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Law School Application Process Each school has its own idiosyncratic application form. The first thing to do is to read the application materials carefully. Then follow the directions. Your application will include: The application form Plan to complete your applications as soon as possible. For the best chance of admission to the schools of your choice, December 1st is the latest we recommend sending out your applications. Please visit the Pre-Law blog for a regularly updated application timeline and checklist. Most law schools review applications on a rolling admissions basis beginning in mid-Autumn. It is to your advantage to be considered early before the incoming class begins filling up. Many schools have largely filled their class by the time their actual deadline rolls around in late winter. Even if you are passed over in the first review, your file will still be considered a second or third time unless it is a clear-cut rejection. Admission rates are significantly higher for those who apply in the fall than for those who apply in the winter. Your application is not complete until the law school receives all requested information, including letters of recommendation and the Dean's Certification letter (if needed). Make sure you speak to your recommenders well in advance of the application deadlines, and that you register with LSDAS early. If you take the LSAT in December, plan to submit your applications immediately after receiving your scores. Each school has its own application form, and they are usually available in August for admission for the following year (i.e., available August 2006 for admission in Fall 2007). Every school now makes available an online application through LSAC/LSDAS; all encourage online applications, and some schools require it. You have free access to the online applications and the LSAC software as part of your LSDAS registration. While paper applications are still available at some schools (usually for download from their websites, or as part of their catalogs), it's hard to imagine why you would want to apply in that manner any more. Online applications are much easier to complete, easier to submit, and simply look nicer. Schools will likely move to an all-electronic application process in the next several years. The online application software asks you to first fill out a Common Information questionnaire, which will ask all the basic questions that appear on each individual application. That information is then plugged into the individual applications, and you are allowed to edit those, add or subtract information, and fill in remaining blanks. As you work on the applications, you can periodically save them to the LSAC server before eventually transmitting them to the law schools. You may also print out the entire completed application or individual pages. Online applications are relatively new, and only became essentially universal during the 2005-2006 admission season. The user interface is not always as self-explanatory as you'd like. Accordingly, it is strongly recommended that you check out the LSDAS online demo video and FAQ page before starting to fill out your applications. These will give you a detailed overview of the process, and greatly reduce your stress and confusion. If you choose to fill out one or more applications offline, most schools will let you download a .pdf file with the forms. You will then fill them out and mail them. You can also call, email or write the Admissions Office and ask them to send you the application. Try to find a typewriter rather than filling them in by hand. You really want the admission committees to focus on substance and not on deciphering your handwriting. However you apply, make sure you fill out the forms completely and honestly. Be sure to read carefully the directions for each school's application and follow them slavishly. Odd as it seems, the ability to follow directions well is a key skill in law school and beyond. You may feel that some of the questions ask for information that is confidential or under court seal. It doesn’t matter. You must disclose all requested information. In some states, your law school application is sent to the character committee when you apply for admission to the bar. If the information on your bar application and law school application is inconsistent or contradictory, you will be asked for an explanation. (For additional information on answering questions regarding your disciplinary and/or criminal record, please click here.) If any significant information changes during the course of the admission process, you must notify every law school where your application is still pending. If you run out of room answering any question on the form, attach
an additional page. Be sure to put your name and Social Security
number or LSAC identification number on any attachments and indicate
which question you are supplementing. After your LSAT and GPA, your personal statement is the most important part of your law school applications. You should plan to spend a significant amount of time on it. While every personal statement is, by its nature, different, there are a few basic points to keep in mind as you write. The overarching principle is simple: Consider your audience. Admissions officials read every single personal statement they receive. At some schools, this literally means that one person is reading hundreds or thousands of essays; at others, the committees split up the stack. Either way, your statement is one of a very large number the reader will be reviewing, perhaps late into the night. Here’s another important thing to know about admissions officials: they are the idealists in the process. Admissions officials really do want to create an interesting and diverse incoming class. They know how much students learn from one another during the three years of law school, and deeply appreciate the value of having a range of different experiences, backgrounds and perspectives in the law school mix. They also want people who will succeed in law school and beyond, thereby reflecting well on the law school. Your grades and LSAT score have told them about one facet of you. They are eager to round out their view of you with something more meaningful and three-dimensional. And, like most people, they appreciate a well-told story. Keep this picture of the admissions official in mind as you consider the following tips.
What is the quality, trait or background experience that you are trying to convey to the admissions committee? Political engagement? Determination? Compassion for others? Hardworking nature? Ability to overcome adversity? The life lesson that set you on this path to law school? How your race/ethnicity/culture has shaped you? These are some of the most popular themes for law school applications, and they are good ones. Choose one of these, or another, as the backbone of your personal statement. Do not feel that you have to convince the committee that you want to go to law school – the presence of your application in their stack is ample evidence of that desire. Do, however make the explicit connection between your theme and your reason(s) for applying. Show don’t tell This basic principle of good writing is the most important one to follow in drafting your personal statement. Do not make conclusory statements about yourself like, “I’ve always been very hardworking” or “I have the ambition to excel” or “I really want to help people.” Rather, show the reader an example of your hardworking nature – tell the story of how you single-handedly reorganized the stock room into an efficient operation at your otherwise boring summer job. Relate your experiences tutoring underprivileged junior high students. Describe what it was like training for the big game, meet, or event. Don’t write, “I became committed to working in health care law when my grandmother was in the hospital.” Instead, describe your family’s experiences during that time. Get feedback on early drafts Don’t wait until your personal statement is polished and almost ready to submit before you show it to anyone else. Ask friends, family members, professors or the Pre-Law Advisor to review an early draft to make sure you’re on the right track. Prepare to write several drafts Your personal statement is a crucial element of your law school application. It is worth spending a lot of time drafting, honing and polishing. Answer the question(s) asked Each school asks a slightly different question or series of questions for their personal statement. Make sure you are answering the question asked. This may mean making some fairly serious edits to your basic statement for each school. Pay attention to grammar and spelling One purpose of the personal statement is to gauge your writing skills. Bad grammar or misspellings will leap out at the attentive reader and merit an immediate, disdainful circle with a red pen. This is another good reason to prepare multiple drafts and to have others review your work. Make it legible Do not get clever with your margins, font or line-spacing. Use a basic, readable font in a normal size (12 is usually best). Your readers will be expecting one-inch margins and double-spaced lines. If you are going over the two-page limit, then you need to edit your work, not make your font smaller. Small fonts irritate people over 40. Proofread! Look not just for the typos and spelling errors, but also for that bane of personal statements everywhere: the forgotten mention of School A in the statement for School B. This particular error can occur very easily if you are using and editing a boilerplate statement, and it very definitely irks admissions officers. Common errors to avoid Do not use your personal statement to explain a negative GPA or other “bad” information unless it is your central theme (e.g., “flunking out of college was a turning point for me”). Use an addendum for explanations of this sort. Do not write about how fascinating the law is or how you find it intellectually stimulating. Of course it is – the law schools already know that. Do not start off any sentence with “I have always wanted to be a lawyer”. Again, of course you have, or you wouldn’t be applying. Do not write a point-by-point essay on why you'd be a stellar law student or lawyer. That is really not what the admissions committee is looking for. Let your resume and the rest of your application speak to your accomplishments. Do not include meaningful quotations from famous philosophers. Not only is this a very tired ploy, it says nothing about you. Do not get too clever – good writing speaks for itself. You do not need to develop some quirky approach to get your statement read. How can the Pre-Law Advising Office help? Reviewing personal statements is the first priority for the Pre-Law Advising Office in the Fall. Feel free to make an appointment to brainstorm about your theme. Email or drop off a draft for comments. Seek out assistance early in the process -- you don’t want to drop off what you think is a finished product only to hear that it’s way off base. In addition to one-on-one assistance, the Pre-Law Advising Office
offers workshops in the Fall on personal statements. Check out our
blog
for news about upcoming events. Law schools normally ask for two letters of recommendation. The best recommendations come from teachers who know your academic work well and who can evaluate your intellectual capabilities and potential to study law. Try to get at least one letter from a professor in your major. Only if you have been out of school for a substantial period of time should you submit a work-related recommendation in lieu of an academic recommendation. (For more information on recommendations when you have been out of school for a while, see our page on Taking Time Off.) However, you may want to supplement the required number of recommendations with one from an employer or internship supervisor if that person is going to say something significantly different from your academic recommenders. The LSDAS letter of recommendation service has information on the minimum and maximum number of letters each school will accept -- read the directions carefully, and don't exceed the limit. The academic rank and title of the recommender is less important than the quality of the recommendation. Admissions committees are not impressed with letters from famous politicians or judges that are overly effusive and have little content. The admissions committee will wonder why you couldn’t get a recommendation from a teacher who knows your academic work. Meet in person with all potential recommenders. Approach them well in advance of any deadlines. Ask them if they feel they know you well enough, and have a high enough opinion of you to write a positive, contentful letter. Ask if it will assist them in writing the letter if you provide additional information such as your transcript, a draft of your personal statement, a resume, or copies of papers or exams you submitted in their course. Almost all schools ask that you send your recommendations through LSDAS, and all schools allow you to do so. Your recommenders only need to send one signed original to LSAC which will send your letters of recommendation to the schools you apply to. LSAC allows you to designate school-specific letters -- i.e., Prof. A, who also teaches at Law School B, can write you a letter addressed only to that school and you can instruct LSAC accordingly. Be sure to give your recommenders the appropriate LSDAS form. With all recommendations, you will be asked if you waive the right to see the letter. Law schools admissions officials tend to believe that letters are more candid when applicants waive this right. |
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