts and take notes and copy them for those persons of the sessions you attend that they are unable to participate in. This is a way that you can benefit from all an event has to offer when you can’t be at different places at the same time.

10.
Utilize your visit to the event as a chance to network. You should never leave the NPLC having stayed in your own little world and not having taken the chance to get out of your comfort zone to meet others. To leave without exchanging e-mails and phone numbers would essentially mean that you did not make the most out of the event. Why waste your precious time? As you know, you can get a lot of information through an Internet search or a book. You go to events to meet people and make contacts. Don’t lose your focus. The main reason for going to an event is to interact with and connect to real people also in attendance. It is critical that you exchange information with any admissions staff, law school administrators, law professors, law grads, lawyers, and law students at the schools of interest, as well as other prospective law students. You’ve heard time and time again that it’s not just what you know but who you know. You will increase your access to that needed and priceless “social capital” by putting yourself out there, extending your hand and meeting different people. Take the risk. You will find it to be worth it. Few people will give you the cold shoulder and many will be so glad that you made the first move and extended yourself. No one should navigate the admissions process alone. Through attending these events, you can create a support system and place yourself in the position to even meet potential mentors who can help you in your journey to future success. You should not miss out on any networking opportunity as you never know who can assist you in some way at some point down the road.

11.
Plan to stay connected with your new contacts. It will do you no good to have made connections at an event and that is the extent of it. After the event is where the real networking work begins. The power of your network is not just in obtaining those business contact cards and e-mail addresses, but you must actually organize this information in your database, and then utilize it by following up and keeping in touch. Send out e-mails and cards to the people you have met. Make the extra effort to stay connected with them by e-mailing them regularly - at least twice a month.

The person you met in the hallway between a session could be your classmate in your first-year law class. The person sitting on the panel you spoke with may be an alum who takes you out to dinner and gives you the “insider” insight you need to prepare an even better personal statement that convinces the admissions committee to take you. The lawyer you speak to during the lunch break could offer you your very first legal internship. The director of academic support may have recommended a summer law school preparation program that will help you hit the ground running, and which results in your earning a space in the top of your first-year class. The law professor you met may be the person to help you in deciding on which law school makes the most sense for you based on what you plan to do with your law degree. You never know. And that's why it's so important to meet as many people as you can.

Remember that every person you meet is not just a mere person – they are a priceless combination of their experiences, knowledge, insight, and wisdom, and the information they have and they people that they know could make a huge difference that could change the course of your destiny. Highly value the people you meet and make a commitment to utilize and make the most of all of those connections.