Most law schools base admissions decisions on three primary factors: your LSAT score; your college and post-graduate academic record; and your application submission. Certainly, to gain admission to the law school of your choice, you must endeavor to refine your candidacy in all three of these major areas. At this point, however, you have done all you can to fortify your LSAT score and your academic record is firmly established. Once you have actually taken the LSAT examination, all that remains is for you to compose, assemble, and submit your applications. As a result, this section focuses solely on your law school application.

 

Even if you are satisfied with both your academic record and your performance on the LSAT, the process of composing and assembling your law school applications must not be taken lightly. Most law schools do not conduct interviews, so the application submission is the primary source of "subjective" information considered by the admissions committees. It is your application that makes you a real person, instead of a set of objective numbers. Accordingly, you must endeavor to portray yourself as an amiable, competent, mature, motivated, and thoughtful individual. There is nothing more damaging to a candidacy than an application submission that reeks of laziness, carelessness, and arrogance.

 

A typical law school application is made up of several components: a cover letter, resume, the application form itself, letters of recommendation, and a personal statement. Each of these components requires careful individual consideration, but special attention must be given to ensure that each component acts as an integral part of the whole application, not as a distinct and unattached item. An effective application submission paints an engaging and consistent picture of the candidate, a picture that becomes increasingly interesting and clear with each piece of the puzzle. Avoid submitting an application that raises substantial questions about you that remain unanswered. For example, if your resume lists a variety of corporate work experiences, do not write your personal statement about your desire to save baby seals unless, of course, you explain that your desire ties in with your past corporate life. And, if you took a break in the midst of college, make sure that an adequate explanation appears somewhere in the submission. Your focus must be on creating an image that is both positive and complete.

Law School Personal Statements

Your personal statement is the most important component of your law school application submission. It introduces you to the admissions committees, and it reveals the qualities of your character that you think are most significant. Because law school interviews are uncommon, the personal statement is your best opportunity to speak directly to the admissions committees. Do not waste their time. Be thoughtful, and focus on a few significant personal characteristics you possess that demonstrate the likelihood that you will succeed in law school. In addition, try to integrate your personal statement with the other components of your application submission. If there are glaring questions that jump out from your resume, consider addressing them in your personal statement.

 

Whatever you chose to write, be engaging and succinct, but do not be cute. You will outsmart yourself. Everyone has heard stories about incredible personal statements that work. The truth is that there are no quick fixes or magic words that will get you into a school that you are not otherwise qualified to attend. That does not mean you should not be creative. Many successful applicants find interesting ways to illustrate their exceptional character qualities. Admissions committee members have hundreds of applications to review, and if you make yours stand out in a positive way, you will get preference over other equally qualified candidates.

 

Finally, show the admissions committee that you know how to write. Although your entire application submission should be carefully composed, your personal statement in particular must be well-written, proof read, and supported by specific facts. A personal statement that is sloppy and incoherent speaks volumes about an applicant and can break a borderline candidacy. Be conservative in your writing. Do not abbreviate or use slang terms, and avoid off-color topics. Admissions committees are often diverse in profile, and members have varied likes and dislikes. You should not risk irritating or offending someone.

Law School Letters of Recommendation

Letters of recommendation are the next most important part of your law school application submission. Inevitably, an effective recommendation letter speaks directly and positively about your ability to succeed in law school and is written by an individual who has first-hand knowledge of your character. A letter is detrimental, however, if it seems in any way hesitant or equivocal about your ability to succeed. Accordingly, tremendous care must be taken in properly selecting the individuals who will provide your recommendation letters.

 

Ideally, your letters should come from professors or employment supervisors. These individuals can speak with authority about your competence, commitment, and work ethic. To ensure that you receive strong letters, you must be direct when you request a letter from a potential reference. Ask each potential reference explicitly if they have any reservations about writing a solid letter for you. If there is any hesitation, thank that person for their time and move on to the next individual on your list. There are few law school applicants whose candidacy is so extraordinary that they can afford to receive even a single lukewarm letter of recommendation.

 

Also, spend time educating your references about yourself. A good recommendation letter will become stronger if written by someone who can discuss you as a whole person, instead of merely as a student or co-worker. Provide your references with a copy of your resume and offer to sit down with them to talk about your accomplishments and experiences. You are more likely to receive a glowing letter from your professor after he realizes that, at the same time you were earning a top grade in his class, you were also captain of the soccer team and a regular volunteer in a soup kitchen.

Resume

Your resume should document, in chronological order, all of your significant work and educational experiences, and it should demonstrate to the admissions committees that you have done some interesting and impressive things with your time. To this end, you should use your resume to showcase unique experiences that tend to enhance student body diversity and that demonstrate your interest in the law and your likelihood of success in law school. In addition, you should use your resume to show that you are well-rounded. Be certain to include your leadership experiences, academic awards, writing achievements, sports accomplishments, cultural interests, language abilities, and travel experiences. Your resume should not include any unexplained gaps in time that raise unanswered questions. Where gaps exist that require some explanation, consider addressing them in your personal statement or cover letter.

Application Form

The application form is the anchor of your application submission. It requests basic information about you and sets forth instructions on all of the other information you need to provide and how it should be organized. Although it may seem like an important item, the application form, in many ways, merely seeks the same information that you have already included in your resume. There is no trick to filling out this form. As with all other components of your application submission, it is necessary to be meticulously accurate, honest, and organized about the information you provide. Be particularly thorough in providing your contact information, including your physical addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses. You do not ever want to put an admissions committee in the position of having to track you down.

The Cover Letter

The cover letter should be the last item that you prepare as a part of your application submission, and it should be tailored specifically to each school to which you apply. Although a cover letter is not a required component of most application submissions, it is an essential part of any good application submission. The cover letter is the first thing anyone reads, and all applicants should use this opportunity to make a good first impression on each admissions committee. Without being overly solicitous, express a specific interest in the school to which the letter is addressed and use the opportunity to highlight specific features of your profile. Also, consider using the cover letter to explain certain anomalies in your candidacy if they require specific attention. If you worked for ten years before applying to law school, get that out in the open and use it as an advantage. If you appear taciturn about certain obvious features of your candidacy, you will give a negative impression to the committee member reviewing your application. Whatever you do, do not submit a letter that is careless and poorly composed. That is a certain way to create a poor first impression, and poor first impressions can be rather difficult to overcome.

Law School Application Timeline

Submit your law school applications as early as possible. Do not wait until the last minute. Admissions committees are notoriously more lenient at the beginning of the process than they are at the end because most law schools have rolling admissions. This means that admissions decisions are made as applications are received. As a result, admissions committees typically have more freedom to accept borderline applications early in the process. Later on, they become constrained by class size, and they become more conscious of realizing targets for average student LSAT score and undergraduate GPA. The general rule is the longer you wait to apply to a school, the worse your chances are of getting into that school. For admissions in the Fall, it is best to have your applications submitted in November, but certainly you should have all of your applications in before Christmas. Many college students compose and submit their applications during the Winter Break, so there is often a flood of applications in early January. You want to beat the flood. If you cannot avoid submitting your applications before January, be cognizant of the application deadlines for the schools to which you will apply. For admissions in the Fall, some schools have deadlines as early as mid-January and others consider applications submitted as late as April.