To paraphrase Charles Dickens: for law school applicants, it is the best of times, and it is the worst of times.<\/em><\/p>\n Over the past couple of years, we have seen a significant increase in the total number of law school applicants. What\u2019s more, the applicant pool has become more and more qualified, with greater numbers achieving higher scores. These trends have caused law school admissions to become more competitive as more applicants fight for very limited space attop law schools.<\/p>\n In addition, the legal profession continues to evolve and jobs across the profession will likely become more and more competitive as greater numbers of law students enter the job market in the coming years. Now, more than ever, gaining admission to a top law school is an important first step on the path toward a successful career as a lawyer.<\/p>\n At Stratus, we have been helping our clients gain admission to the best law schools in the country for more than ten years, and we want to help you do the same. The information that follows will guide you through the entire law school application process, from strategy development to steps to take after submitting your application, and everything in between.<\/p>\n What are law schools looking for?<\/em><\/p>\n Admissions committees are looking for three basic qualities in their candidates:<\/p>\n \u2022 The ability to become a successful law student and lawyer Keep these three qualities in mind as you prepare your application, especially in the brainstorming and strategizing stages, which we will discuss in greater detail below. A powerful application will present these qualities by highlighting elements of the applicant\u2019s profile that speak to strength in each of those qualities.<\/p>\n Application Components<\/em><\/p>\n With a few variations, the law school application process is uniform for every law school. For every school you apply to, you should expect to submit:<\/p>\n \u2022 An LSAT score from a test administered in the past five years o Personal statement \u2022 Letters of recommendation It is through the examination of these components that admissions committees determine your academic and professional potential, why you want to go to law school, and how admitting you would affect their schools\u2019 US News rankings. We will explore each of these components in greater detail below.<\/p>\n The Application Cycle: Dates and Deadlines<\/em><\/p>\n Unlike most other admissions processes, the law school admissions process is conducted on a rolling basis. For admissions processes that are not conducted on a rolling basis, schools have hard submission deadlines and evaluate all applicants on a level playing field after the deadline has passed.<\/p>\n The rolling admissions process in law school, on the other hand, allows applicants to submit their applications within a certain window, which usually opens in September and closes between February and May (each school\u2019s application dates are different). Admissions committees evaluate applications as they receive them, which means that there is an advantage to submitting your application on the early end of the cycle when fewer admissions spots have been taken up by other candidates.<\/p>\n While it is definitely to one\u2019s advantage to apply earlier in the admissions cycle, it is also important to note that this advantage has significantly declined over the past several years. We advise that you submit your application as early as is practicable, but also make sure that you are giving yourself enough time to put together the strongest possible application.<\/p>\n There are important preliminary steps to creating a strong law school application that many applicants overlook. Most people spend some time thinking about which schools they should apply to, but most overlook the key steps of brainstorming and creating an overall application strategy.<\/p>\n These steps are essential to creating a cohesive application that presents a complete picture of who you are, as opposed to a set of loosely related application components that don\u2019t leave the admissions committee with a strong impression of all aspects of who you are and what you would contribute as a student at their school.<\/p>\n At Stratus, we work extensively with our clients on these important preliminary stages of the application process. Our focus on brainstorming and strategy makes the rest of the application process easier to execute, and it creates a stronger finished product.<\/p>\n Brainstorming and Introspection<\/em><\/p>\n Before you begin to think concretely about putting together the components of your application, it\u2019s important to think broadly about who you are as a person. More specifically, what experiences, achievements, difficulties, and characteristics of you have led you to apply to law school? Exploring not just your academic life, but also your professional and personal lives, will help you answer that question. Our comprehensive admissions consulting begins with a brainstorming and introspection questionnaire that leads our clients through this process and serves as the basis for the first conversations between client and admissions consultant.<\/p>\n The brainstorming and introspection process should lead you to a few key themes that you want to convey in your application. These themes could be a passion for a certain social issue or area of law, an ability to work hard and be successful during adversity, an intellectual interest, or a drive to explore topics deeply. Working with an expert law school admissions consultant will help you identify these themes and how they have manifested themselves in all aspects of your life.<\/p>\n Crafting an Application Strategy<\/em><\/p>\n After you\u2019ve completed a brainstorming and introspection process, it\u2019s time to turn to strategy. In a nutshell, putting together a strategy for your application is the process of using each component of the application to advance your key themes and address any weaknesses or holes in your profile. Identify how each theme and weakness could be best addressed in each application component, and how you can weave these themes together across all parts of the application.<\/p>\n Ultimately, you want your application to be a cohesive set of components that advance a few key ideas, leaving the admissions committee with a clear sense of who you are and what you bring to the table as a future law student and lawyer.<\/p>\n School Selection<\/em><\/p>\n At Stratus, we generally recommend that our clients apply to 10-15 law schools. Once you have completed the main components of your application, tailoring your application to each school usually doesn\u2019t take more than a couple of hours of work, so it is worth the time to apply to a broad range of schools to ensure that you have several options as your admissions results come in.<\/p>\n There are three main criteria to consider when selecting which schools you should apply to:<\/p>\n \u2022 US News Ranking. For most applicants, the rankings are the biggest factor in where to apply. In general, a higher ranking means greater and more varied professional opportunities after law school, as well as higher earning potential. There are certainly other factors that may play into your choice of schools to apply to, including possibility for scholarships, legacy consideration and political or religious affiliations.<\/p>\n Once you have your LSAT score and undergraduate GPA (as calculated by the LSAC\u2019s Credential Assembly Service), you will have a clear sense of which schools are \u201ctarget\u201d schools (your numbers make you a strong candidate), which are \u201creach\u201d schools (your numbers make you a viable but not a strong candidate), and which are \u201csafety\u201d schools (your numbers make admission a near certainty). We recommend at least two or three safety schools, and four or five target and reach schools each.<\/p>\n LSAT Score and Undergraduate GPA<\/em><\/p>\n These two numerical aspects of your application are extremely powerful. Schools care about LSAT scores and undergraduate GPAs for two reasons: first, because the LSAT and GPA data for matriculated students significantly affect each school\u2019s US News ranking (almost 25% of the entire ranking is determined by these two numbersbased on US News\u2019 methodology<\/a>);second, because they believe that these two numbers are an accurate predictor of academic performance in law school, particularly during the crucial first year.<\/p>\n All law school applicants have at least completed their junior year of college, so there is much less opportunity to significantly change one\u2019s undergraduate GPA than there is one\u2019s LSAT score. If you haven\u2019t taken the LSAT yet, make sure to devote a significant amount of time to studying. We recommend that our clients devote 10-15 hours per week to studying for at least three months.It is possible to improve your LSAT score significantly from your early practice tests, but it takes time and effort on your part to learn the test. It is important to note that LSAC is currently in the process of transitioning the LSAT to a new digital format<\/a>, where test takers will use a tablet, rather than paper.<\/p>\n Several law schools, including some top law schools, have begun accepting the GRE as an alternative standardized test to the LSAT. It is currently unclear what impact this will have and we caution relying on the GRE at this time given the present uncertainty regarding its usage by law schools in the admissions process.<\/p>\n Academic Record<\/em><\/p>\n Although law schools care a lot about your undergraduate GPA, they will look closely into your academic record to get a better sense of your academic background. Schools will scour your transcript to determine:<\/p>\n \u2022 The level of difficulty of the courses you took Admissions committees will focus on your undergraduate record, but will also take into account post-graduate coursework and degrees, especially if you graduated from college several years (or more) before you apply to law school.<\/p>\n Highlighting positive elements of your academic record in essays and letters of recommendation is an important strategy for most applicants, especially those who are still in college or who graduated within a few years of applying. This advice is even more important for applicants whose undergraduate GPAs are below the medians of most of the schools they are applying to.<\/p>\n Personal Statement<\/em><\/p>\n The personal statement is the largest and most important written component of a law school application. When writing the personal statement, you should strive to create a two- to three-page essay that presents one or two key aspects of who you are, why you have pursued the things you have pursued to this point, and what makes law school the next logical step in your development.<\/p>\n In addition to presenting these more resume-oriented aspects of your profile, a personal statement should leave the reader with a sense of who you are as a person, what motivates you, and what you\u2019re passionate about.<\/p>\n Finally, make sure your personal statement is the strongest piece of writing you can muster. Make sure you are satisfied with not just its content, but also its stylistic and typographical elements.<\/p>\n Since the personal statement is the cornerstone of the application, it is important to carefully consider not only the themes you want to convey and how you convey them, but also the essay\u2019s relationship to the other components of the application and to the overall application strategy. Please click here<\/a> to learn more about how to write a great personal statement for law school.<\/p>\n Diversity Statement<\/em><\/p>\n In a diversity statement, applicants are asked to describe what makes them uncommon or unique, and how those characteristics will enable them to contribute uniquely to the law school community<\/a>\u00a0they are about to enter. Although each law school\u2019s diversity statement prompt is different, diversity statement prompts tend to fall into one of two categories:<\/p>\n \u2022 A narrow diversity statement prompt seeks more traditional indicia of diversity, such as race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, socioeconomic status and sexual orientation Although not all applicants write diversity statements, most of our clients do. Most people have some characteristic or life experience that allows them to show admissions committees how they would contribute to the diversity of perspective, experience, and strengths of the law school community. Please click here<\/a> to learn more about how to write an awesome diversity statement.<\/p>\n Addenda<\/em><\/p>\n In general, applicants write addenda to address parts of their profile that may be disadvantageous or may require further clarification. The three most common addendum topics are:<\/p>\n \u2022 Academic Addendum<\/strong>. If you underperformed during any part of your undergraduate career, you should write an addendum addressing this Addenda should be brief and matter-of-fact. Youshould not only briefly describethe events that occurred in reasonable detail and in an objective tone, but you should alsodiscuss what you have learned from the experience and how you have grown as a result.\u00a0 To find out more about how to appropriately draft a law school addendum, please click here<\/a> and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n School-Specific Essays<\/em><\/p>\n Some schools, but not all, invite applicants to submit essays in addition to the personal and diversity statements. These essays are generally shorter than the personal statement and the prompts are more specific, often asking candidates to discuss instances of success or failure, describe academic subjects or projects that were most meaningful to them, or explain why they wish to attend this law school in particular.<\/p>\n When given several prompts to choose from, make sure that you choose a prompt that allows you to present an aspect of yourself that you haven\u2019t already covered in other parts of the application. Working with an admissions consultant is particularly helpful in determining which prompts would be best to choose and how to tailor your responses to best complement the rest of your application.<\/p>\n Letters of Recommendation<\/em><\/p>\n Letters of recommendation are a unique part of the application in that they are the only opportunity for others to speak about you, instead of you speaking about yourself. Applicants should use this opportunity to find recommenders who can speak glowingly both about the applicant\u2019s academic\/professional qualities and about their character, work ethic, and personality.<\/p>\n The ideal recommender is someone who has direct experience with the applicant\u2019s academic or professional work product. Note that this direct experience is more important than the recommender\u2019s title or level of prestige. If you are working as a legal assistant before attending law school, for example, it would usually be better to get a letter of recommendation from a junior lawyer who directly supervised you than it would be a senior partner who only experienced your work indirectly.<\/p>\n In almost all cases, applicants should submit at least one letter of recommendation from a professor (ideally an undergraduate professor). Please click here<\/a> to find out more about letters of recommendation.<\/p>\n Resume<\/em><\/p>\n Preparing a resume for law school applications is similar to preparing a resume for other purposes. Make sure to limit your resume to one page (unless you have many years of post-undergraduate work experienceor significant publications), and make sure that the descriptions of your roles, responsibilities, and achievements highlight any research, writing, and critical thinking skills you used or developed in the positions you have held.\u00a0 Please click here<\/a> for important considerations in crafting a law school resume.<\/p>\n Interviews<\/em><\/p>\n Interviewing is a relatively small component of the law school application process. Not many schools offer interviews, and those that do primarily offer them on an invitation-only basis.<\/p>\n If you have the opportunity to interview at a school, though, be sure to take it. Be prepared to discuss in detail any aspect of your application (including resume, academic record, work experience, and the contents of your essays), and to answer the common question, \u201cWhy do you want to go to our school specifically?\u201d Please click here<\/a> for six ways to nail your law school admissions interview.<\/p>\nThe Law School Admissions Process: An Overview<\/h3>\n
\n\u2022 A reason to go to law school, and, ideally, a reason to go to their law school
\n\u2022 Numbers that will improve their school\u2019s US News and World Report ranking<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Transcripts from all schools you have attended since you began college (including graduate schools)
\n\u2022 Essays:<\/p>\n
\no Diversity statement (optional, depending on your circumstances)
\no Addenda (optional, depending on your circumstances)
\no School-specific essays (as applicable)<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Resume<\/p>\nBefore You Start Your Law School Application: Brainstorming, Strategy, and School Selection<\/h3>\n
\n\u2022 Geography. With the exception of the top 14 law schools, almost all schools are \u201cregional\u201d schools, meaning that their alumni are heavily concentrated in the geographic\/metropolitan areas near the school. If you are committed to practicing law in New York City, for example, you would likely have better employment chances in New York as a Fordham graduate than as an Emory graduate, even though Emory Law has a higher ranking than Fordham Law.
\n\u2022 Practice Area. Many schools have strong programs in specific areas of law or for specific professional trajectories. For example, NYU Law has a great international law program, and Yale Law School<\/a> has an unparalleled record in placing its graduates in legal academia. If you are certain about your career path, you should consider applying to schools that can best help you get there.<\/p>\nPreparing the Application, Piece by Piece<\/h3>\n
\n\u2022 Whether you found and pursued an academic interest by taking multiple classes (of increasing levels of difficulty\/sophistication) on the same subject
\n\u2022 How much writing and critical thinking you did in an academic setting
\n\u2022 Whether you took on a major project such as a senior thesis or other major piece of research and\/or writing<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 A broad diversity statement prompt enables applicants to write about uncommon experiences and other traits that don\u2019t satisfy the narrower definition of diversity articulated above<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 LSAT Addendum.<\/strong> If you have taken the LSAT more than once, or have any other significant irregularities on your LSAT score report (e.g.,misconduct relating to the LSAT)
\n\u2022 Character and Fitness.<\/strong> In their applications, law schools require applicants to disclose certain character and fitness issues, including any past criminal convictions or disciplinary proceedings at your undergraduate institution<\/p>\nAfter You Submit Your Law School Application<\/h3>\n