Portland State hosted it’s second ever law school fair on Tuesday, Nov. 6. Organized by the Portland State Pre-Law Society. Thirty-three law schools were present at the fair. Sarah Sabri, senior and the co-president coordinator of the Pre-Law Society said there were supposed to be more schools but the parties cancelled because of the Sept. 11 events.
Among the attending schools were: Santa Clara University, Temple University, Gonzaga University, University of Oregon and Brigham Young University.
@cut: Tim Garrison, the coordinator of the fair and director of the Pre-Law Society, said that to know there are students that are extremely focused on practicing law is a great notion, because this will reflect positively on the reputation of Portland State and will ultimately bring more universities to the PSU campus to participate in the law fair in the coming years. Garrison said the more interest that PSU students display will directly affect the attendance of representatives of law schools that show to the fair.
@body:This is only the second year that the university has hosted the traveling pre-law fair. Last year the pre-law fair was hosted in the Days Inn on Fifth Street, and fewer schools attended. About 150 to 200 students attended this year’s fair, Garrison said. The traveling law school fair is nationally funded by the Western Association of Pre-Law Advisors (WAPLA), and hosted by Portland State University and the Pre-Law Society. The caravan of representatives travel all over the U.S. for up to six months recruiting college students.
The cost of obtaining a booth at the fair is $75 to the university, and they must submit a request to attend the fair in the summer prior to the event. There are seven fairs put on by Portland State and the Pre-Law society each year, and if one university attends all seven, they receive a discount for their booth. The money that the Portland State receives from this fee goes directly toward funding the production of the fair. Producing, advertising and running the fair costs between 2-3,000 dollars.
The Pre-Law Society does most of the advertising and publicity. They have worked on promoting and organizing this event for almost one year, Sabri said. They created the newsletters and sent out all information about the fair. Mr. Garrison also stated that this event would not at all be possible without students working within the Pre-Law Society.
The Pre-Law Society is an organization that helps guide PSU students towards a career in practicing law. They inform students about a career in law, providing resources and information for the members.
Some of the decisions that the society aids in are: deciding which law school to attend, preparing for law school and how to finance their pursuit in legal education. The organization helps students in making these decisions through multiple paths. They initiate relationships between students and professors working in the pre-law program and assign members of the society an advisor to talk to.
The society also will introduce the members to the local law community to help them further their understanding of the study of law. The Pre-Law Society is an organization that is open to all students with eight or more credits, or six if attending graduate school, as well as all faculty and staff.
The society helps students better prepare for the Law School Admittance Test (LSAT), it offers study groups, access to recourses that the Society compiles and also releases an informational newsletter that is released once every term.
To join the Pre-Law Society at PSU present a completed membership form. For those interested in joining or finding out more information about pre-law, the Society will be having a meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 14, in Cramer Hall, at 4 p.m. You can also reach them by e-mail at PrelawPSU@yahoo.com, or on the Web at www.prelawsociety.pdx.edu.