JD Academic Support Program

The Academic Support Program (ASP) is designed to help individuals in need of extra support meet the rigorous demands of law school.

The admissions committee carefully evaluates performance indicators and other criteria to determine who could benefit from the program. Directed by two full-time faculty members, ASP begins with a three-week summer program that emphasizes reading and briefing cases, taking notes, organizing and outlining course materials, problem-solving, legal analysis, and exam-taking skills. ASP students also attend small group tutorials taught by second- and third-year law students, many of whom participated in ASP themselves as first-year students.

Academic support continues during the first semester of law school. At the end of the first semester, all first-year students are considered for inclusion in ASP based on academic performance or faculty referral. General academic support services in the form of study skills, legal analysis, and bar preparation workshops, as well as individual counseling sessions, are available to all students.

This supportive atmosphere equips students with the skills to succeed as law students and lawyers and creates a community in which each individual thrives.