The African American Pre-Law School Advice Guide: Things You Really Need to Know Before Applying to Law School [Paperback]

Evangeline M. Mitchell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 21, 2002

The first and only law school admissions book written especially for African Americans is here!

The African American Pre-Law School Advice Guide: Things You Really Need to Know Before Applying to Law School provides comprehensive and detailed information on the admissions application, grade point average, the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), personal statements and essays, interviews, supplemental materials, recommendations, financial aid and money matters, and choosing a law school.

In addition, this book features special sections including:

· Do You Really Want to Go to Law School?

· Affirmative Action

· About Law School and Beyond

· Things You Can Do to Enhance Your Application and Make Yourself an Attractive Admissions Candidate

· Your Admissions Decision

· Special Admissions Programs

Alternative Legal Education Options

· Networking

· Recommended Readings and Viewing, and

· Truths and Motivational Notes.

A useful "straight out" outline is provided in the beginning of the book which gives you all of the basic advice given throughout the book in a limited number of pages.

PLUS an extensive appendix with pre-law resources, the ABCs to Law School Acceptance, a law school listing, law school submissions, and Strategize! Pre-Law School Strategy Planner! (which includes: "create your 'ideal' resume", a "create a strategic plan for law school admission" chart from freshman to senior college years, LSAT Strategy study plan sheets, personalized LSAT study schedule pages, the LSAT practice test-score tracker, and an essay/personal statement planner). In addition, there are sample letters, a steps to admission checklist, an admissions timetable, a law school admissions budget, guidelines for recommenders, an essay/personal statement checklist, an application process organizer/checklist, special profiles of predominantly Black law schools, a choosing a law school checklist and a listing of Black law firsts. No other law school admissions guide provides all of this!!!!

This reader-friendly guide is filled with numbered and easy-to-read facts, insights, advice, observations, antidotes and anecdotes regarding the competitive law school admissions process. If you are serious about getting into law school, you will want to read this book cover to cover!

Editorial Reviews

Review

An 'outstanding' piece of work . . . the best I have seen in regard to law admissions help for students of color. -- Isaac Black, Founder & CEO of Black Excel: The College Help Network and Author of the Black Excel African American Student's College Guide

Excellent resource for anyone considering applying to law school. . . a 'must have' resource for career counselors, universities and law schools. -- John H. Jackson, J.D., Ed.D., National Director of Education, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

About the Author

Evangeline M. Mitchell was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and has spent most of her life in Houston, Texas. She is a graduate of Prairie View A&M University, the University of Iowa College of Law and the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

Evangeline is the founder and CEO of hope’s promise publishing, the founder and director of the informational website and non-profit group For Future Black Law Students: Information and Support Network, and the founder of High Hopes Law School Admissions Consulting Services. She is also the author of the upcoming books The African American Law School Advice Guide: Things You Really Need to Know Before Starting Law School, Profiles of Outstanding African American Law School Admits and Pledging Law School: African American Law Students’ Experiences.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Hopes Promise Pub; 1 edition (February 21, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967930308
• ISBN-13: 978-0967930305
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,272,896 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding book for black law school applicants., October 20, 2002

By 

stephanie williams (Arlington, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The African American Pre-Law School Advice Guide: Things You Really Need to Know Before Applying to Law School (Paperback)

Without reservation, I highly recommend: "The African American Pre-Law School Advice Guide: Things You Really Need To Know Before Applying To Law School" by Evangeline Mitchell. I believe that this book is a must have for anyone, whether they are freshman in college or veterans in the workforce, who wants to become an attractive and competitive law school applicant. It is also a reference that pre-law advisors, professors, and admissions officers must read so that they can refer it to African America students who are serious about law school. This book goes far beyond the generic information that many popular law school advice guides provide. Instead, Ms. Mitchell instructs African Americans on the nuts and bolts of the admissions process that often allude them due to lack of resources, mentoring, and networking opportunities.

It is well worth purchasing simply for reading the opening preface. Ms. Mitchell gives the readers an honest look at the mistakes that she made as a result of the lack of mentoring and candid information that is required for successful admission to law school. She states that much of what she learned came during and after law school and not before, when it would have been most beneficial.

By simply browsing through the book, you will quickly discover that simply filling out the application at face value and as the school asks is not enough to gain admissions. The Pre-Law Advice Guide provides applicants with the steps of both written and unwritten rules of making a competitive law school package. The reader will have to read and refer to this book a multitude of times. It will provide specific instructions on how to give an accurate and honest assessment of both the applicant's assets and liabilities and how to craft a package and develop a strategy that encourages law schools to carefully evaluate and accept the application.

Once the preface is read, the reader must turn to the "Straight Out" outline to learn how the book is organized. There reader will also see that applicants will benefit from Ms. Mitchell's extensive research, as she will show you how to address common concerns of specifically for African Americans that cannot be found in other sources. Among the many issues discussed in the advice guide the reader will find answers to the following items:

· Ways to determine if law school is really the right career and educational path for you;
· How to address low grades and LSAT scores;
· How to prepare for the LSAT;
· What constitutes effective letters of recommendations;
· A detailed and extensive check list for writing a top-notched personal statement;
· The importance of networking with current students;
· How to get fee waivers for law school applications;
· How to research law schools to find the school that offers the concrete qualities that you want;
· How to find a law school where African Americans thrive academically, in campus activism, graduation rates, minority professors, and job placements during and after law school;
· How to accurately evaluate law school rankings;
· And, suggestions for obtaining a well-rounded personal and academic background through suggested readings, study abroad, community service, and becoming a part of the college community.

The African American Pre-Law Advice Guide is a "must-have" for any African American who wants to be a competitive applicant in the admissions process. Although there are many lessons to be learned from this book, the reader will come to realize that the law school admissions process is really a complex business. Ms. Mitchell book is a groundbreaking tool and priceless reference on how to successfully navigate through this business endeavor.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Invest in Your Future, March 24, 2003

By 

"funmiolo" (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The African American Pre-Law School Advice Guide: Things You Really Need to Know Before Applying to Law School (Paperback)

I was able to read this book and I felt compelled to share my thoughts with others. I just went through the law school admissions process and without this book I don't know how I would have been able to do it.

Catered to addressing the issues that specifically affect African Americans applicants, this book shows tactics that will show any applicant how to piece together their application and portray himself or herself as the ultimate law school candidate. The book also provides a step by step guide through each part of the application process.

This book written for African-Americans by an African-American woman gives the perspective of the law school admission process from someone who has successfully been through the process.

If you want to truly ensure that your law school admissions process is a success, I HIGHLY recommend that you purchase a copy today. It is a true investment in your future. Take it from someone who has just gone through it.

Thanks to the advice in this book I have been accepted to UC Berkeley School Of Law the # 7 Law School in the country and the advice in this book will help you excel above other law school applicants just like I did.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, July 23, 2004

By 

sayock - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The African American Pre-Law School Advice Guide: Things You Really Need to Know Before Applying to Law School (Paperback)

Evangeline's books are must-haves for African Americans. The law school admissions process is a daunting task, but especially for African Americans since there is so much mystery surrounding what Blacks REALLY need to get into law school, how we stack up against White candidates, etc. Accordingly, Evangeline never mentions specific GPA's or LSAT scores--which can be good or bad since no one ever says exactly what Blacks need to score on the LSAT--but just encourages us all to get the best GPA we can in college and do whatever we can to ace the LSAT. Admittedly, it does bother me that none of her books actually reveal what Black students at top law schools made on the LSAT, but I understand and still believe that this is the most helpful book for African Americans on the market because it is the only one that addresses us specifically and doesn't talk to ALL applicants as if everything applies to them the exact same way. It also bothers me that she somewhat seems to assume we all attended HBCU's, are disadvantaged or lower socioeconomic--none of which I feel applies to me--but, again, her information is still helpful just the same. For those of you who long for profiles of Blacks in law school, personal statements or just more information for Blacks, visit hopespromisepublishing.com to order her latest book "Profiles & Essays of Successful African American Law School Applicants." Combined with this book, you will have just about all the ammunition you need to get yourself into the top law schools. Evangeline does it all for us and has inspired me to try my hand at a book that will illuminate many hidden mysteries for Blacks that want to get into top law schools, as well.