At their joint meeting on Tuesday, February 15th, Supporting Women in Political Science (SWIPS) teamed up with the international law fraternity Phi Alpha Delta (PAD) to share information about law school with 15 current Texas State students. The meeting featured interviews with two previous PAD presidents which were broken into five segments: undergraduate activities/resources, the LSAT, the applications process, acceptance, and final tips/advice.
The conversation was full of practical, hands-on student perspective that pre-law students might not find through online resources or by speaking to faculty. One speaker, for example, shared that a broader consensus is beginning to emerge that the LSAT is not a dependable metric for success in law school, and that applicants should focus on building their resume and extracurriculars while pursuing their undergraduate degree. Furthermore, both speakers attributed their success to being on top of their applications material and found it vital to reach out to advisors and “human resources” like Dr. Carol Dochen (Texas State’s Law School Admission Council coordinating pre-law advisor) for help editing applications and selecting schools.
Both speakers emphasized the importance of time management. They stressed that it is almost impossible to prepare for the sheer workload of law school, and noted that applicants should take plenty of time to relax, see family, and take a break from thinking about law school in between acceptance and attendance. Overall, both speakers agreed that effective time management and a combination of breadth and depth in undergraduate activities are extremely important to success in law school..
SWIPS is a nonpartisan women’s organization at Texas State University. They are a professional education and development organization centered around aiding political science majors and other students with exploring all facets of political science so they may discover their professional and academic interests. SWIPS meets every other Tuesday at 6:30PM via Zoom.
If you’re interested in joining the organization or finding out more, you can contact SWIPS President Jessica Myers at jlm538@txstate.edu.
