By Rena Sera, Esq.
Rena is a 2016 GGU Law alumna who just passed the bar and is joining a probate law firm in Walnut Creek. During law school, Rena was awarded competitive scholarships during her third year of law school from the FBANC, AABA, APABA-SV and California Bar Foundation. Rena also received several scholarships from GGU School of Law.
Congratulations on your admission to law school! Chances
are, you are like millions of others who need help financing their law school
education. Sure, you can get student loans. But student loans can easily add up
and you will have to pay them back after you graduate. So, how else can you
finance your law school education? One word: scholarships.
Scholarships are a good supplement to student loans because
you never have to pay them back, they help you build your personal brand and
they expand your professional network. During my law school career, I received
scholarships from GGU School of Law and outside organizations. Because of these
scholarship opportunities, I was able to expand my professional network and
gain great mentors who now show me the ropes on how to be a great lawyer.
Hopefully, the tips below can help you find and secure scholarships
Where Can You Find
Scholarship Opportunities?
·
GGU Law
Career Development Newsletters and the GGU Financial Aid Website
GGU’s
Law Career Development Department lists scholarships in their monthly and
weekly newsletters. Also, GGU’s financial aid office lists scholarship
opportunities on their website: http://law.ggu.edu/student-support/financial-aid/.
Their lists include scholarships offered by the law school as well as
scholarships offered by outside sources.
·
Check
With Local Bar Associations
There
are a lot of bar associations that cater to many different causes, practices,
ethnicities, etc. These local bar associations usually offer scholarship
opportunities. Some of the bar associations who offer scholarships are:
Filipino Bar Association of Northern California (multiple
scholarships offered) http://fbanc.org/
Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area (multiple
scholarships offered including a summer internship grant) https://www.aaba-bay.com/
Vietnamese American Bar Association of Northern California (one
scholarship offered) http://www.vabanc.org/
South Asian Bar Association of Northern California (two
fellowships offered) http://www.southasianbar.org/
California Bar Foundation (multiple scholarships offered to
incoming 1L students and multiple scholarships offered to 3L students) http://www.calbarfoundation.org/
Asian Pacific American Bar Association-Silicon Valley (multiple
scholarships offered) https://www.apabasv.com/
Asian American Criminal Trial Lawyers Association (one
scholarship offered) http://www.aactla.org/
Women Lawyers of Alameda County (one scholarship offered) https://wlaconline.org/
Iranian American Bar Association (multiple scholarships
offered) http://iabafoundation.org/
Mexican American Bar Association (multiple scholarships
offered) http://mabaattorneys.com/
Latina Lawyers Bar Association (one scholarship and bar
stipend offered) http://www.llbalaw.org/
Korean American Bar Association of Northern California (one
scholarship offered) http://www.kabanc.com/
·
Enter
Legal Writing Contests
There
are many legal writing contests out there and GGU will include these
opportunities in their newsletters. Sure, they may seem like a lot of work, and
your chances of winning may seem slim. However, it never hurts to try AND if
you win, it usually means your writing will be published. Some of the writing
contests are below:
Robert T. Matsui Annual Writing Contest http://www.aefdc.com/matsui-writing-competition/
Michael Greenberg Student Writing Competition http://lgbtbar.org/what-we-do/awards-recognition/michael-greenberg-student-writing-competition/
International Association of LGBT Judges’ Writing
Competition http://lgbtbar.org/what-we-do/awards-recognition/international-association-of-lgbt-judges-writing-competition/
American Bar Association (multiple writing contests) http://abaforlawstudents.com/events/law-student-competitions/writing-competitions/
