For those of you who are applying for Fall 2009 admission, now’s a good time to start thinking more about the financial aid deadlines. The Law School Admission Council has an excellent Financial Aid resource center, including deadlines and important resource links. You should start the financial aid process in January, starting with filing the FAFSA form. Also, law schools have their own Financial Aid deadline and application criteria, so please visit the websites of the schools you are applying to. It might also be a good idea to contact them if you have any questions.
Posted December 23, 2008 in Financial Aid
Applying for Aid Step by Step provides a time line and to-do list for applying to federal aid and institutional aid for law school. It’s important to complete Fafsa and review the law school Web sites, and file your tax return as soon as possible after January 1st. Please review LSAC’s link to get a fully comprehensive list of things to be mindful as of right now.
Posted January 28, 2008 in Financial Aid
Hello everyone and welcome back! Hope you’re excited about the new semester! I wanted to mention a few Pre-Law related things and some other matters of interest to undergraduate students at UB.
First of all, take a look at the workshops offered this semester. Pre-Law workshop listing can be found at http://prelaw.buffalo.edu/workshops. Please note the upcoming UB Law School Informational session for February 13th. If you are interested, please RSVP to me by February 10th. If you are interested in a general overview of what Pre-Law is all about, nothing is better than the Law School Application Process workshop on February 20th. For those of you who are looking to write your Personal Statement for your law school applications, Perfecting the Law School Personal Statement workshop, taught by Professor Charles Carr of the UB Law School, is a wonderful start. There are two sessions of these available, on March 5th and March 26th.
You can register for these workshops, as well as find other workshops of interest to you, by going over to http://workshops.buffalo.edu.
Also please note the KAPLAN workshops listed for this semester. They have a Test Strategy session this upcoming January 28th, and an LSAT Practice Test on February 16th. If you are interested in learning more about their services or finding out about other Pre-Law related events, you can contact them at (716) 636-1882 or stop by Suite 201 in The Commons.
“Managing your Academic Plan”, “Time Management”, “Study Skills”, “Financial Aid information”, and “Choosing a Major” are just some of the workshop topics offered by Student Advising Services this semester. Strong study habits lead to a healthy GPA, which is critical for success in your applications to law schools. (More about these workshops can be found at http://sas.buffalo.edu/workshops/)
Please tune-in to the Pre-Law Web site regularly for Pre-Law information (http://prelaw.buffalo.edu). Also, please take advantage of the helpful information found in the Student Guide categories. You can also use the IM window found on that page to contact me about a quick question you might have, or follow the contact information to make an appointment.
Career Services is another very important resource on campus (http://ub-careers.buffalo.edu). Wayne Porterfield in Career Services can help Pre-Law students learn more about careers in law, can help with resume questions, and much more. Please visit their Web site to find out how to best contact Wayne.
A great way to stay up-to-date on Academic Advisement information is the ever helpful Be Advised Newsletter (http://advising.buffalo.edu/beadvised/). Learn about important academic advisement dates and deadlines, helpful reminders about upcoming workshops, and other highly-relevant information (up there right now is a very good post about important dates to be mindful of this semester. I’d recommend you print that out!).
Just a reminder folks that the Greater Western New York Law School Fair is on Monday, October 1st, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Buffalo-Niagara Marriot Hotel!
Don’t miss the opportunity to meet more than 50 law schools!
There will also be workshops offered from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.
- Preparing for the LSAT
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. presented by Kaplan Test Prep
- Preparing the Law School Statement
1:30 – 2:30 p.m. presented by Dr. Charles Carr.
For more information go to www.wnyaccc.org or contact Wayne Porterfield at (716) 645-2232, wp9@buffalo.edu. This is a great opportunity to speak in-person with law school representatives from all over the country and learn more about their law school programs!
The New York State Senate sponsors a stipend for undergraduate students who are matriculating full-time in an undergraduate program in New York. The Senate Application Deadline is Friday, October 26th for the 2008 stipend.
The program provides students an opportunity to work with a senator on-site and learn about New York State government at the legislative level. The session runs from January to the end of April and is spent entirely on location in Albany. For more information, please visit http://www.senate.state.ny.us, click on “Student Programs”.
You can also review the program description at my resource center at 108 Norton Hall.
As you probably know, attending law school can be an expensive endeavor. Applying for financial aid is an integral step in your law school application process. Below are a few resources to get you started (if you haven’t already!).
Iowa State University has a very good overview of the financial aid process for law schools. The Law School Admission Council also has an excellent Web site with video and guide to provide you with relevant information.
Please review these resources to ensure you are completing everything necessary in a timely and thorough manner.
Remember that the law school is your primary source of information for financial aid information!
Some good starting points (head to the step-by-step guide on LSAC for a more detailed account).
1) Apply for Federal Aid and fill-out the FAFSA form. Visit www.fafsa.ed.gov to get started (this is a free application).
2) Prepare your tax returns as early as you can after the beginning of the new year.
3) Learn about the financial aid process at each law school you are applying to. They may have institutional aid forms or deadlines as well. You may have additional forms to complete, such as the CSS file or Need Access. Many schools have early deadlines so please visit their Web sites or contact their financial aid office for information!
4) Research private loans. You may need to obtain your credit report (LSAC has some good information about this.)
Additional Web site links as obtained from the LSAC resource:
www.aals.org
(Association of American Law Schools)
www.ed.gov
(U.S. Department of Education)
www.fafsa.ed.gov
(Free Application for Federal Student Aid)
www.finaid.org
(The Smart StudentTM Guide to Financial Aid)
www.nalp.org
(The Association for Legal Career Professionals)
www.equaljusticeworks.org
(formerly National Association for Public Interest Law)
This Financial Aid Podcast, by Christopher S. Penn, is a series on Financial Aid issues in the current college “market”, and addresses common questions and concerns. He talks about how to make college more affordable and speaks thoroughly on matters of studelent loans and scholarships.
Link to Podcast (Note: requires iTunes to view link.)
