So this is my last blog!  I am going on my last recruiting trip tomorrow.  The time went really fast, and I enjoyed all the traveling.  I’m so happy I had this opportunity to represent Capital.

For those of you thinking about law school, I really encourage you to dig a little bit deeper.  Meet with a pre-law advisor at your school.  Attend a law fair and speak to representatives from different schools.  Law school isn’t as scary as some peopel make it seem.  It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life!

 

If you have any questions about Admissions at Capital, or want to arrange a tour, please email admissions@law.capital.edu.

 

Thanks!

Jenni

Ladies and gentlemen it is time that I bid you farewell. The recruiting season has wrapped up and I will be moving on somewhere into the legal world. I have truly enjoyed traveling around and meeting all of the future lawyers out there. I appreciate the opportunity given to me by Capital to go out and promote the law school while getting to go to places I have never been. I wish all of you who may be reading this the best of luck with your law school search and in whatever you choose to do. Although I will no longer be recruiting you can feel free to email me any questions that you have about Capital or about law school life in general to gelzey@law.capital.edu. All questions about admissions, financial aid, setting up tours, and things of that nature should now be directed to admissions@law.capital.edu or (614)236-6310.

 

Thank You,
Gregg

Well, as you already know from Gregg's post, we both passed the bar exam!  And you might also be able to guess (considering Capital's amazing pass rate for first-time takers) all of my friends passed as well!  What a huge relief.  I have been smiling non-stop since I found out Friday morning.

 

I was actually staying with my parents in Orrville, Ohio.  On Thursday, I was at a Grad Fair at Denison University and then I drove home that evening.  Friday morning I woke up around 6:50am (results were posted at 7am).   I was so proud of myself and our entire school!  I couldn't wait to get back to Columbus to congratulate my friends and Professor Twiss, who worked so hard to get us motivated to study and it paid off!

 

But first, I had my last law fair of the week at the College of Wooster.  It was really exciting talking to students and being able to inform them about Capital's achievements on the July 2008 Bar Exam.  I was also happy to be around other recruiters who had gotten the good news themselves!

 

It's Monday now but my excitement has not worn off yet.  Congratulations to everyone!!

At about this time yesterday I wrote on here with a lot of fear and anticipation as the July 2008 bar results were released this morning. First off, both Jenni and I passed! More importantly Capital achieved a 94% pass rate among first time test takers, which is higher than any other law school in Ohio. Before these results were released both Jenni and I wrote about the importance of bar passage rates. The most recent results prove the quality of education that you will receive at Capital. Congratulations to all of the new lawyers out there, and congratulations to Capital for being #1.

Until Next Time,
Gregg

It's that scary time of year again ladies and gentlemen. A time where people run around dressed in outfits, carve pumpkins, and indulge in candy and pumpkin pie. Halloween you say? NO, its time for the bar exam results, which for all of us who took the July Bar Exam is the ultimate trick or treat.

 

Bar passage rate is another factor that you should look at in determining which school to attend. This may not seem that important to you as you enter law school or even throughout your time in law school, but trust me it will become very important to you from the May that you graduate to the scariest Halloween of your life. Knowing that your school prepared you and you prepared yourself are about all that can give you peace of mind at this time in your life. I don't want to steal Jenni's ideas from the last post, but I wanted to stress that this is a very important factor in deciding on a law school (and I'm sorry but bar results are about all I can think about right now with tomorrow being the day results are released).

 

Travel Notes: 

 

These past couple of weeks have been wonderful. I spent 3 days last week in Arizona which was absolutely beautiful. While there I visited Arizona and Arizona State where I met a lot of wonderful future lawyers. I also had the chance to eat rattlesnake at the Rustlers Roost in Phoenix. I give it an A+ and recommend that anyone with an adventurous palate give it a try if they have the chance.

 

This week I visited the University of Dayton, Miami University, and The University of Cincinnatti. I would like to thank everyone who stopped to pick up information on Capital, and I encourage you to get in contact with me if you would like to come visit the Law School (gelzey@law.capital.edu).

 

 

Until Next Time,

Gregg

The results from Ohio's July 2008 Bar Exam will be released this Friday.  Hopefully it's a Happy Halloween for me!  The Bar Exam was difficult, and preparing for it took a level of diligence and self-discipline I'd never had before.  I think Capital did a great job of preparing myself and my classmates, based in large part on the Advanced Bar Studies class.
 
Advanced Bar Studies is an elective, for-credit course that is available to third-year students.  Everyone I knew signed up for the class.  I'd heard from previous students that it was a lot of work but worth it.  Sure enough, Professor Twiss assigned a good deal of flashcards, reading, and other activities.  It was sometimes frustrating because in your last semester of law school, you aren't quite prepared to worry about the bar exam that you already know will consume your summer months. 
 
However, after graduation, I started my commercial Bar Review course.  Almost instantly, I started to appreciate all the skills I had learned in Professor's Twiss's class.  More than anything, she mentally prepared me for what the studying for the bar would be like.  I knew the components of the exam inside and out, and I was mentally prepared to begin my substantive review of the materials. 
 
Preparing for the bar exam was unlike anything I'd done before, but it was exactly what I had expected thanks to Advanced Bar Studies.  As far as I know, Capital was one of the first law schools to develop a for-credit class like this.  I heard from several other students at the actual exam that they wished their school had offered something similar.  It definitely made me feel more confident during my studies and taking the actual exam.
 
Capital's bar passage rate for first-time taker's in July 2007 was 89%.  That's a great number and hopefully the 2008 percentage is even higher!

I spent last week roaming through Indiana going to IU Bloomington and Valparaiso. I had a few students ask me why I chose Capital, so I think I will address that here.

 

When I was ready to attend law school I knew that I wanted to stay in Ohio. I looked at all of the Ohio Law Schools and weighed the pros and cons of each. I was drawn to Capital by its location and its atmosphere. Capital is located in downtown Columbus, Ohio which means it is located right by the Franklin County Courthouse, the Ohio Supreme Court, and the Federal Bankruptcy Court. This in turn meant that there were a ton of attorneys in this area providing wonderful internship and externship possibilities.

 

I then looked at the school itself. It is a private institution with a great family like atmosphere. Going to one of the big universities was not for me as I am originally from a small town and went to a small private undergraduate institution. The law school is actually seperated from the main campus meaning that you don't have to worry about undergraduates in the law library or fighting for parking with an entire university.

 

I then thought about the academics. I looked at Capitals faculty who were top notch and consistently rank high among peer institutions in the amount of research published. I also knew that I wanted to study business law so I was attracted to the Publicly Held Companies concentration offered by the law school.

 

When I took all of these things into consideration I thought that Capital was right for me, so I arranged a visit (which you can do by emailing admissions@law.capital.edu). After the visit I knew that this was the place for me. I encourage anyone who is interested in Capital to come visit and sit in on a class and see what you think about it. Law School is a very personal choice and very different for everyone so you have to decide what is right for you.

 

I will be heading out to the WAPLA conference at Arizona and Arizona State on Oct. 23 and 24, if you see me there stop by and say hi.

 

Until Next Time,

Gregg Elzey

Well I had my first real roadtrip for the job last week. I had the opportunity to go to Washington DC and visit students from Howard University, and from there I went to a large law fair at George Washington University. After that I headed down to Philadelphia to take part in the Philadelphia area law fair. I met a lot of great people including students and other recruiters. I enjoyed both cities, but soon realized that hailing a cab in DC was much easier than driving around and trying to find a place to park.

 

I talked to a lot of students who were interested in the adoption law program at Capital. Capital gives students the unique opportunity to complete a concentration in children and family law while also exposing them to the National Center for Adoption Law & Policy at Capital. Capital is now offering a fairly new felloship program for students interested in pursuing adoption law. For those students who may be interested check it out at http://www.law.capital.edu/adoptionfellows/

 

I came away from the law fairs wondering why someone wouldn’t apply to Capital. Why is that you ask? Well simply because applying online before January 1, 2009 is FREE. Thats right no application fee if you apply online before January 1, 2009. Why on earth would anyone not take advantage of this. It will only take a little time to complete and who knows you may end up being offered a decent scholarship to attend. If you are considering Capital then go ahead and apply, because in case I forgot to mention it, its FREE online.

Well thats all the ramblings I have for today. 

 

Thanks,
Gregg

The National Center for Adoption Law and Policy (NCALP) is the nation’s only academically based entity dedicated to improving the laws and policies for child protection and adoption services.  NCALP is located in the law school, and provides many opportunities for student involvement.  I was most interested in Capital because of its connection with NCALP, and my personal interest in adoption and family law.

 

During the second semester of first year, I worked as student assistant for the Center.  My primary responsibility was summarizing recent cases and news articles from across the country related to adoption and children’s services issues.  The Center provides those summaries free of charge on their website, http://www.adoptionchildwelfarelaw.org/.  People can also sign up to receive weekly email updates with the latest information in this field. 

 

I also volunteered some of my evenings as a coordinator for the Adoption Academy.  Working with Nationwide Children’s Hospital here in Columbus, NCALP hosts a twelve-week series to helping families understand the adoption process.  It is divided into three tracks:  Core Track, Domestic Track, and International Track.  It is very informative for anyone considering adoption.  The sessions include guest speakers with professional and personal experience in adoption.

 

Two of my favorite events hosted by NCALP are Forever Home and the Autumn Wine Celebration.  Both serve as fundraisers so the Center can continue its efforts in ensuring that every child has a safe, healthy and permanent home.  Forever Home is a special day for adoptive families and friends to celebrate together.  In previous years it was held at the Columbus Zoo and COSI.  The Autumn Wine Celebration is an elegant evening of live music, great wines, and a silent auction.  My friends and I have volunteered at the event for the past few years and it’s always a fun time.

 

One last thing to mention about NCALP is the Adoption and Child Welfare Law Fellowship.  The Fellowship is offered to incoming first year students who are interested in pursuing a career in child welfare and/or adoption law after graduation.  Fellows are given numerous benefits and opportunities, including a merit scholarship and a student worker position at the Center.  For more information, check out http://www.law.capital.edu/adoptionfellows/.

 

Although my first year of law school was difficult, it was also the year I made some great friends and created wonderful memories.  One wonderful thing that Capital did was to make an email group for all incoming 1Ls.  Someone, I’m not sure if it was an administrator or student, created a questionnaire and sent it to all the new students.  One of the first people to respond was Katie Fuller (now Zvolanek).  She said that she was living at Water’s Edge Apartments in Bexley and asked if anyone else planned to live there.  When I emailed her back and said that I was moving into Water’s Edge the next week, she offered to make me brownies.  It was a match made in heaven.  Katie and her roommate Jeremy (also a 1L) quickly became two of my closest friends.  Lucky for me, they were both in the A section!

 

The incoming 1L class is split into two sections, A and B.  It’s completely arbitrary, but whichever section you are in will determine which professors you have for the first year.  I was an A, and that meant that I had all of my first year classes with only other students in the A section.  It’s funny because the sections don’t really matter after first year, but it’s something you will just always remember, whether you were an A or a B.

In your first year your classes are predetermined, and scheduled so that you are typically at the law school from 8am – 4pm during the week.  I think I had a one hour break between most of my classes, which was perfect for doing reading in the library or grabbing a snack downstairs at the People’s Court.  So basically, you are with the other 1Ls all the time, and it’s just very easy to connect.  In spite of the fact that you spend all week together, they are the people you want to hang out with when the weekend rolls around. 

 

Even though I had other friends living in the Columbus area, I spent almost all my free time with my law school friends.  Inevitably, we'd talk about school, but we also talked about everything else. Since the first year of law school is so intense, it can be difficult to relate the experience to anyone else not going through it with you.  Even now it's hard to find a practicing attorney who won't crack a smile and tell you a funny story about their time as a 1L.  Everyone's first year is different but similar at the same time. It's truly a wonderful experience that is tough to go through, but it will provide you with many lasting memories.

Yesterday was our first Graduate Fair at Wittenberg and we talked to a lot of students who seemed interested in Capital and law school in general.  Also, I was lucky enough to see some of my old professors and have lunch at Mike and Rosy’s!  Not a bad day! 

 

One thing that impressed me was the number of sophomores and juniors that spoke to us.  I think it’s great to see students getting a head start on planning for the future since there are a lot of advantages to starting early.  First, it gives you plenty of time to research a variety of schools and find out which is the best fit for you.  You can do this by searching their websites, scheduling a visit, or contacting current students or alums of that school.   Actually visiting a school is probably one of the best ways to determine if it’s right for you.  At Capital, we encourage prospective students to tour the building, sit in on one of our first year classes, and meet with faculty and staff.

The LSAT is another reason to start planning early.  The test is offered four times a year, and it really benefits you to be as prepared as possible when taking it.  If you take the exam once and didn’t score as high as you had hoped, you may want to consider taking it again.  Ask yourself if you did everything you could to prepare for it, and also review your score report to see which areas you might be able to improve on for the next time. 

 

I would also encourage anyone considering law school to take courses that focus on reading, writing and analysis.  Those are three skills that will be needed in any law curriculum.  It will really help you to have some upper-level classes that give you experience in those areas.

 

Remember – it’s never too early to think about law school! 

 As everyone is making that all important choice on where to go to law school, the location of the school should be a factor. I was browsing the net and found that Columbus Ohio is rated the #1 city to retire by forbes.com, so I began thinking about why it should also be a top choice for attending law school.

 

Opportunity

 

- Columbus is the 15th largest city in the US

- There are over 5,000 practicing attorneys citywide

- Home to six Fortune 500 Companies and over 700 law firms

- Consistent Growth over the past 15 years

 

All of these things add up to one of the most important things for law students and young attorneys, OPPORTUNITY. Networking and getting to know attorneys is the best way to land that job you've always wanted, and in Columbus that should not be a problem.

 

Affordability

 

I don't have any hard numbers to throw at you, but Columbus is an extremely affordable city compared to many other major metropolitan areas. Rankings such as the Forbes ranking mentioned above rely heavily on the affordability of homes to make their decisions. This goes to show that home prices are great compared to many other areas. I can also tell you from first hand experience that going out and entertaining yourself will not cost you an arm and a leg here. You can rent an a nice apartment and not have to force-feed yourself Ramen Noodles because you are broke after paying rent.

 

Entertainment

 

Entertainment is important. You will have a lot less time to get out during law school, but when you have the chance to get out you want to have things to do. This will never be a problem in Columbus.  If you are an art person, there is the short north that features many local artists, as well as The Palace and Ohio theatres offering a variety of shows. If you are into nightlife there is German Village, the Arena District, and places such as Easton and Polaris. If you are a sports fan opportunities abound with the Buckeyes, Bluejackets, Destroyers, and Crew.

 

As you are thinking about where to go to law school you should consider where the school is located and whether it is the right fit for you. If you would like to give Columbus a closer look, feel free to email me at gelzey@law.capital.edu and we can set up a visit to Capital and I can recommend some things for you to do.

 

Until Next Time,

Gregg

Hello,

 My name is Gregg Elzey and I will be working as an admissions representative at Capital University Law School. I will be keeping a blog of my travels and experiences for all to read. I will also be happy to answer any questions that anyone may have. I thought I would use this first entry to introduce myself.
 

 I am a small town guy who has transitioned to the big city (well at least for those of you who would consider Columbus a big city). I was born and raised in Washington Court House, Ohio and received my undergraduate degree from Ohio Northern University. I was comfortable with small town life but decided that I would have to go out and experience city life if I were going to achieve my goals.  During my senior year at ONU I began looking at Law Schools and decided that Capital University was the right place for me. It was located in a major city (Columbus, OH) with plenty to do, and more importantly, with a lot of lawyers. I found this to be so important because I knew that a major city with a lot of attorneys would give me a much better chance of networking and landing a job. I entered law school a bit fearful and a bit excited as I’m sure most do. I ended up clerking at a small business firm between my second and third year and loved every minute of it. Apart from that I enjoyed the three year ride that was law school, graduated, took the bar exam, and then took this temporary position. What does the future hold? I have no idea, but I am excited about it. I will be out on the road for the next three months talking to prospective students, so if you see me come up and say hi. Feel free to ask me any questions about law school, life, or football (well maybe except Michigan Fans).

 

Until Next Time,
Gregg

My name is Jennifer Carney and this is my first week as an Admission Representative for Capital University Law School.  This year, Capital hired two recent graduates to serve as recruiters for the school during the fall.  We get to attend law school fairs and forums, and also visit many schools to talk about our experiences at Capital and also give prospective students general information about the school. Part of my job as an admission representative is to talk about the past 3 years as a law student and about meeting prospective students in the months to come.  This is my first attempt at a blog, so please bear with me.
 
I am very excited about this opportunity.  I love to travel and talk, and this seems like a perfect fit for me.  I had a wonderful experience at Capital and I loved law school generally, so I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences and thoughts with students considering coming to Capital Law School.
 
As for my background, I grew up in Orrville, Ohio, a very small town in northeastern Ohio, home to Smuckers, Bobby Knight, and not much else.  I attended Wittenberg University and majored in Political Science and Russian Area Studies.  After graduation, I was accepted at Capital University Law School.(to work specifically with their National Center for Adoption Law and Policy, or something like that).
 
Our first recruiting event is coming up this Wednesday.  I am really looking forward to this fair, especially because it's being held at Wittenberg!  I haven't visited the campus in a few years and I'm thrilled to go back.
 
Check back often, as I plan to post a lot about life at Capital and why law school was such a wonderful experience.  If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them!