apply to law school

• Select a major that you enjoy and that challenges you. Law schools have no preference for particular majors, so choose a major that is a good fit for you, not one that you think will look good for law school. You may also wish to select a major that prepares you for alternative career paths if you decide not to pursue a career in law after graduation.
• Begin to explore careers in law through various resources: readings, informational interviews with attorneys, externships (shadowing), and internships in a legal environment.
• Although there are no required courses for law school, it is important to take courses to continue to develop the types of skills that will be necessary in law school and in your legal career such as reading, writing, critical thinking, and analytical reasoning.
• Review the Pre-Law website.
• Focus on your academics; undergraduate GPA is one of the top factors in law school admission.
• Get to know your professors (e.g., utilize their office hours, actively participate in class discussions). You will need academic letters of recommendation when you apply to law school and these professors will then be in a better position to write a strong letter of recommendation if they get to know you and your academic skills.
• Get involved in activities that interest you – student organizations, study abroad, research with faculty, leadership, community service, etc. While UF has several pre-law organizations, you should get involved in activities and organizations that interest you, not necessarily just pre-law related organizations and activities.
• Connect with a UF pre-law advisor to begin exploring law and whether it is a good fit for you, to discuss the basic timeline for pre-law students, and to discuss questions about the application process.
• Join the Pre-Law Email List to stay updated on pre-law news and events.

• Continue to explore careers in law to confirm your interest in law.
• Continue to maintain a strong GPA and continue your involvement on campus and in the community, possibly through leadership opportunities within your organizations of interest.
• Read messages posted on the Pre-Law Email List to stay updated on pre-law news and events. updates and announcements of upcoming events for pre-law students, particularly those related to the application process, personal statements, mock admission panels etc.
• Connect with a pre-law advisor again now that you have an established academic track record to begin talking about your GPA, target law schools for which you’d be competitive, and ways to continue to enhance your undergraduate experiences.
• Begin to prepare for the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). While there are numerous ways to prepare for the LSAT, the key is to leave yourself ample time to prepare. A good way to begin evaluating how much preparation you need is by taking a practice LSAT, preferably a full-length/timed test so that you can get a baseline score and become more familiar with the LSAT to determine your preparation strategy. Pre-law advisors can help you identify various resources and then you can decide which preparation strategy is best for your individual situation.
• Attend pre-law events to learn more about topics such as the overall law school admission process, what law school is really like from a law student’s perspective, what law schools are looking for in competitive applicants for their law school, how to write a strong personal statement etc.
• Research law schools and make arrangements to tour their campuses if possible. Attend an LSAC Law School Forum to speak with law school representatives from all over the country in a one-stop environment.
• Register to take the LSAT in summer between your junior and senior years. Continue to prepare for the LSAT.
• Start identifying faculty, employers, and other individuals who you want to ask to write your letters of recommendation for law schools. Ask them if they would be willing to write a positive letter of reference for your law school applications.

• Continue to study for the LSAT and take it in the summer if you feel prepared.
• Register and pay for the LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service (CAS) at least 6-8 weeks before you plan to submit your first law school application.
• Confirm with recommenders who you have previously asked to write letters of recommendation and provide them with copies of your resume, personal statement, and any other materials that would be helpful for them to write a strong letter. Enter the recommenders’ contact information into your Credential Assembly Service (CAS) account.
• Begin to write drafts of your law school admission essays (personal statements). Remember, you must format each statement according to each law school’s individual specifications, so review each school’s website to determine their guidelines. You may have multiple essays to write for certain schools. Talk with a pre-law advisor about the purpose of an addendum if there is something about your academic record that you would like to explain.
• Even though it is your personal statement, have several others read your statement and give you feedback. Several offices on campus offer personal statement feedback: Pre-law Advising Office in Farrior Hall, the University Writing Program in Turlington Hall, and the Career Connections Center in the Reitz Union.
• Prepare your resume for law schools. Visit the Career Connections Center if you need assistance with your resume.
• Begin to research financial aid options for law schools. The LSAC’s Financing Law School is a good place to start. While there are some scholarships available for highly competitive applicants, many law students utilize student loans or personal resources to finance law school so carefully consider cost factors when researching individual law schools. Other useful financial aid resources can be found at U.S. Dept of Education, Finaid, and AccessLex.
• Speak with a pre-law advisor again to discuss your law school questions and to help you develop a good application strategy based on your GPA and June LSAT scores.

• Attend additional pre-law workshops offered on campus related to the application process, writing personal statements, mock admission panels etc. These will be announced via the Pre-Law Email List and on the pre-law events calendar.
• Attend the Graduate & Professional Schools Fair, sponsored by the Career Connections Center, early in the Fall semester to meet with law school admissions representatives on campus. Attend a LSAC Law School Forum to connect with even more law school representatives.
• Request that official transcripts be sent to LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service (CAS) from the registrar’s office of each college or university you have attended.
• Finalize your personal statement(s) for each school to which you are applying.
• Register for and take the LSAT in early fall (Aug/Sept/Oct) if you didn’t take it in June or if you plan to retake the LSAT to improve your score. You may wish to consult with a pre-law advisor before making your final decision on whether or not to retake the LSAT.
• Apply to your target law school(s) as soon as their applications are available (usually in September or early October for most schools). Applications are submitted through the LSAC website. Apply as early as possible (ideally in September/October/early November) since law schools have a rolling admissions process and your application may be more competitive if you apply early. Once the law schools receive your completed applications, they will contact the LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service (CAS) to have your law school report sent which will include your transcripts, letters of recommendation, and LSAT score(s).
• Continue to research financial aid options. Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as soon as possible after October 1 of the year before you plan to start law school.
• Make decisions regarding law schools to which you are accepted and/or other career options.
• Send thank you notes to your recommenders!

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.