5 Tips for Navigating the Law School Student Organization Fair

 

Starting out in law school can be quite overwhelming.  Not only are you trying to figure out a new learning style, taking on a heftier workload, and finding your place in this new ecosystem, you’ve also been told there is an upcoming student organization fair that’s a MUST to check out. School-sanctioned extracurricular activities are a good way to show interest in a particular area of the law, build skills, establish networks, and bolster your résumé.  Meaningful participation in the right student organization is a way to illustrate to prospective employers your dedication by focusing your time and activities during law school.  On the other hand, how are you supposed to take on anything extra with hundreds of pages to read and cases to brief every night?  What will be the most worthwhile of your time?  Here are a few points to consider.

1. Benefit.  The first thing you should look at is how a certain organization is going to benefit you.  Selfish?  Yes.  This is your time you are offering, and when this means taking away from studying and focusing on GPA and rank (the 2 most important criteria for employers), it is no small sacrifice.  Will the group offer experience, course credit, networking, free study materials, employment?  If so, it may be something to look into further. 
2. Time v. Quality.  Two extracurricular activities you should be gunning for are Law Review and Moot Court.  These activities will eat up A LOT of your time.  However, both are highly recruited by employers.  Here, the prestige and experience you’ll receive is worth the time you’ll put into it.  Whereas, some organizations will take a lot of time (or a bunch of small amounts of time that add up) and don’t carry the same weight (if any) in the employer’s eyes. 
3. Cost.  Is there a membership fee or random costs throughout the year that could hurt your budget?  Is the cost justifiable (go back to #1)?  There are activities that are free (Law Review and Moot Court) or some even provide income as well as supplement your educational experience such as becoming a research assistant, legal search engine representative, bar review course representative, or working part-time. 
4. Improves Understanding/Interest.  There are many special interest-type student groups available.  These can be good for support group reasons, a group to help unwind every once in a while, or just to help you flesh out a particular area of the law.  Just remember, these organizations may take time and money, and you need to decide if participating in them is feasible for your educational and financial goals. 
5.  Instincts.  If after considering these criteria and you’re still unsure whether to take something additional on, then follow your instincts.  Don’t feel pressured to spread yourself too thin.  In no case should you allow any extracurricular activity to distract you from your work, and you should absolutely not allow this during your crucial first year of law school.

Related Posts:

Learning Your Learning Style

6 Mistakes to Avoid When Starting Law School

Getting Ready for 1L of a Semester

Jump on the Law School Fast Track to Success

Legal Job Market Turning a Corner?

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Has the legal job market finally turned around?  Almost.  According to the recently released National Association for Law Placement (NALP) study, the 2013 law graduates found it much easier to find employment within nine months of graduating than the last few graduating classes.  Specifically, 20.6% found a job with a firm employing 500 or more attorneys (aka Biglaw firm), which was 4.4% higher than those in 2011.  Even the National Jurist has found a certain group of law schools who have drastically improved their employment statistics from 2011 to 2013.

Although these statistics are encouraging, the NALP found a drop in overall law school grad employment; the lowest since the recession hit.  Their study showed the employment rate of the class of the 2013 fell a minimal .2% in 2013 to 84.5%; down from 84.7% in 2012.  This rate was still far from the 91.9% peak in 2007.  The drop in employment rate in 2013 was attributed to a historically large graduating class.

While the employment numbers saw a slight decline, the average salary saw a nice increase.  The NALP reported the median salary for 2013 grads was $95,000, which was $5,000 more than the class of 2012; likely due to the bump in Biglaw employment. 

So the numbers aren’t showing a huge change, and maybe if the graduating class were a normal size, the employment rate would have remained the same, but at least some indicators are pointing toward a recovery.  How can you take advantage of the upswing?  Look for in-demand practice areas.  Robert Half Legal expects litigation to generate the largest amount of jobs in the future as well as commercial litigation, contract management, and patent filing.  What will you need?  Experience.  Since the recession, employers are requiring 3-7 years of experience instead of the 1 to 2 during the pre-recession days.  Look for as many experience-building and networking opportunities as you can to help give you a competitive edge.

5 Financial Aid Mistakes to Avoid At the Beginning of a Semester

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Did you know you can decrease your student debt burden significantly before your semester even begins?  Save yourself some money and a palm to the face by avoiding these common mistakes.

Mistake #1:  Avoiding the Financial Aid Office Like The Black Plague.  The financial aid office is there to help.  Yes, lines can be long and the discussion can be tedious, but it can help you save.  Have them make sure your filings are correct – you don’t want to take out extra loans if you don’t have to.  Use them to help you select the best loans available with good terms and competitive interest rates or no interest rates at all.  If you have questions about your terms, ask them for clarification so you can be completely informed about what you’re obligated to do.

Mistake #2:  Accepting the Tuition Bill As Is.  At most schools, you are able to opt out of some charges if you are uninterested in utilizing the programs.  For instance, the gym, computer lab, and athletic events are all things charged under the cost of tuition, and you’ll have to pay whether or not you use them unless you ask to opt out.  If you own a computer, prefer to run outside, and enjoy theater instead of sports, then why pay for the next 15 to 30 years of your life on things you won’t use?  By opting out, you can borrow less money.

Mistake #3:  Celebrating with Your Reimbursement Check.  It’s probably the biggest check you’ve ever received in your life to date.  Thousands of dollars just for you?  You’ll want to offer to buy the next round at the bar, but you shouldn’t.  Do you really need all of that money for cost-of-living?  Can you budget better, get a job, take your bike to classes, anything to reduce the cost-of-living to less than what the school estimated?  If so, you should return the check or whatever amount of the check you can do without.  Again, borrowing less money at the start will decrease your debt burden upon graduation.

Mistake #4:  Ignoring Interest Payment Bills.  Maybe your terms allow you to forgo your interest payments while you are in school, but you shouldn’t just crumple the bill up and toss it into the trash.  Interest payments are important to pay as soon as you can because it is likely that your loan agreement has compound interest.  What that means is that for every interest payment you miss, it accrues (or adds) to the original loan amount.  However, when the next interest bill is calculated it is off of that new outstanding balance.  So for every interest payment you miss, the larger the next interest payment is and the larger the outstanding balance becomes.  As you can imagine, the outstanding balance can spiral out of control pretty quickly and, thus, has caught so many new graduates off guard in the student debt crisis we have today.

Mistake #5:  Throwing Out Loan Information.  You’ll probably receive a ton of mail with statements and terms, but do not throw these things away!  Keep a file or scan them or ask for your documents to be sent electronically and organize it all on a computer file (that you back-up).  You’ll want to keep track of how much you borrow, the terms of your agreements, who your lenders are, and who your servicers are (which can be different than lenders).  This information will allow you to update your lender and/or servicer of any address or name change and help you avoid default when it is time to make repayments.

Beware: Student Loan Debt Scammers!

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We’ve heard about the Prince of Nigeria, the grandparent callers, ponzi schemes, and fake lottery winnings, but scammers are upping the ante by targeting those who are overwhelmed by student debt.  These swindlers are calling themselves “debt relief” companies.

Some of these companies have ads, promising to help people enroll in a non-existent program called the Obama Forgiveness Program; while others make phone calls claiming to be from the U.S. Department of Education.  Chuck Harwood of the Federal Claim Commission said in a recent article, “Some scammers will claim they can consolidate student loans and help consumers pay it off faster or make cheaper payments.  Some scammers will claim they can help students or consumers who are already in default get out of default.”

Illinois became the first state to file a lawsuit against companies such as these.  NBC News reported that Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan was “cracking down on companies that can’t deliver on their ‘too good to be true claims’ to reduce or eliminate student debt.”  These companies charged people as much as $1,200 to help fill out paperwork, which people can do for free.

If you’ve got student loan debt, don’t look for an easy way out…there isn’t really one.  The best thing to do is to call your lender or service provider for your loans and try to work out a repayment plan that can best meet your needs.  Steer clear of groups who require fees or charge money upfront.  Be leery of groups who offer consolidation services as well.  If you consolidate your government loans into a private loan, you can lose special protections and repayment options.