You should begin to think about the law schools to which you might realistically apply in your junior year. Obviously, your grades and your LSAT score will greatly impact on your ultimate choices. Be honest and reasonable in your self-evaluation. Choose a few schools for which there is a slight chance of admission, and a few to which you are assured acceptance. The majority of your applications should be directed to schools whose admission criteria most reflect your qualifications. A helpful reference is
The Official Guide to U.S. Law Schools (especially the class profile grids) which can be accessed at
www.lsac.org. Based on your GPA and LSAT score, you can get an idea of the likelihood of your acceptance to specific law schools.
Read as much information as possible about the law schools you are considering. Surf the internet:
http://www.yahoo.com/law/ will provide you with an abundance of law informational links, including homepages for most law schools. Another excellent site for general information is
http://www.ilrg.com.
The Law School Admissions Council’s home page also provides an abundance of information about the law school application process and the LSAT.
Other sites that may be of interest to you:
Association of American Law Schools American Association of Law Libraries ABA Approved Law Schools National Association of Law Placement American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar If possible, visit the law schools you are considering. Take the formal tour given by their admissions offices and talk to as many students, faculty and administrators as possible. You should pose questions about the qualifications/strengths of the faculty, faculty student ratio, the library and other physical facilities, curricula, special programs and academic activities, student organizations, career services and employment. You should listen to current students’ conversations; check out the bulletin boards and student meetings areas.
Generally, the earlier the submission of the application, the greater your chances for admission. Almost all law schools have adopted “rolling admission” procedures, which means that applications are considered as received. The most competitive law schools begin to process applications by the beginning of December, and students applying to such schools should plan to have their completed applications on file with law school admissions offices by that time. Applications to most other schools should be completed and mailed no later than the week before the end of fall term break (third week of December). After mailing in your application, you should check to be sure that the application file is complete, including
Letters of Recommendation and
Dean’s Certification (if such a certification is even required.)
Your application is the school's first impression of you, so take care in preparing it. Neatness counts. Most schools have online applications or you can use the
LSDAS. Follow directions carefully, and include all requested information as completely as possible. To avoid making corrections on an application, you may want to copy the forms and fill out the copies first. The
LSDAS on-line applications allows you to fill out multiple applications on your computer.