Emery Reddy Legal Studies Scholarship Description
The Emery Reddy Legal Studies Scholarship is another opportunity that will help you pay for law school. In 2015, the personal injury law firm Emery Reddy created the scholarship as a way to reduce the financial burden that attending law school places on students. The scholarship is now awarded every fall and covers a $1,500 tuition credit towards a future semester .
To be eligible for the Emery Reddy Legal Studies Scholarship, you must have completed at least one semester of classes in an accredited D.C. area law school. Unfortunately, this means that incoming college students are ineligible for this scholarship – but current law school students are more than welcome to apply.
The Emery Reddy Legal Studies Scholarship is available to students in the Washington D.C. area.
Qualifications for Applicants
Eligible candidates for the Emery Reddy Legal Studies Scholarship must:
Commit to obtaining a college degree in the field of legal studies. To qualify, applicants must either be a full-time or part-time student pursuing an undergraduate degree in any state-approved 4-year college or university. The scholarship is not intended for students seeking an apprenticeship or any other non-collegiate program.
Earn a cumulative GPA of at least 2.75 of a possible 4.0 scale.
Demonstrate a financial need.
Write an original 700 to 1000 word essay on the importance of proper representation and access to justice for all individuals. You may access a list of essay prompts on the scholarship webpage.
Application Steps and Deadlines
When you have applied to at least two different accredited law schools, an attorney at law Seattle firm Emery Reddy will inform you of their decision on the status of your scholarship application. If your application is successful, Emery Reddy will inform you through email detailing steps that must be followed to secure the scholarship amount and any conditions which may be attached to it. Completed scholarship applications should be returned by the deadline, which is set for November 30 of each year.
Filling in the Emery Reddy legal studies scholarship application form does not guarantee success. The application form requests your personal information such as full name, mailing address, telephone number and email address. Additional items they will request is a personal statement (500-1000 words) detailing your need for the scholarship as well as a letter of recommendation. Your letter of recommendation should aim to be from an academic referee like a professor or from someone else in a position to fairly assess your character.
The Emery Reddy legal studies scholarship program is solely merit-based and open to applicants across the United States. The selected successful applicant will receive a scholarship amounting to $2,000 while the unsuccessful applicant will receive no correspondence notifying them of either positive or unsuccessful outcome.
Application Tips
When we read applications, we do not just consider the numbers – grades, LSAT scores, etc. We also look at your leadership skills, work experience, volunteer efforts, and the quality of your personal statement, essays, and letters of recommendation. We want to get a feel for how you conduct yourself and how you tend to act in various situations. Here are my thoughts on these various components of the LSAT scholarship application.
Personal Statement: On an exam test, such as the LSAT, you want to focus on getting the right answer. On an application, you have an opportunity to showcase your personality through writing. From the first moment I pick up a personal statement, I can usually tell if it will be a good one, based on the first sentences you have written. You want to grab the reader’s attention from the start, keeping in mind that she will have several dozen, if not more, applications to read. Don’t waste this chance on something so mundane as providing a list of accomplishments for the reader to peruse. Instead, use this opportunity to tell us something about yourself. Do not include sentimental platitudes, such as your "life-long dream" and statements like, "that’s why I’m applying to your scholarship," or "that’s why I want to go to law school." We assume you are applying for our scholarship because that is what the application is all about! We want you to be sincere and reveal some of your personality. Show us how you do things and, most importantly, why. Use interesting examples. At the same time, do not over-write or over-think what you are trying to say. Show us a slice of you, your thoughts, and your opinions. We want to get to know you on paper. And please, keep it to a single page – double spaced.
Essays: Sometimes you will find schools that ask for specific responses to prompts or essays. In many cases, however, the school is primarily interested in assessing your writing skills, and they use these essays to help accomplish that goal. As with the personal statement, give the reader informative, interesting information, keeping in mind that it does not always have to be a story or involve anecdotes. Just show us who you are and why you want to be in law school. Depending on the school, you may be asked to provide one or two essays. Then there are those schools that provide you a list of multiple topics to choose from, and you only need to respond to a handful of prompts from those listed. In that case, pick a topic that best reflects who you are. Again, keep in mind that simple is often better, keeping it to a single page double-spaced. The goal is to be concise and informative .
Letters of Recommendation: If a school asks for letters of recommendation, generally it is looking for one or two letters. Candidly, schools rarely follow up on a recommendation, so it does not have to be from your mother or even your boss. Again, the objective is to find another human being to tell the school about you and your character. We want to hear from people who know you well. Who has worked with you? You want to give whoever is writing your letter plenty of room to make the case for you, so in this respect do not tell them what to say. Instead, talk to the person you’d like to act as your recommender about what the school wants. For instance, if the school wants to get a sense of your intellectual abilities when it comes to the study of law while in school (such as your success in a reading, writing, and analytical based environment) then we suggest you ask a professor. If the school is looking for an assessment of your professional activities, whether volunteering or as a job, or both, it is important to choose someone who works with you now or has worked with you and knows you well. Professionals do not have the time to come up with novel and touching stories about you, and sometimes they do not even know you well enough to even give accurate details of any kind. That’s okay; unless you have had a very long-term job, or a very special one, you probably don’t expect someone to write a term paper about you. Instead of trying to guide the writer, give her some ideas about what the school expects. If it is an employer, give your recommendation writer a copy of your resume and the description of the work you did in your position. For a professor, help him/her to get a sense of your character and personality. Generally, it is best to have a reasonable number of letters rather than tons of the same, and it is also best to keep in mind that we will read them all. It is rare that we will be impressed by just one letter, but if we have two or three great letters, that should be more than sufficient to impress us. Finally, don’t be alarmed if we don’t get all of your letters right away. Sometimes, for whatever reason, a school may not receive everything submitted about you simultaneously – we’ve noticed that, too. Also, please don’t contact us to ask whether we’ve received everything we need. To save everyone some effort, we review what has been submitted before moving on to the next scholarship applicant. If we see anything missing, we will follow up with either you or the school. Otherwise, we will get back to you with our decision about the scholarship based on everything we are able to read.
The Benefits of Receiving the Scholarship
The Impact of Receiving the Emery Reddy Legal Studies Scholarship
Being awarded a scholarship can be a central part of your academic journey. In addition to the financial assistance that they bring, they can also serve as a valuable networking tool and an asset for building stronger relationships with classmates and other members of your academic community. Read on for a snapshot of some of the ways in which receiving the Emery Reddy Legal Studies Scholarship can impact your career. Significant Financial Assistance The most obvious benefit of earning the Emery Reddy Legal Studies Scholarship is the monetary award of $1,000 that can be used toward tuition, books, and other related expenses. This can increase your financial comfort on campus and allow you to devote more of your attention to academics rather than worrying about finances. Networking Opportunities and New Connections Once you have won the scholarship, you will be in contact with Professor Emery and Attorney Nathan Christian. They can help you to explore possible career paths, connect with potential mentorship opportunities, and even secure internships once you are ready to graduate. Valuable Experience for Your Resume Scholarships are a great way to differentiate yourself from the competition. Once you have been awarded the Emery Reddy Legal Studies Scholarship, you can include it on your resume and use it to impress potential employers. This could help you to secure jobs and promotions after graduation. A Great Way to Build Stronger Relationships With Fellow Students and Faculty Scholarships can help you to form relationships with other students and faculty members. Connecting with others on campus can help you to build a strong support group that you can turn to for academic and personal support throughout your education. Investing in Your Future Winning the Emery Reddy Legal Studies Scholarship is an important step on your educational journey. With the right approach, it can help you to maximize your time and get even more out of your experience.
Previous and Current Recipient Success Stories
The selection committee for the Emery Reddy Legal Studies Scholarship reads through a multitude of applications every year, many laden with personal stories of triumph and challenge. From this pile of hope and experience comes a select few who are awarded the honor of receiving our merit-based scholarship, but all of them inspire us with their achievements both in and out of the classroom. The following is just a small sampling of the incredible students we have met through our program.
Danielle H., a past recipient of the Emery Reddy Legal Studies Scholarship, was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, the youngest of three children. She has always made academics a priority, though as the result of her single mother’s identity theft, Danielle was denied student loans or any other aid to make college an option. Nevertheless, she graduated from the University of Arizona with honors and a degree in Management Information Systems, pursuing stacks of part-time jobs in the IT field while attending school.
Though she was used to managing heavy workloads and long hours, she got pregnant with twins during her last year of school and endured a complicated and painful delivery. However, instead of determent, these struggles seemed to have contributed to the resilience and motivation that lead to her acceptance into Gonzaga University School of Law in Spokane, Washington .
With a goal of ultimately being a voice for people who cannot afford an attorney, Danielle is also concurrently obtaining her Master’s in Business Administration at the University of Washington Bothell in order to earn her CPA and be an asset to a tax law firm. In addition to her graduate education, Danielle has taken on ambitious leadership roles at law school, including as the treasurer of the Hispanic Law Student Association. Along with her husband, she serves as the treasurer on the Board of Directors of the PTA at her children’s school.
As an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy, Angela K. has long had a passion for writing and will begin law school at Seattle University School of Law this year. Albeit the field has shifted much over the years, Danielle still loves to write stories based on her favorite genres, and even though she has yet to determine what type of law she wants to practice, she hopes to make some of her writings into a career. Angela has also organized book clubs, and journals and is very active in her church community.
While attending the University of Washington, Angela earned a high GPA, gave birth to her daughter Naomi, held a demanding job and became a foster parent – providing a home for two other baby girls. As she juggled all of these things, Angela also spent her free time volunteering for various causes, including at a local hospital, homeless shelters, and at her family’s house of worship in Ravenna.
All of our past recipients have inspiring stories, and we hope to continue being able to serve the community with the help of students like these.