pre-professional networking events or why i wanted to rip my eyes out this weekend

so this weekend, i attended a law school fair in new york. basically, it looks a lot like the above picture - where each law school gets a table and students line up to speak to admission representatives. my purpose in going was to try and get a feel for the schools and see if i felt like i would be a good fit. i knew i had to narrow down where i was going to apply unless i wanted to go broke and live off of ramen next fall. fortunately, the fair helped me narrow this list down.

i have a bunch of interests in going to law school but they all are associated with an interest in race, gender and the law. (surprise, surprise - thus the theme of my blog!) i've learned that simply engaging in discussions of race and gender does not guarantee a good time, and trying to do that in an environment where people really aren't feeling your radicalism is probably a guarantee of a bad time. instead, i am looking for a campus full of professors and students who wish to engage in these topics, in addition to professors who are knowledgeable, critical and interested in this work. having come from an all women's college, i also understand the importance of having female professors. (side note: i'm truly surprised that numbers skew slightly in favor of men, that is, more men are in law school than women) so, my stock questions for the admission reps had to do with whether there was a program, institute or classes devoted to critical race theory; what professors were actively engaging in critical race theory and feminist legal theory; and how many professors of color were at the school.

now that i'm at my second job since graduating from college, i have come to truly appreciate the fact that you need to be interviewing the employer/school as much as they are interviewing you. in other words, i came with the expectation that the reps would try to sell their school to me more than any of my efforts to impress them. having been in a work situation that was not a good fit, i want to be very careful that i don't end up at a school that is not a good fit.

anyways those where my goals, and here are some of my observations:

• for the top 20 schools and the nyc schools, there was usually a 15-20 minute wait time. i should've expected this. what i shouldn't have expected (and didn't expect) was waiting behind a girl while she spent 10 minutes asking questions that included, "should recommendations be single or double spaced?" "do you have a preferred font?" and "what kind of margins do you think look the best?" really? REALLY? the worst part of this show was that the admissions rep was actively engaged with her and giving a genuine response to this. that added to the fact they were dismissive of my questions makes me not even want to bother to apply.
• some schools were especially rude. to the point that it makes me feel lukewarm about their school altogether. i asked them how many faculty where faculty of color? They were like "uh, well i dont keep statistics. it's not good, but it's comparable to other elite schools." ....... whereas others were like "that's something we're def. concerned about. we have a good handful, but we really are concentrating on recruiting more."
• one big named school was really standoffish and uninformative. i was concerned about the huge class and feeling like I might feel lost, especially coming from such a small undergrad institution. in response they gave me some textbook answer instead of actually engaging with my question. i was like oh and you just inadvertently answered the question by giving me some stock answer and not even really looking at me. i am just a number, thanks. 
• on the flipside, my alma mater was mad real with me. i admitted that i was frankly a bit unsure if it's a good fit because I want to be in a community where many people are interested in public service, CRT, feminist theory, etc. and they were like well I'm not sure if we would be a perfect fit if those things are important to you but you should try to talk to some of the students to get their perspective. made me want to apply more.

so hopefully a little advice to the younger readers: it's really important that you interview people even when you feel under pressure. you don't want to be stuck in a situation that you don't like. and for those that this post is completely irrelevent for, a question on admissions processes in general - how can we accurately assess what a school/employer is all about, and whether we'd fit into that or not (regardless of rankings)? my undergrad school ended up being a good fit, but i think that was more good luck than a good applying process.  and, finally, a question for myself: why do i simultaneously think rankings are stupid but at the same time want to get into a top 5 school so badly?! ah! 

oh and a final request: do not bring your parents to law school/med school/grad school/job fairs. it is not cool. not cool at all.