Demonstrating interest in law schools can make a lasting impression. Attending open house events, shadow days and meeting admissions representatives are all great ways to demonstrate this desire.
Admissions committees consider improvements in GPA over time and high-quality course work and writing as indicators of readiness to pursue legal studies. Professors should be chosen as letters of recommendation as they understand the rigors associated with studying law.
Personal Statement
Personal statements are one of the cornerstones of an application process. Admissions committees use them to learn more about who you are as an individual and why you wish to study law – this essay could make or break your application!
Have courage in taking risks when writing your personal statement. Be bold enough to discuss an overwhelming obstacle you overcame or failure that led to you revalorising your goals, or something special about you that sets you apart from other applicants, such as an uncommon hobby, unanticipated achievement or unique background features.
Be sure to read each school’s personal statement prompt and formatting instructions carefully before writing your personal statement. Some schools may ask for an anecdote related to their mission or values while others might inquire into how your legal education will benefit society. Avoid using cliched statements like wanting to “save the world”, as this approach is less impactful and overused. Instead, focus on specific ways your law degree will benefit people directly.
Letters of Recommendation
Letters of recommendation are required by most law schools and are an integral component of an application. Admissions officers look for strong academic letters from professors that demonstrate an applicant is an exceptional student who would thrive at law school, as well as diverse professional experience that indicates they possess a range of skills and interests.
Make sure your recommenders understand why you wish to attend law school and can support this decision. Meeting in person with them, especially if they’re unfamiliar with you and providing copies of your resume and any relevant projects or publications may help – ask politely if anything else needs doing from you and request they submit their letters by a certain date.
Many applicants opt to forgo their right to view their letters, as this ensures the admissions officer that it was written without bias from within or any direct influence from the applicant.
LSAC Application
When applying to law schools, almost every admissions office requires you to use the Law School Admission Council’s Credential Assembly Service (LSAC). LSAC acts as a clearinghouse that collects your application materials such as transcripts and letters of recommendation before packaging them up into files for each of the schools you are applying to.
LSAC will evaluate all of your undergraduate-level grades and courses taken since high school – even those from high school – using its GPA calculator and recalculate your GPA accordingly. While colleges require higher GPAs from applicants for admission purposes, you may wish for your LSAC GPA to be lower as some look for more balanced applicants.
Your LSAC application will include all of your standardized test scores, such as LSAT. If you took TOEFL or IELTS to demonstrate English proficiency, those scores will also be included in your file. Finally, your application will contain letters of recommendation as well as any addenda you submit as needed.
LSAT
The LSAT is an integral component of law school admissions. Administered seven times each year by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC), this standardized examination measures your ability to understand legal reasoning and reading comprehension problems, with 35 scored questions and one experimental section over half a day.
An LSAT score is absolutely essential if you intend to attend law school in the US in pursuit of either a Juris Doctor degree or its equivalent, the LL.B (Legum Baccalaureus). AccessLex research suggests that its use as an admissions factor contributes to black aspiring lawyers being accepted at lower rates than their white peers into legal studies programs.
An LSAT exam should also be taken early enough that your score can be made available by the application deadline for law school, usually November or December. Some schools offer reduced application fees for early decision applicants while other may not admit you without providing an LSAT score.
