Take a break from the drudgery of LSAT prep and law school applications and take a few minutes to consider your future as a law student. Even though movies, books, and former law students would have you believe that law school is all hard work, there will still be plenty of time for having fun. One way to get quickly plugged into the social scene is to get involved in extracurricular activities in law school with people who share common interests or goals.
Law Related Extracurricular Activities in Law School
Most law schools will have extracurricular activities related to the law. Some of these will be informal groups of people interested in the same areas of the law, while others will be much more structured organizations involving actual legal work.
- Shared Interest Groups — Students interested in the same areas of legal work will often get together for social and academic gatherings. These groups will likely be different at every school, but you may be able to get involved with anything from a Food Law Society at Harvard to a Real Estate Law Society at the University of Texas.
- Journals — Student-run journals exist at almost every law school. These journals publish academic articles on a regular basis. Many journals have a competition to determine who can work on the journal, but some journals take volunteers. Working on a journal gives you lots of writing and editing experience that is valuable to future employers.
- Clinical Programs — Clinical programs give you a chance to do real-world legal work while you are still in school. Often you can receive credit for clinical work, but some clinical programs are volunteer jobs. While I was in law school, I worked with the Tenant Advocacy Project, which equipped students to represent public housing tenants in hearings before the Housing Authority.
Activity-Based Extracurricular Activities
If you want a break from the law, there are also plenty of groups that are centered around a certain activity or hobby. This can be anything from drinking wine (The Wine Avocats of NYU) to playing squash (Columbia Squash Club). Participating in these types of activities will help keep you sane during a very stressful three years and will help you make friendships that will last well beyond law school.
Political and Religious Extracurricular Activities
You can also choose to spend your time with other students of like mind. Most law schools have groups geared towards specific religions and specific political groups, such as Law School Republicans, Law School Democrats, Christian Fellowship, and Muslim Student Associations. No matter what your viewpoints are or where you go to law school, you will likely be able to find a group of people that you can identify with.
Okay…now that you’ve had a break from studying…get back to those reading comprehension passages!
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