Scholars Program Description
The DAPP Scholars Program is an intensive, year-long program designed to prepare diverse, first-year law students for career-building summer internships at large law firms or other prestigious legal institutions during the summer after their 1L year. The program originated and opened to full-time, first-year law students in the greater Chicago area. Beginning with our seventh class, in the 2020-2021 school year, the DAPP Scholars Program will be NATIONAL! Our goal is to address the lack of diversity in big law by infusing the pipeline with highly-qualified, diverse law students who have undergone intensive training and professional development. Participating students will gain invaluable legal experience from paid legal internships (subject to availability) during the summer after successful completion of their 1L year.
DAPP is dedicated to providing a strong academic and professional foundation for those populations who have the most barriers to accessing prestigious positions in big law. DAPP provides scholars with internship and externship placement, academic support, coaching, counseling, financial assistance, tutoring, seminars and workshops, professional development, mentorship, and more. The long-term goal of the intensive program is to develop and prepare the next generation of diverse attorneys to enter and remain in the pipeline while giving them the tools, network, and community of supporters to help them succeed.
When operating locally, the scholars attend weekly sessions that consist of everything from teaching legal writing concepts, drilling black letter law, reviewing multiple choice and practice essay questions, and cultivating high-quality resume writing, interviewing and professional development skills. The National Scholars Program will operate on a similar schedule. The goal of this academic support is to defy the correlation between lower LSAT scores and class rank.
The program model also pairs law students with law school and attorney mentors who serve as resources to the scholars. Mentors assist DAPP scholars with the transition to law school, developing time-management skills and understanding substantive content. The peer-to-peer and attorney mentoring relationships are critical to the DAPP scholars’ success because they begin building professional networks and relationships well before they begin practicing law and in turn have more access to opportunities, resources, and other intangibles that set them up for success.
Empowerment is a large component of the program, and DAPP scholars are empowered to tackle law school and the legal profession despite the statistics. DAPP scholars are also required to take an active role in diversity efforts by volunteering with the program, speaking to pre-law students at their respective high schools and colleges, and mentoring other women at their law schools.
Eligibility Requirements
Required Application Documents Selection Criteria Student Commitment Program Benefits