Law school admissions processes may seem complex and daunting at first, but they’re much simpler once you understand each component’s role in it all. Find out about the significance of your undergraduate GPA, studying for and taking the LSAT, writing a strong personal statement and letters of recommendation can offset low grades from undergrad studies, etc.
1. Your GPA
Your LSAC GPA (cumulative undergraduate GPA as reported by LSAC) is one of the key elements in law school admissions alongside your LSAT score. Applicants with low GPAs should focus on strengthening their application through additional courses, professional experience and writing.
Participating in additional classes can demonstrate intellectual curiosity and demonstrate your ability to thrive in an academically rigorous environment, even if these classes don’t directly pertain to law study. Enrolling in challenging law classes could also divert attention away from applicants with lower grades.
Work closely with recommenders to demonstrate your resilience and ability to succeed in law school through personal statements, personal achievements and professional experiences. If hardship or illness had an impactful influence on your academic performance, consider including an addendum describing these circumstances.
2. Your LSAT
Virtually all law schools require or recommend applying through the Law School Admission Council’s Credential Assembly Service (LSAC). LSAC compiles your applications into files and sends them directly to each law school of your choosing; each file includes your LSAT scores, written writing sample (unscored), and academic summary of undergraduate grades recalculated by LSAC.
Your LSAT score is the single most crucial component of your application; the higher it is, the better your chances are of admission. To maximize your score and reduce risk of taking it again, prepare meticulously prior to taking it again; however, only take it again if you believe your score could significantly change from its current status.
3. Your Personal Statement
Your personal statement is an integral component of law school applications. It gives you a chance to distinguish yourself among applicants with similar grades and LSAT scores.
The statement should not exceed two or two and a half double-spaced pages, following whatever guidelines provided by law schools. Make sure it is free from grammatical errors. Consider giving multiple people (especially those not as intimate with you personally) the opportunity to review it; those closest to you might not always provide objective reviews of your statement.
Avoid cliched statements about wanting to save the world or being passionate about legal work; these topics may come off sounding hollow and dull. Instead, focus on experiences unique to yourself that showcase qualities not found elsewhere in your application materials.
4. Your Letter of Recommendation
Letters of recommendation can make an important impactful in law school admissions, particularly for highly competitive programs. Unfortunately, they will not act as magic bullets; they cannot compensate for low GPA or LSAT score issues.
When selecting letter writers, look for professors who know and can vouch for you well and can write personalized recommendations about who they know as potential letter writers. Teaching assistants, untenured professors or famous people don’t tend to know one another well enough and may give inaccurate representation of who they know about someone.
Be sure to give your recommenders ample time and opportunity to draft the letters that you require of them, checking in politely at regular intervals. If applying to multiple law schools or scholarships simultaneously, provide each recommender with a list and description of all the programs for which you are seeking recommendations.
5. Your Extracurricular Activities
Participating in various extracurricular activities can make you appear well-rounded; however, it’s essential that you select them wisely; don’t create new organizations just for the sake of filling your resume; admissions committees will quickly see through this and assume you are trying too hard to appear rounded.
Opt for activities that require long-term commitment and demonstrate leadership capabilities. Joining a debate team, for example, can develop essential lawyering skills such as public speaking and making logically sound arguments.
Other extracurriculars, like community service and volunteerism, look great on applications if they have grown from general club membership into leadership roles.
6. Your Interviews
Many top law schools include interviews in their admissions processes as part of the admissions process. Interviews help the committee gain more insight into applicants, while providing applicants an opportunity to differentiate themselves.
Georgetown Law offers alumni interviews as a part of its application process; interviews are by invitation only, so if chosen they will reach out with more details.
However, some schools may be more reluctant to utilise interviews as part of their admissions process. Michigan Law doesn’t conduct evaluative interviews as they believe this could lead to biased decisions and add unnecessary stress for applicants; however they welcome admissions counselors conducting information sessions for interested candidates.