PRELAW HANDBOOK - Where To Apply to Law School

HOW APPLICANTS CAN DETERMINE
WHERE TO APPLY
TOPICS

Sometime during the summer between junior and senior year, a pre-law student should determine a short (but not too short) list of appropriate law schools and then seek admission to these law schools.

TOPICS

LINKS
BOOKS
ADVICE
ADVICE
DO YOU HAVE A CHANCE

HOW APPLICANTS CAN
DETERMINE WHERE TO APPLY
LINKS

The Law School Admission Council gives an answer to the question HOW DO I CHOOSE A LAW SCHOOL?. Scroll down to General Topics and see Choosing a Law School.

HOW APPLICANTS CAN
DETERMINE WHERE TO APPLY
BOOKS

The book Degrees of Difference: A How-to Guide to Choosing a Law School by Amy Thompson Briggs is published by the National Association for Law Placement and may be available at the Prelaw Office. _.

How to Get into the Right Law School by Paul Lermack

HOW APPLICANTS CAN
DETERMINE WHERE TO APPLY
ADVICE

Begin the law school selection process with an honest appraisal of your GPA and LSAT score and realize that these two numbers will greatly determine the law schools to which you can realistically apply. _.

Realize the constraints (financial, geographic, etc.) which you are under._.
Determine the factors (conditions) that you would like the law school you attend to satisfy. _.
The crucial process of choosing law schools should be done in close consultation with the prelaw advisor. If you are considering law school but are not currently enrolled at a university, you may be able to obtain counseling from the undergraduate prelaw advisor at the college from which you graduated. _.
Do not think that, in the application pool, you will rise above students with similar GPAs and LSAT scores because of your amazing personal statement, glowing letters of recommendation, and spectacular extracurricular activities. _. _.
Especially when choosing "safety" law schools, be realistic about your chances of admission to this law school. _.
Do not apply to a law school you would not attend even if it were the last law school on earth._.
If you truly want to keep your options open, apply to law schools but also consider applying to graduate schools or to your colleges placement center for a full-time job. Note that it probably will be too late to apply to graduate school after the last rejection letter trickles in.

HOW APPLICANTS CAN
DETERMINE WHERE TO APPLY
ADVICE

The National Association of Law Placement gives the following advice on choosing a law school, "So you've decided to go to law school. Good for you! You've probably heard that you can ''do anything with a law degree'' and that, with a JD, you can ''write your own ticket.'' These prognostications can come true, but only if you choose the right law school for you. Where you go to law school will have a profound effect on your employment opportunities, where you practice, your ability to earn a decent living, the amount of law school debt you'll carry, your lifestyle options, and how much you enjoy law school. Any decision with such life-altering ramifications deserves, even demands, your closest attention."
_{HOW APPLICANTS CAN
DETERMINE WHERE TO APPLY
DO YOU HAVE A CHANCE

The BOSTON COLLEGE LAW SCHOOL LOCATOR can quickly help a prelaw student classify law schools into the three categories: safety, competitive, and stretch. This locator comes with the warning, "The chart is useful in evaluating law school choices but cannot determine where you should or should not apply." If you did not check out this website when we mentioned it in Section Three, do it now.

SEARCH FOR SCHOOLS BASED ON UNDERGRADUATE GPA CREDENTIALS AND LSAT, using your GPA and LSAT score, this website can, for example, quickly help a prelaw student classify law schools into the three categories: safety, competitive, and stretch. Use of the website is strongly recommended. If you did not check out this website when we mentioned it in Section Three, do it now.
The University of Kentucky Law School suggests how to determine your chances of getting into a law school. "Generally, your have a very strong chance of admission if both your LSAT and GPA are at or above a school's published 75th percentile credentials, a good chance of admission if your LSAT and GPA are both at or above a school's published medians and a difficult time gaining admission if both your LSAT and GPA are below that school's 25th percentile credentials. If your credentials are mixed, that is your LSAT or GPA is at or above the law school's published median but the other is below the median, then you have a probable chance of admission which may depend on how that law school views the quality of your undergraduate preparation, writing skills, letters of recommendation, etc.}