1. +
Your Ticket to
Law School Admissions

2. +
General Outline
 Timeline for application process
 Choosing a law school
 Letters of recommendation
 Personal statement

3. +
Timeline - Junior Year
 March
 Register and prepare for the June LSAT
 Discuss your plans with a pre-law advisor
 Create a list of faculty for recommendation letters
 June
 Take the LSAT exam
 Prepare a draft of your personal statement and have it reviewed by
a pre-law advisor and others
 Prepare a draft of your resume

4. +
Timeline – Junior Year cont.
 July – August
 Create a list of law schools that you plan on applying to
 Register with the Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS)
 Have your college transcripts sent to the LSDAS
 Request information from law schools and schedule a visit
 Register and prepare for the September LSAT (if necessary)

5. +
Timeline – Senior Year
 September
 Take the September LSAT (if necessary)
 Order the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) catalog and
application or complete an electronic version
 Ask faculty for letters of recommendation
 Request financial aid information
 Continue to visit law schools

6. +
Timeline – Senior Year cont.
 October
 Finalize your personal statement
 Collect letters of recommendation
 Complete LSDAS report
 Begin sending completed law school applications
THE EARLIER YOU APPLY, THE BETTER YOUR
CHANCES OF BEING ACCEPTED!!

7. +
Timeline – Senior Year cont.
 November
 Send last batch of completed applications to law schools
 Obtain applications for financial aid (federal and private), e.g.
FAFSA
 December
 Contact law schools to confirm the completion of your applications
 Relax and enjoy the holidays

8. +
Timeline – Senior Year cont.
 January
 Have an updated transcript sent to law schools and LSDAS
 Submit completed financial aid forms
 February – April
 Evaluate offers of acceptance
 Evaluate financial aid offers
 Submit an acceptance letter to the Law School of your choice
 Submit rejections letters to the schools that you will not attend

9. +
What Kind of Law School
Do I Want to Attend?
 Geographic considerations
 Special programs (i.e. clinics, field placements)
 School setting (i.e. class size, diversity, scholars on faculty)
 Job placement and bar passage rate
 Cost of attendance and financial aid
 Your stats – GPA, LSAT, work experience, etc.

10. +
Who Should Recommend Me?
 Think about the classes you took and your performance in
those classes
 Letters should come from professors whose class you excelled
in
 Consider professors who taught you in seminars or small
lecture classes
 Classes with a heavy emphasis on reading, writing, and/or
critical thinking and analysis

11. +
How Do I Go About Getting a
Recommendation Letter?
 Participate in class discussions
 Go to office hours
 Do an independent study
 KEEP IN TOUCH!

12. +
Content of
Letters of Recommendation
 Comment on your character
 Positively discuss your intellectual abilities
 Describe course load or work product
 Comparative in nature

13. +
The Personal Statement:
What is it?
 A short writing piece that tells a story
 Gives you the opportunity to sell yourself in the application
process
 Helps the admissions committee see you beyond your
numerical stats
 Displays your personality and experiences

14. +
The Personal Statement:
What Should it Say About Me?
 Concrete examples of your character
 Personalize as much as possible
 Specific details of your experience
 Write about aspects of yourself that readers can’t get from
other parts of your application
 BE CREATIVE!

15. +
QUESTIONS?