​

Undergrad

-Take courses/pursue internships that help refine your professional interests, whether legal or otherwise. While coursework/internships within or adjacent to the legal profession may be helpful, they are NOT prerequisites to succeed in law school, or to compose a successful application package. To be clear, there are NO prerequisite courses for law school, nor do law schools prefer students with a given academic/professional background. Your classmates' backgrounds will range from the very prototypical (polisci major -> paralegal -> law school) to the atypical (physics major -> engineer -> law school), to everything in between. With that said, taking classes with large amounts of dense reading (e.g., political theory classes, pre-law classes) that also incorporate socratic discussion, will offer a halfway decent law school imitation. 

 

-If you plan to go to law school directly from undergrad, begin developing a plan to take the LSAT as early as is feasible (e.g., the fall of your junior year). Provide yourself enough runway such that even if your first LSAT score isn't what you'd hoped, you have enough time to retake it at least once, and ideally twice.

 

-ALL prospective applicants should focus on developing strong relationships with faculty, whether through coursework/office hours, directed research, or other means, so that they can write powerful, personalized recommendation letters. This also extends to bosses/supervisors at summer internships. Most schools permit between two and four recommendation letters, and ALL require a minimum of two. We recommend sourcing two letters from trusted faculty, and one from a supervisor/boss that you worked closely with in a professional setting. 

​

So You've Decided to Apply

-Having decided to apply to law school, you'll have to compile an application package. This includes, but isn't limited to (blog posts on each element forthcoming):

​

- Personal Statement Essay

- Supplemental Essays

- LSAT

- Resume

- Letters of Recommendation

- Transcript(s) (for some schools, this includes transcripts from study abroad program(s))

- Other miscellaneous information required by LSAC (e.g. demographic/background info)

​

When Should I Apply?

-The majority of law school applications open on September 1st. Timing becomes an important element, since admissions are rolling at most law schools. As time passes, classes fill up and available scholarship money dwindles. It behooves all applicants to apply early on in the cycle, so long as their materials are entirely ready for review by admissions committees. Conventional wisdom is that there is no disadvantage in submitting one's application by late October/early November, but anything afterwards becomes a bit murkier. So, apply early in the cycle!

​

Once I Apply, What Do I Do?

-Once your application is submitted (hopefully early in the cycle!) there's not much to do until decisions come back. On that point, decisions come out in waves; even if you know someone, or see individuals online who received acceptances, don't get discouraged if you've yet to hear back on your application. Once you do hear back, and assuming you receive acceptances from more than one school, you should develop a strategic plan for scholarship negotiations (longer blog post coming soon on this topic). Beyond scholarship negotiations, you should also attend admitted student events (classes, campus tours, meetings with professors, luncheons, etc) to get a feel for the institution, its classroom environment(s), and the types of students and professors it attracts.

​

Decision Time!

-Ultimately, you'll have to choose one school to attend. Speak to family, friends, career counselors, professional mentors, professors, and anyone else that might offer valuable input. Still, at the end of the day, it's your choice. Factors we recommend considering include: Region (important, especially if you'd like to practice law in a niche region), urban vs. rural campus, faculty, employment outcomes, cost of attendance/scholarship, strength in certain subject areas, and proximity to family and friends.

​