The new Pre-Law Center still needs a director but is set to be completely up and running next fall.
“There are a lot of pre-law advisers already involved, but a director would pull everything together,” Chairman of the Political Science Department Larry Aspin said. “Mock trial would also get incorporated into this program, and the new director would become the coach for that.”
Aspin said there are a lot of expectations for this new program. A few goals should come into effect by next semester and the remainder should be up and running by fall 2009.
“We want to be able to have summer institutes set up for both high school students and undergraduates,” Aspin said. “We also want to help students prepare for the LSATs and also law school.”
There are far more applicants than expected, so it will take some time to find a new director, Aspin said.
“We have a lot of people wanting to help undergraduates find out more about law and what they are going to do once they get into law school,” Aspin said.
Aspin said there was a committee meeting that took place recently that helped determine the first round of cuts for the position of director of the center.
Pre-law Club President Sarah Shadnia said she wishes she would be around for the center to open. She said she felt as though the university didn’t have much support for students preparing to go to law school before the idea for the center.
“Granted, the Smith Career Center … is a great tool for a person considering law school, but having assistance with LSAT prep was something greatly desired,” Shadnia said.
The center isn’t up and running, but once it is it will be extremely beneficial, Shadnia said.
“The center would be very helpful because students have been asking for help for a long time, and there haven’t been a lot of resources available,” she said.
The program will also help keep Bradley competitive with other universities, because the programs are quite extensive, Shadnia said.
“Students will no longer have to seek outside help, [for example] for the LSAT going through Kaplan or Princeton Review, because the center will be all-inclusive,” she said.