Each law school has different deadlines for different types of law programs. Many law schools are on a rolling admission basis, which means available seats in the first-year class are reduced in number as accepted applicants fill them, a process that favors applying early.
In general, students should begin to research law schools and learn about the law school admission process at least a full year to eighteen months before the law school’s fall admission deadline. A good rule of thumb is to begin the application process no later than January of your junior year to be in a position to apply no later than October of your senior year.
Before starting the admissions process, understand the full range of fees and fee waivers that are charged for the services provided by the entities that process your applications and send them to law school. Attending law school is an expensive career investment, so knowing how you are going to pay for it, and how to manage student loan debt wisely (as the Young Lawyers Section of the ABA suggests), are perhaps the most critical decisions to make before you decide to apply for law school. Also, for a variety of reasons it may be wise to consider taking some time off before attending law school. While many students apply to law school shortly after graduating from college, the ABA reports in its 2021 Profile of the Legal Profession that a majority opt to defer the application process, which enables the mind and body to "reset" and/or save up some money, and both of those reasons may pay long-term dividends before making the firm decision to take on a rigorous law school education right away.
The Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) and the American Bar Association (ABA) have several tools to research law schools, including:
- Find Law Schools
Use to discover U.S. or foreign law schools, their ABA-or not accreditation status, and what types of law programs they offer - Law School Forums and Fairs
Use these free forums and fairs to connect directly with law school representatives throughout the nation, to attend exclusive workshops run by law school admission and financial aid experts, and to get important information or answers to questions you may have about law schools and the admission process - Official Guide to ABA-approved JD Programs
Use UGPA/LSAT Search boxes to determine likelihood of admission based on actual/hypothetical UGPA and LSAT score - Standard 509 Information Reports
Use to learn about admissions, financial aid, enrollment data [GPA/LSAT, acceptance and/or attrition rates], incoming class demographics, tuition rates, the cost of attendance, grants and scholarships, curricular offerings, faculty resources, and academic calendar - Employment Summary Reports
Use to discover law graduate employment data - Bar Passage Outcomes
Use to identify bar passage outcomes for first-time and repeat takers
In researching law schools, students must consider the law school's location, what law programs they offer, how much it will cost to go to go to law schools, where they might want to pass the bar, and whether law schools are successful in creating job opportunities for their graduates. The LSAC has information on how to pay for law school, including taking out student loans and getting scholarships, and an organization first founded as a non-profit, Law School Transparency, is a comprehensive resource for discovering answers on all of these topics.