apply to law school

Although some law schools will allow applications to be submitted directly through the law school’s website or via a paper copy of the application, most law schools now require applicants to apply through the LSAC website. You will need to set up an account on the LSAC site. After setting up your account, you will be able to complete applications for law schools electronically through the site. You may work on your applications over a period of many days/weeks, saving your work as you go. Once your application for a particular school is complete, you may submit it electronically to the law school. As part of the application, you will need to include all documents: personal statement, resume, optional essays, addendums (pdf recommended).

Make sure you read the directions on each application. If a law school states that they do not want a resume attached with your application, then do not provide one even if you think it will be more impressive. If you do have additional information you wish to include in your application (such as an explanation for why you withdrew from a year of school), do so very briefly in an addendum to your personal statement.

Most law schools have a rolling admission policy meaning that as soon as your application file is complete, it can be sent to the committee to be evaluated. In other words, the sooner you send in your applications, the sooner you may be able to find out if you have been accepted. Most law schools will begin accepting applications for fall admission on or around September 1st and continue accepting them until February or March (please read each application carefully to find out the application deadline for each school because they do vary).

By sending in your application between Halloween and Thanksgiving, you may be compared with a fewer number of students (since not all students will have their applications in that quickly) and so your chances for acceptance and potential for scholarship money may improve.

Note: While most law schools admit students in the fall semester only, there are a few schools that do offer spring or even summer admission. If you are trying for admission to law school in the spring, your deadlines will be different so make sure you know the spring application deadline for each of the schools to which you are applying.

Jan.-June

• LSAT Prep, timeline and Attempt
• Research School List

June-Aug.

• LSAT Attempt
• Request Letters of Recommendation
• Application Plan
• Start Personal Statement
• Update Resume
• Create Financial Plan
• Create realistic school list

Aug.-Sep

• Request Transcripts
• LSAT prep & retake?
• Personal Statement & Resume Updates
• Review application requirements

Oct.-Nov.

• Finalize Personal Statements, Resume, Optional Essys, & Addendums
• Submit completed applications

Dec.-Jan.

• Submit Fall semester updates
• LOCI

The Credential Assembly Service is the clearinghouse for your college/university transcripts, biographical information and LSAT score(s). The CAS is used by law schools in evaluating the undergraduate performance of each law school applicant. Through a conversion formula, CAS provides a more accurate way to measure applicants who have gone to different undergraduate institutions with different grading policies.

The CAS file may be set up through the LSAC website. After setting up the file, you should have letters of recommendation and official transcripts from every undergraduate, graduate, and professional school you have attended sent to your CAS file. Your LSAT score will also become part of your file automatically after you take it. CAS will summarize your information and reconfigure your GPA to their standard scale.

You will need to send a completed CAS report to each law school. This will contain the official file of your LSAT, transcripts, and letters of recommendation. Once all documents are complete, your file can be sent to the admission committee for review.

You must send official transcripts directly from every undergraduate, graduate, and professional school you have attended to your CAS file. For example, even if courses that you took at another institution (e.g, dual enrollment at a community college) are shown on your UF transcript, you still need to have an official transcript sent directly from the community college to your CAS file. Transcripts must be sent for any college/university courses that you have taken: undergraduate, graduate, or professional school. Note, however, that even though undergraduate and graduate (if applicable) transcripts must be sent, only an applicant’s undergraduate grades will be used in the calculation of the GPA that will be printed in your CAS file.

The LSAT is a half-day standardized test which must be taken for admission to most law schools, including all American Bar Association-approved law schools and most law schools in Canada. In addition to the undergraduate grade point average, it is the most important factor used in determining admission into law school. The LSAT is composed of four 35 minute multiple-choice sections. (1 reading comprehension, 2 Logical Reasoning, and 1 unscored variable experimental section). LSAT Argumentative Writing is administered separately from the multiple choice sections and must be completed only once on your first LSAT attempt. The test score ranges from 120-180. You are able to only take the LSAT five times in the current admission cycle.

For most students, the personal statement seems to be the most dreaded part of the entire application process. You have probably heard this statement over and over, “Your personal statement is your interview on paper.” While that is true, how does that help you to write it? Well, if you actually stop to consider this statement it really does help you. Remember that the admissions committees are going to be getting many sheets of paper from you including the actual application, letters of recommendation, and your official transcripts. On paper, you may look very similar to many of the students applying in terms of GPA, LSAT score, honors, awards and activities. Your personal statement is your best chance to let these admissions committees know that you are an individual with a variety of ideas and experiences to offer to the class. Think of all the information included in the rest of your application and put it in your mental vault. What’s left that the committee would not know about if you did not tell them? That is what you need to talk about.

The committee has read what organizations you were involved in on campus from your application so do not laundry list them again in your personal statement. What is more important is what these organizations taught you about yourself. This is often easier said than done but the personal statement was not added on to each application as an afterthought. It is a challenge for students to express why their life experiences have readied them for the rigors of law school. What makes it even more of a challenge is that students tend to dislike writing about themselves because they feel they are bragging. However, if you have done something worthwhile, let the committee know.

Most importantly, take the personal statement seriously. At the point in which you are ready to write it, it is usually the last thing you have control over since your grades are already calculated, your LSAT has been taken and your letters of recommendation are written by someone else. Based on feedback from admissions officers at many different law schools, it is clear that a member of the admission committee reads every word of each application. Whether or not that member feels your application is worthy of going forward may be based on a well-written and interesting personal statement to set you apart from a stack of applications with the same LSAT and GPA.

Take the time to brainstorm topics for your personal statement. It may also help to write a rough draft and then revisit days later. See if there are any additional things you want to add or think of a different way of saying something. It is a good idea to have several different people read your personal statement. You might find out that what was a clear thought to you is very confusing to someone else. You may even want to ask the professors who are writing your letters of recommendation if they would assist you by critiquing your personal statement.

The personal statement is your opportunity to demonstrate exceptional writing skills and explain to the admissions committee members why you want to attend law school and why the study of law is important to you at this current moment.

Letters of recommendation (LOR) are objective accounts of your academic/employment skills. Depending upon law schools to which you apply, to you may need anywhere from one to three letters of evaluation. Make sure you read each law school catalog carefully to determine how many letters the school wants. Whenever possible, the majority of your letters should be academic in nature and should come from professors who are familiar with your academic work. Although your letters do not need to come from professors in your major department, those are typically your smaller courses and so there is more chance for interaction with your professors.

When deciding who to ask for LORs, the most important quality you can look for is that this particular person can write the best evaluation of your classroom performance. Whenever admissions officers speak about letters of recommendation, they are very clear about this point. They can tell the difference between a professor who simply knows that this student got an “A” and the professor who really knows the academic capabilities of a particular student.

Most law schools will invite applicants to submit a résumé along with their applications. This can be attached electronically to your applications when you submit them online through the LSAC website. The Career Connection Center in the Reitz Union is an excellent resource if you would like some assistance with creating a résumé. They also provide resume critiquing services to provide feedback on a draft of your résumé. While most law schools do not care if your résumé is one or two pages, it is critical to read the instructions for each particular law school.

You may be asked to have a Dean’s Certification form or letter of good standing sent in with your application. These types of forms are completed jointly by the Registrar’s Office and the Dean of Student’s Office. Complete instructions are available on the Dean of Students website. On this form, they will list any violations of the Student Code of Conduct including academic dishonesty violations. Oftentimes, the certification forms from the law schools ask for your class rank. The University of Florida no longer ranks students, so mark “N/A” or “Not calculated at UF” for this question. As with your other application materials, you want to make sure this form is filled out and sent as early as possible.