Nine Steps For Submitting Your Law School Application
Nine Steps For Submitting Your Law School Application
Submitting your law school application can feel like a daunting process. Most students spend the months or even close to a year preparing all of the necessary documents. However, it doesn’t need to be overly complicated.
Nine Steps For Submitting Your Law School Application
1. Make an LSAC account.
- Explore the LSAC resources available to applicants
- Sign up for a law forum to meet and learn from admissions professionals
- Sign up to take the LSAT
- Learn LSAC’s role in the law school admissions process and how to best utilize all of their resources.2.
2. Study for the LSAT.
- Purchase books, courses or tutoring sessions.
- Give yourself plenty of time to study for the LSAT.
- Take many practice tests to build your endurance.
- Sign up for one-on-one tutoring sessions to complement your studies and learn from tutors who scored in the 90th percentile and above on the LSAT.
3. Take the LSAT and wait for the results.
- Results are typically released 3 weeks after your exam.
- If you don’t feel great about your performance, you can sign up for a second LSAT exam in the next few months or cancel your results if necessary.
4. Research law schools.
- There are many factors to consider when applying to law school so you must do your research.
- Consider things such as: chance of admission, academic offerings, location, size of program, cost of attendance, job placement, bar passage, among many others.
- The research component includes visiting the law school in-person, sitting in on a 1L class, and meeting with an admissions office at that school. This can be done either before or after you are admitted. Check out these tips on what to do during 1L class visit.
5. Utilize Credential Assembly Services (CAS) through LSAC.org.
- Most ABA-approved law schools require that you participate in CAS when applying to law school.
- CAS offers services to applicants that streamline the application process. It bundles your transcript, letters of recommendation, LSAT and other documents so that you upload them only once. You can then submit them to all your targeted law schools.
- CAS offers reports to law schools with academic summaries based on your grades, major, LSAT score and how other law school applicants at your same school performed.
6. Compile application components.
- This is a big step but condensed into one. It is the administrative task of collecting and polishing all of your finished documents.
- This includes: personal statement, letters of recommendation, transcripts, optional essays, character and fitness addendums, LSAT score, and resume. Every law school is different so be sure to submit everything that is requested.
7. Apply!
- LSAC.org hosts all law school applications.
- Many law school applications have fees. Be aware of the full cost of applying to law school. Be sure to seek out fee waivers from the individual schools.
- LSAC also has fees associated with applying. While fee waivers also exist, you must show financial hardship for LSAC waivers. Budget accordingly!
- Applications typically open in September and October and close beginning in February through July.
- Most law schools employ rolling admissions so it’s beneficial to apply early.
- Be aware of binding early decision deadlines at your dream schools. These usually fall between October and December.
8. Wait for decisions.
- The waiting period can be the worst part of the application process for most applicants.
- Decisions are released anytime from October-August, with the majority of decisions being handed out beginning in January.
- Know that you can track your application status via an online status checker in your application. Admissions office often update your admissions status application first online.
- Most schools send out decisions electronically, and if admitted they’ll often also send out hard copy letters (though every school is different).
- Check out our post in the National Jurist on tips on what to do after submitting your application.
9. Celebrate!
- Congratulations, you’re finally admitted to law school! This is technically the last step in the process of submitting your application but the work is not over yet.
- Learn about what you should do after you’ve been admitted to law school, including attending admitted student events, paying your deposits and negotiating scholarships!
These 9 steps for submitting your law school application are a quick breakdown of the process. Each element contains a lot of legwork on the part of the applicant and can take months to complete. For more detailed posts on each of these steps, check out our prelaw blog.
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