College students are constantly faced with the question of what
they plan to do with their lives, but for many the answer is
unknown.
Deborah Schneider, an attorney and the author of “Should
you Really be a Lawyer?,” will be speaking at today’s
11th annual Pre-Law Society law school forum. She not only asks the
question, but answers it too.
“I thought there was a huge need for the book. I got the
idea on my third day of law school when I realized how little I
knew about law school and being a lawyer,” Schneider
said.
Schneider, along with co-author Gary Belsky, an expert in
decision-making psychology, used existing straightforward steps
about making an informed decision in an attempt to help direct
their readers in the right direction.
“Nobody laid it out in a book before, so I decided to do
that,” Schneider said. “Law students fall into a whole
number of mental traps when making decisions about law school, and
so we help people learn how to become better decision makers and
make smarter choices.”
Danton Tsang, a third-year communication studies student and
president of Phi Alpha Delta, a pre-law fraternity, is still
undecided about becoming a lawyer, despite his extensive
involvement in pre-law activities.
“I am still unsure just because there are such a wide
variety of things you can end up doing. … You don’t really
get to decide, it’s more of what falls into your lap,”
Tsang said.
Schneider’s book is directed at students like Tsang,
because she wants to help them make the right decisions.
“I told students about the importance of really gathering
a lot of information and the realities of being a practicing
attorney,” Schneider said.
She is not the only one concerned with these issues.
In a separate portion of today’s program, an interactive
workshop will be run by Kaplan testing services.
“Our aim is to expose those considering law school to what
the first year of law school might be like by holding a mock first
year class,” said Katy Roy, executive director of
Kaplan’s law admission program.
In the mock class, students will be given a case and the
professor will call on them using the Socratic method technique,
which teaches students by asking questions, she added.
The forum itself will have about 80 law schools in attendance to
talk to students about the application process.
“We encourage people to come through, there will be top
name law schools … and also schools in the area,” said Beth
Gollnick, a third-year English and art history student and director
of the law forum, “There will be something for everybody
there.”
Schneider believes that the best way for students to learn about
law school is through talking to others who have already
experienced it.
“(It’s) important to bring in lawyers from the real
world to talk about the realities of their work,” Schneider
said, “The goal overall is to hope people will buy (the book)
and read it, and there will be fewer stressed-out law students and
more happy lawyers.”
The forum will be held today in the Tom Bradley
International Hall from 5:30 – 9 p.m.