As students prepare to apply for law school, the dean of admissions for the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU provided several resources to help students apply.
Students said these resources greatly improved their application process.
“You’ll learn the same things at any law school you go to but knowing how you’re going to feel and how the environment is a huge part of where you decide to go,” Madelyn Jacobsen, a third-year law student at BYU, said.
Upon her acceptance, Jacobsen considered applying to more law schools, but she said the small class sizes, community and encouraging learning environment aided her decision to stay.
Other resources include an online portal where people can sign up to tour the law school or sit in on a class accompanied by a current law student.
These options are available for students online through the BYU Law School Admissions website.
BYU Dean of Admissions Tony Grover said the J. Reuben Clark Law School also generally has a presence at BYU career fairs. He said this gives students the opportunity to ask questions and talk with representatives or current law students.
Shima Baradaran Baughman, BYU criminal law professor, offered her advice to undergraduate students when deciding whether or not to apply.
“I think it’s a really good, versatile degree, especially for those that loved school and loved college but didn’t know what they wanted to do after,” Baughman said.
The most valuable resource for Eross Coito-Paz — a first-year BYU law student — was talking with law students and listening to their advice, Coito-Paz said.
"I think the biggest gauge for the student experience working with admissions at BYU law is students that have gone through that experience recently," Coito-Paz said.