NYAPLAP’s third annual conference took place on February 11. Although COVID forced us to hold this conference remotely, there was a silver lining: we attracted prelaw advisors and admissions officers from all across the United States, including California. At a time when most prelaw advising organizations are cancelling conferences, NYAPLAP continued its string of holding a conference each year during these difficult times.
This year’s conference consisted of three panels. The first brought together admissions directors from Brooklyn, Cardozo, Fordham and St. John’s Law Schools to discuss the recent surge in admissions and how it has affected the selection of candidates. For me, there were two interesting takeaways. First, the increase in applicants has allowed admissions officials to focus more on elements of applications other than grades and LSAT scores in order to find students who best fit the school’s programs. Second, not all LSAT scores are equal. Law schools know that the LSAT-Flex generated higher scores than the pre-COVID LSAT and they are not treating them as equivalent (despite what LSAC says).
The second panel on financial aid was presented by Stephen Brown, Assistant Dean of Enrollment at Fordham Law School. The third panel, on part-time JD programs, featured a discussion of the part-time programs at New York, Pace, St. John’s, and Seton Hall Law SSchools. Each of these schools has a different format for its part-time JD program, so prelaw advisors should encourage students interested in such programs to search widely since new formats have developed in recent years.
Next year, COVID permitting, the fourth annual NYAPLAP conference will be held at St. John’s Law School in Queens on a Friday in February. We hope to be able to present a more expanded program that will include breakfast, lunch, at least three panels, and networking opportunities. If you have ideas for what you would like to hear about, please contact me at trozinski@nyaplap.org or thomas.rozinski@touro.edu.