4. FILL OUT THE APPLICATIONS
Clicking your heels three times won't get you into a good law program - or any program, for that matter. With that in mind, we're here to help with some of the logistics of applying. You can buy us a beer when you get in.
LSDAS Report
Applications
Timing
Transcripts
Recommendations
Dean's Letter
LSDAS Report
Guess what? In addition to the general application fee you'll have to pay to each school (usually somewhere around $60), you're also going to need to shell out some cash to register with the Law School Data Assembly Service. The LSDAS will (for a fee) send official score reports (that is, your LSAT score) to any law school you'd like, as well as process transcripts and recommendations for you. Bonus #1: You can access your account anytime, as everything is online. A year-long subscription to the LSDAS will run you $95. Bonus #2: As LSDAS attempts to even out schools' grading systems, your GPA may grow a teensy bit. The bad news is, you don't have a choice; you MUST pay and join the LSDAS. So suck it up and give 'em your credit card number.
Just remember that the LSDAS people, as rockin' as they are, take time to process all of your paperwork. This is a recurring theme, so get everything done early. You should join before you even take the LSAT.
Applications
Make sure your applications are neat. Make sure they're typed. And most of all, make sure they're complete. Many schools allow you to download applications from their Web sites for easy access. And LSDAS will sell you a CD-rom (or give you access to a Web account) containing almost every law school's application. With these services, you can type your information directly into the application, so that your printouts are formatted and pretty, just as the schools like them. The CD (or web access) costs $59. You'll still have to pay the general $60-ish application fee to schools, but we'll tell you that this CD is well worth its price. You won't have to write letters to every school asking for applications, and if something happens to your application, you can always print out another copy.
Timing
The tricky thing about law school admissions is that most use rolling admissions. This means that they decide whether to accept you or reject you right when they get your application. Thus, if you send in your application early, there are more potential spaces open and you're more likely to get accepted. Think about all the qualified people who wait until the last minute - perhaps they are all brilliant, but there simply aren't enough spaces left for everyone.
Rolling admissions can prove a blessing (to the earlybirds) or a curse (to the slackers). We cannot stress enough the importance of getting your applications signed, sealed and delivered as soon as possible. If you want to get into the best school that you can, do your best to finish your applications and send them in by the end of October. This means that you have to write your essays and ask for recommendations during September.
Transcripts
Every law school will require you to submit transcripts from any undergraduate and graduate coursework you did before law school. Think you're the only one from your school/alma mater applying to law school? Think again, kiddo. Registrars' offices are SWAMPED during application time, so make sure to get in your requests nice and early. Also make sure that your checkbook is prepared to handle any processing or mailing fees your school charges, or investigate fee waiver programs far in advance. And, very importantly, do not forget to include transcripts from summer programs at other schools, study abroad programs, and transfer institutions. Don't guess at what paperwork is needed - just send it all in.
Clear up any "Incompletes" before you send your transcript, and make sure to account for any glaring blemishes (a semester's worth of D's, for example) in your personal statement.
Recommendations
Most schools also ask you to submit some letters (usually two or three) from people who know you well enough to verify your sanity. If you and Bill Clinton are close personal friends or collaborating colleagues, then by all means, ask the President to write you a recommendation letter. The same goes for University administration members, important politicians, or other "famous types." But if you don't have impressive connections, take heart. Most admissions officers are not reading for the signature at the bottom, but rather to check on three things, according to some notes from University of Chicago Law Assistant Dean Richard Badger:
- How well does the recommender know the applicant?
- Does the recommender feel the applicant will become successful in law school and in the legal profession?
- How psyched is the recommender to praise the applicant?
Usually you'll need at least one recommendation from a professor, sometimes one who teaches in your major. Don't head straight to the profs who gave you A's; some won't even remember you from their huge lecture classes. Instead, go for the profs or lecturers with whom you've had the best working relationship. (And if no one's name springs to mind, start networking, baby!) Provide recommenders with your transcript, resume, and any important coursework, just so they know how kick-ass you are. Also be sure that they know that you REALLY want to go to law school that way, they won't hold back.
Dean's Letter
A dean's letter is usually required. The dean at your college probably doesn't know you, but that's okay: his or her secretary will probably write this recommendation, if you need it. All it promises is that you never lied, cheat, or stole anything. As with your other recommendations, ask the deans (or their secretaries) for letter well in advance of deadlines; deans are notorious for taking months to provide these letters. Remember that you can send your transcript and your recommendations directly to LSDAS, and they'll send 'em along with your score report to the schools you're applying to. Saves you on things to remember.
