Thinking of Law School After Graduation? Some Things To Keep in Mind

Choosing a Major
No major is either required or ideal for preparing for law school. Law schools look for students that have taken a set of courses that are perceived as rigorous and challenging, and most majors at the UW-Madison can match this requirement. Students who attempt to artificially pad their GPA with courses or programs widely known as easier or less challenging will suffer. In particular, you will suffer from poor preparation for both the LSAT (the law school admission exam) and Law School in general. Most law applicants are majors in political science, history, economics and related disciplines, however, law schools look for students in mathematics, engineering and the natural and physical sciences as well. You should choose a major that is interesting and challenging and one that will improve your writing and critical thinking skills. Do not choose a major because you think it is easy or believe that it has very little writing or reading required.

Taking the LSAT
The LSAT is the required admission exam for law school. It is offered four times a year: February, June, late September or early October, and December. The June exam is given on a Monday afternoon, while the others are administered on Saturday mornings (with options available for Saturday Sabbath observers). While law schools hope that candidates will take the LSAT by the December administration for admission the following fall, it is often better for the applicant to take it much earlier. Taking the LSAT in June or September, the year before desired matriculation usually allows an applicant time for preparation without too many distractions. In addition, they will receive their score in July or October allowing them to narrow their list of schools based on numerical criteria that much earlier.

For some applicants, however, it is impossible to take the LSAT in June or September. Some will have employment demands, be taking summer classes that interfere, or will just be returning from study abroad. For these candidates, one of the other administrations will be preferable. December is also acceptable, but February is often too late for most competitive law schools. The Law School Admission Council (LSAC), which administers the LSAT, also makes accommodations for those with proven disabilities. Contact the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) at http://www.lsac.org/ directly for further information on taking the test.

LSAT Preparation
The LSAT is not an achievement test that measures knowledge acquired in course work. It attempts to measure academic and thinking skills including analytical and quantitative reasoning. Consequently, many students believe that it is in their interest to become more familiar with the test format and the types of skills it attempts to measure. There are two ways to do this and both are effective. LSDAS and major publishing companies produce books that include old exams and tips on how to answer the questions. They also provide exercises to improve your ability to do the problems on the LSAT. If you are disciplined and do the exercises and tests included in these books you will likely be as prepared for the exam as those who pay for expensive tutoring or preparation courses. However, if you are someone who requires more structure and discipline and will not self teach yourself these skills, you most likely will benefit from taking these courses.

Some students also wonder if they should take the test twice if the score is lower than they expected. Many law schools average the scores if you take it twice so the advantage of a higher score is half as great as it could be. Some schools will accept the higher score and use it for admissions decisions, usually the more competitive law schools do average. Also be aware that many students will get a lower score so there is risk in taking it again. The best advice is to prepare as best you can and then apply to schools with at least a 25% chance of getting in with that score. Of course you should also apply to schools where your chances are much greater.

One good provider of LSAT test preparation is Kaplan, a private test prep company which offers scholarships for their classes, which are available nation-wide. Their website is at: http://www.kaptest.com/ There are other services available, but we highly recommend Kaplan as a reliable test preparation resource.

Getting into Law School

If you are seriously considering law school, it is important that you keep the following in mind:

1. Apply to 6-10 schools. Two -three schools should be "reach" schools where your chances of getting in are somewhat lower than 30-40% according to the data in the guide books. Another three schools should be in the middle range and include those where your chances are 40-60% of acceptance. You should also apply to two -three schools where you have a high likelihood of being accepted. These "safety" schools should be chosen carefully since you may find that you may need to enroll at one of them later. To assess your chances of getting in based on your LSAT and current GPA you should consult the individual web pages of particular law schools to determine which schools will likely accept you with your credentials. For a good source on law school rankings and related questions, go to http://www.ilrg.com/rankings.html.
2. Most law schools do not interview applicants though many will see you if you do come and provide a tour. However, little weight is put on the interview since the vast majority of applicants do not come, nor do the schools want them to come given the volume of applicants.
3. Most schools now have rolling admissions and will accept their most desirable applicants early. If you do not hear until March or April you are likely in the larger pool of "maybe's" and you may be in a "holding pattern" even until June as they see how their first choices decide where to go. If you are placed on a wait list or do not hear you should follow up with a call to confirm your status. Wait list applicants should send a letter indicating their interest and send any new information such as last terms grades, awards or honors since the application.
4. Many schools will continue to admit students over the summer as others drop out or accept other admission invitations. So do not assume that you have no chance of being admitted if you are on the wait list. Continue to stay in touch with the school. Some schools have evening divisions and you may ask if you can begin in that program and then move up to the day program if you do well. Some schools accept transfers and you may consider going to your safety school and applying as a transfer student in January or for the second year.
5. In choosing a law school to attend be aware of the cost. If no scholarship is offered remember that financial aid must be repaid. It may be worth considering law schools that are cheaper or offer more aid. However, be aware that it may pay to go to a much better law school and refuse aid to a weaker law school. This is because the starting salary at the better law school is so much higher, that your loans can be paid back quicker. All ABA approved law schools participate in the guaranteed loan programs that allow eligible students to borrow approximately $18,000 per year for graduate school.
6. Law schools put the majority of their emphasis on your GPA and LSAT scores, however, all complete files are read by one person in admissions at least and they will read your references, personal statement, and transcript and give appropriate weight to things such as strength and difficulty of major, quality of the undergraduate school, quality of the personal statement and enthusiasm for the applicant in the letters of reference. So when applying give strong consideration to who you choose to write references and prepare your file so as to make sure your strengths are known.

The Law School Application Process

Applying to Law School takes time and dedication. We suggest the following steps in preparing your applications:

1. Define a pool of schools that you may be interested in applying to. The list should be built with the following considerations in mind: geographical location, what region of the country you may wish to practice, cost, perceived reputation of the school in rankings, clinical and academic programs available, Bar exam passing rates, job placement success, starting salaries of graduates and likelihood of acceptance. The pool should include 10-15 schools at the beginning. To build this list you can use the Official Guide to Approved Law Schools published by the American Bar Association. For more information contact ABA.
2. Subscribe to LSDAS/LSAC (go to the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) at http://www.lsac.org/ for this and prepare to take the LSAT in June or September of the year before matriculation. The December test is also acceptable.
3. Interview potential references. Most schools ask for two references but will accept up to three. These references should always be people who know you well and can write a detailed letter about you. Avoid testimonials from famous people or those with titles, but who really cannot talk about your ability to do law school work. Ask your references if they would be willing to do it and provide them with a resume and a copy of work you did in their class to spur their memory. Always have at least one academic reference from a teacher who knows you well. Consider using the LSDAS reference service so as to be sure the references get sent.
4. The application including the personal statement should be completed by late November and applicants should confirm the receipt of applications by late December or early January. WARNING: Applicants must disclose, if asked, any misconduct findings against them by any school or criminal activity that resulted in a conviction. If you lie on your application in any way or knowingly falsify information you may be expelled from law school or disbarred when the information is disclosed. Most law schools will ask the Dean of Students for a letter to confirm that you are in good academic standing and have no misconduct charges.
5. Make sure that you send to LSDAS the transcripts from all schools you have attended as an undergraduate no matter how old. The LSDAS will convert all your grades into a standard GPA which allows comparison between schools. LSDAS will then send the new GPA to all the schools that you apply to- only their record can be used so do not send it on your own to the law schools.

The Personal Statement

The vast majority of Law schools will always require a personal statement along with your application. These statements are read by the Admissions staff and can make or break the opportunity to be admitted to the school of your choice. Deans will look for mistakes and poor writing as an indication of sloppiness and low regard for the school and also consider it a reflection of your ability to do high level work. Some of the Do's and Don'ts in writing a personal statement that have been compiled by others are listed below.

Do

1. Write well -- make it flow;
2. Have a good first sentence;
3. Double space it and leave good margins
4. Type it or use a word processor; make sure ink is dark;
5. Keep it within a reasonable length (if length is prescribed, keep it within that length, otherwise plan on no more than two pages);
6. Put your name on each page;
7. Be specific and accurate;
8. Be truthful;
9. Have statement support and be supported by the rest of the file;
10. Look beyond fraternity/sorority offices or athletic experiences;
11. Acknowledge negatives in your file;
12. Turn negatives into positives;
13. Mention sensitive subjects in an appropriate way (not overly dramatically);
14. Tell them why you've chosen law;
15. Show them who you are -- this is your interview.

Don't

1. Overuse thesaurus;
2. Use clichés or quote others extensively;
3. Misspell words;
4. Use third person;
5. Title your statement;
6. Send multimedia presentations/modeling photos;
7. Gush about law school or philosophize about the role of law in society;
8. Include name of law school, so-called personalization;
9. Pat yourself on the back too much;
10. Be too cynical;
11. Come across as a victim;
12. Be too specific as to what you will do with your law degree unless your experience shows that it is a logical extension of what you've already done;
13. Focus too much on another person, even if they have been influential in your life;
14. Just list activities that are already in the application: don't give a narrative resume.

Still Have Questions about Law School?

We are here to help! For further assistance, see Miguel Rosales, Coordinator and Student Advisor. He can be reached via email at mrosales@lssaa.wisc.edu. For immediate and thorough coverage of all aspects of the law school admission process, we recommend to visit http://www.ilrg.com/pre-law.html. This site provides all kinds of information that will prove very useful in preparing a successful application of admission. For advising on pre-law preparation at the UW-Madison, we urge you to go to the College of Letters and Science Advising Center at http://www.lssaa.wisc.edu/careers/career_advising.html