Application Components
Law schools are looking for smart, interesting students to fill their classrooms. They are going to search through your application file for evidence of what you will be like as a student and as a member of their student body. They will look to your undergraduate and / or graduate school grades and LSAT score as predictors of your success in law school. If your grades or scores are not predictive (personal or family health issues, work hours, care of dependents or loved ones, or simple immaturity at the beginning of your college career), be prepared to include an addendum explaining why your grades or LSAT score are not indicative of your true ability. Admissions committees will also look at your letters of recommendation, your personal statement and your resume to see how you will fit into their community: Are you able to engage in respectful and intelligent classroom discussion? Do you show initiative? Are you a leader?
Paper vs. Online
Most law schools accept online applications and many prefer to receive their applications that way. You should use whatever method is most comfortable and convenient for you. However, you should also be aware that some schools waive the application fee for online applications, and that you can save a considerable amount of time completing your applications by using the common information form on online application sites.
LSDAS
Almost all law schools require the use of the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS). The LSDAS will take your transcripts (from each and every higher education institution you attended), analyze them and provide standardized statistical information about your academic record to all of the law schools to which you are applying. The LSDAS can also serve as a central clearinghouse for your letters of recommendation, allowing your recommenders to only have to write and send one letter. Once you sign up for LSDAS and send them your information, you can monitor your account’s status on LSAC’s website.
Your Resume
While you should never answer questions about your work experience or extracurricular activities with “see resume,” most schools will accept a resume as an addendum. It can be a useful tool to showcase your work experience or extracurricular activities and to highlight any special honors or scholarships you have received. Consider creating a resume your freshman or sophomore year and then adding your accomplishments and experience to it as needed.
Personal Statements, Optional Essays and Addenda
The personal statement is your chance to show the committee who you are outside of the raw data of your application. It is a chance to inject some personality (your actual personality, not what you believe an admissions committee wants to see) into your application; don't simply rewrite your resume into prose form or reiterate everything that is already in your application. Your personal statement should show admissions committees what you will bring to theirx student body. It should also show them that you are able to convey your thoughts concisely, maturely and persuasively.
Letters of Recommendation
Law schools use letters of recommendation to get some idea of your academic skills, work habits, analytical ability and character. For applicants who have been out of college for less than five years, an academic recommendation is absolutely necessary. Seek out recommenders who have had the opportunity to observe and evaluate your work and, ideally, have taught you in at least one upper-level class. Give them plenty of time to write the letters of recommendation and give them plenty of information about you so they can write the strongest possible letter.
Ideally, you should meet with the professor in person to ask if they would feel comfortable writing a strong letter of recommendation for you. If he or she agrees, give them a packet with your personal statement (or at the very least an outline or abstract), a copy of your transcript, your resume and, if possible, a copy of your best work in his or her class. You should also include stamped, addressed envelopes (addressed either to LSDAS or the individual school to which the letter will be sent) and your signed waiver forms. Give them a timeframe in which the letter should be sent, and then politely follow up as the deadline approaches. For non-academic recommenders, you can follow the same format for the packet, but with the classwork omitted.
Once your letters are received by LSDAS or the law schools, be sure to thank your recommenders in writing.
Dean's Certifications
Some law schools require a copy of your undergraduate disciplinary record from the Dean of Students. Please send all requests and forms for Dean’s Certifications to the Dean of Students, not the undergraduate dean or the assistant deans of various programs.
The Application Process
You should begin by first registering for the LSAT and LSDAS. Once
you have done that, be sure to send transcripts from all of the undergraduate
institutions you have attended so LSDAS can process them and produce your
Academic Report Summary. If you choose to have your letters of recommendation
sent through LSDAS, you should have your recommenders submit their letters
to LSAC. Make sure before you apply that your LSAC account is updated
and that you have paid for the necessary number of LSAC reports (one for
each school to which you are applying)
Once you submit your applications to
the schools, they will then begin their own internal processing of your
application. Your data will
be entered and your LSDAS report will be ordered. Many schools do
not begin reviewing an application until it is complete – for most
schools, that means the application itself, an application fee or waiver,
a personal statement and any other required essays, a letter or letters
of recommendation (your letter(s) of recommendation may come directly from
the school or be sent with your LSDAS report) and your LSAT score. To
ensure that all of your application components stay together, be sure to
put your name and LSAC number or Social Security number on all pages of
your application.
The timeline for all of this varies according to each school’s internal
process, but a school should typically order your LSDAS report within about
two weeks after receiving your application (You can monitor which schools
have ordered LSDAS reports for you through your LSAC account). Depending
on whether the schools receive LSDAS reports electronically or through
the mail, it may take another week or so for the LSDAS report to arrive
at the school and be matched up to your application. Many schools
will send you an email or letter letting you know that your file is complete
and ready for review. If you don’t receive this sort of confirmation
within about a month of submitting your application, you can call the school
to see if there is a problem with your application.
There is unfortunately
no way to predict when you will receive a decision (unless you applied
under an early action or early decision program) and calling over and over
to check your file’s status is only going to
serve to frustrate you and annoy the schools that you are calling. If
you are up against a deposit deadline for another school and still haven’t
heard from your top choice, you can call and let them know your situation.