Applying to Law School
Research Law Schools and Start the Admissions Process Early
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.
Start the Application Process Early
After the law school choices are narrowed down, you should get an overview of the law school application process and know all the various requirements, deadlines and fees for each stage.
A decision also has to be made about how many law schools to apply to in a given admissions cycle. Kent State students typically apply to 5-7 law schools; but some file as few as one but others submit as many as 15. In compiling your final list, consider your UPGA and LSAT results and weigh them with other factors to decide what schools are likely to be "safe" (for admission purposes) choices and those that are less probable, given your research and advisor recommendations. You should apply to schools in which your credentials are comfortably within the median GPA and LSAT scores. In general, it makes sense to apply to scores where the likelihood of admission is over 70 percent or higher, and limit the temptation to send applications to law schools that are unlikely to admit you, like those in the 30 percent range or lower. A simple question to ask is do I fall within a three in ten chance, or a seven in ten chance, of being admitted, given your research. For most students, it is also much cheaper in terms of filing fees to send a reasonable amount of law school applications.
A first step to begin it is to create an LSAC account through the Law School Admissions Council website and review its Infographic. A useful free LSAC service is to let law schools find you, based on specific candidate criteria they are looking for, is to register for the Candidate Referral Service once you create an LSAC account.
From there, register for, and begin to study for taking the Law School Admissions Test and start collecting your law school application materials, including the LSAT score, transcripts, letters of recommendation, resumes, and personal statements. Other material may include (if applicable) Dean's Certifications (an official attestment of good standing and/or no disciplinary actions) and/or other optional essays, including Diversity Statements and/or Addendums (which allow for explanations of a candidate's application if needed, like lower LSAT scores, were put on academic probation, or disciplinary sanctioned, and the like).
Most ABA-approved law schools require students to register with the LSAC’s Candidate Assembly Service (CAS), which collects application materials from each candidate and sends it to all law schools the candidate applies to in a given admission cycle. CAS will generate a law school report that is sent to every law school to which you apply. The report includes transcripts, letters of recommendation, and any other documents required for each of your law school applications.
Once the LSAT is taken, you can expect to receiving your score, which is based on a 120 to 180 scale, about 2 or 3 weeks thereafter (and, after an assessment of average scores for the law school of interest, determine if a re-test is warranted).
Thereafter, use CAS to send law school applications and await receipt of acceptances, putting down seat deposits and, perhaps, negotiating scholarship opportunities if needed (which reduces law school tuition and the like).
Once all these steps are completed, you will be in a position to making your final decision and begin your law school journey!