USC Law School is proud to have some of the nation's brightest and most promising future lawyers studying law here. We are privileged to have two second year students, Nate Madsen and Erin Lapping, to work in the Admissions Office as Student Ambassadors. Both lead very busy lives inside and outside the classroom as you can see from their profiles below, but love sharing their law school experiences with prospects and admitted students. They welcome your questions at their email address.

Erin Lapping - Class of 2009

Stanford University, Class of 2003

My name is Erin Lapping and I am in my second year at USC Law. I grew up in San Francisco and attended Stanford University where I majored in Philosophy. After college, I moved back to San Francisco and worked for a small start-up private high school. Although working for a school was one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life, I felt the call of law tugging at me the whole time. My dad is an attorney and, having grown up surrounded by his colleagues, shelving books in his law firm's library, and serving drinks at his summer associate parties, I knew that I would feel most at home in the legal profession.

I entered law school hoping to become a litigator. Last semester, however, I took Business Organizations - a class that I was told everyone should take at some point in law school, but which I had no expectation of enjoying. In fact, I fell in love with the class and now have decided to practice transactional law. This semester I am taking Partnerships and LLCs, Tax, Corporate Finance, and, to stay true to my undergrad roots, a small seminar on Law and Philosophy. Next year I hope to participate in the Small Business Clinic.

I love USC because its small size, brilliant professors, intelligent students, non-competitive atmosphere, and sunny location have really allowed me to thrive as a law student and as a person. I was lucky to receive a USC Summer Fellowship and spent my first summer working for a law firm in Century City. There I discovered how well just one year of USC Law had prepared me for firm work. I hate to admit it, but the 1L writing class - which I often cursed as I stayed up late on Sunday nights hammering out memos and appellate briefs - actually provided me with invaluable skills which I used every day.

Furthermore, I have been able to explore my many interests through USC's countless student organizations: I serve on the boards of both the Environmental Law Society and the Real Estate Law Society, and I volunteer in the admissions office. I am also a member of the Southern California Law Review and am writing my student note on the Constitutional issues of interstate wine shipments. Last year, through USC's Public Interest Law Foundation, I volunteered for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network and helped inmates at the Lancaster Immigration Prison fill out asylum applications.

But most importantly, I have learned so much here. Law is a unique subject that requires a unique way of looking at the world. Our professors are not only masters of their respective areas of law, but experts in making us think like legal scholars. My classmates are equally impressive. I was nervous that leaving liberal San Francisco for sunny Southern California would mean a drop in the intellectual fervor of the student body. But this has not been the case at all. My classmates are as passionate as I am about grasping legal issues, excelling academically, and applying our skills through public service.

So I hope that you will consider stopping by, taking a tour, sitting in on a class, and seeing all that USC has to offer. If you have any questions in the mean time, feel free to email me: ambassador2@law.usc.edu. Best of luck and I hope to see you here soon!

Nate Madsen - Class of 2009

University of California, Davis, Class of 2005

My name is Nate Madsen and I am a second year student at USC Law. My primary interests are in public interest law, particularly in the areas of housing and redevelopment. I grew up in a tiny farming town in Northern California and did my undergraduate studies at the University of California at Davis. At UC Davis, I earned a B.A. in English and Political Science with a minor in Film Studies. After graduating, I took a year off of school before starting law school to work in special education at the junior high level.

During my year off, I mentally prepared myself for the worst as a future law student. I had heard horror stories from about law students having no life outside the library, putting all interests on hold, and living in a state of constant competition. Because I knew this wasn't the kind of life I wanted, I decided I would only attend a school where I thought I could be happy as well as academically challenged.

When I visited USC Law, I immediately had the feeling that this was not the kind of school described in the stories about law school that had worried me. The students were very friendly and approachable. Despite being in an environment full of highly intelligent and successful students, I didn't get the sense that competition and antagonism were part of culture of the school. Current students I met with talked about the willingness of their peers to help them out in their studies and the close friends they had made both inside and outside of the classroom.

In the end, I chose USC Law because of its stellar reputation, its challenging academic atmosphere, and most of all the friendly attitude of the students and faculty. Having spent the last year and a half here, I am happy to say that USC Law has proved to be everything that I anticipated. The small school environment and the sociable atmosphere have given me the opportunity to develop relationships with both my fellow students and many faculty members. While law school has proved to be very rigorous and demanding, I have been able to maintain a social life and have found time to keep doing the activities outside of school that are such important parts of who I am.

I highly recommend that anyone considering USC Law take the time to visit the campus to see firsthand the atmosphere and evaluate whether you think it would be a good fit for you. If you cannot visit the campus, feel free to email me and I will give you honest answers to any of your questions about USC Law or law school in general. My email address is ambassador@law.usc.edu. Good luck with your decision about where to attend!