Are you ready to begin the application process? Here are a few questions you should consider:

1. How much time does it take to apply to law school?
   Several months!
    
2. What are the two most important attributes necessary for applying successfully to law school?
   Good organizational skills and astute attention to detail.
    
3. What is the law school application process like:
   It is a challenge, a campaign, a part of your career development, a process that continues after your application is in, and a process that should begin as early as possible.

Now that you have view of how much time it will take and what is expected, start planning your application.

Adhering to the Application Timetable and carefully planning the completion of tasks such as taking the LSATs, requesting recommendation letters, identifying schools, and writing your personal statement and additional essays for each law school program is essential for your success in the Law School Admissions Process. The quiz above acknowledges several characteristics about the process that you need to know:

• It will take longer than you expected to complete your applications.
• You need to be organized so set up a folder or binder for information.
• The application process itself is a campaign. You are selling yourself in your application.
• You should begin as early as possible.
• You have to treat the process, especially the LSATs, as the equivalent of another course.
• You have to act like a professional when you are completing elements of the application.

Law school culture, atmosphere, work load, and intensity are more closely related to professional work. You must approach law school as if it were a job that requires diligence and perseverance on a daily basis just to keep up with the work in law school.

You should begin acting like a professional even before you arrive at law school. When you are completing the application process, you should distinguish yourself from other applicants by your professionalism. This professionalism denotes that you are a serious student who understands the serious decision you have made to attend law school. You need to present your story in your personal statement to the Law School Admissions Office, and you need to request recommendation letters from professors, employers, and mentors. When you are writing your personal statement and requesting letters, you must think like a professional.

Consider your application to be your persuasive argument, your sales pitch. Your must carefully consider your selection of experiences and qualities to include in your application. You need to work on how to present your strengths and how to develop the theme of your entire application. You need to plan what you want Law School Admissions Offices to think about you when reading your application.

To frame your persuasive argument, you need to understand your target audience: the Admissions Office. You need to understand the Admissions Process. Consider the following questions:

• Who will read your application?
• How many applications is the Admissions Office considering?
• When does the Admissions Office begin admitting students?
• How does the Admissions Office rank the LSAT and GPA?
• How is the Admissions Process similar to a Job Application Process?
• What besides your GPA and LSAT scores determines your admittance?
• What common mistakes do prospective applicants make in writing their applications? In writing their personal statements? In asking recommenders for letters?
• What does it mean to be waitlisted?
• How many schools should you apply to?
• How will the Admissions Office evaluate your transcript?

For answers to the above questions, attend The Law School Advising Workshop #2: The Law School Application Process. See The Workshop Calendar for a listing of dates and times for the next workshop.

If you can work within a timetable, then you will maximize your chances of being admitted to law schools. Eight months to one year is the optimal amount of time a prospective law student would want to have to research law schools, study for the LSATs, complete law school applications, and visit law schools. Here is an example of a Ten Month Optimal Law School Application Timetable:

• January of Junior Year: Sign up for the LSDAS and for the June LSAT. Devote a scheduled amount of time per day or per week on LSAT questions. Treat the LSAT as another class you are taking. Take a practice test to determine your LSAT range. Understand the importance of the LSAT in law school admissions.
• February & March of Junior Year: Research law schools. Determine who you want to ask to write recommendations. Brainstorm topics for your Personal Statement.
• April of Junior Year: Schedule meetings with potential recommenders. Complete materials to present to recommenders.
• June between Junior & Senior Year: Take the LSATs.
• July between Junior & Senior Year: Revise your Personal Statement.
• August of Senior Year: Send your official transcript to the LSDAS.
• September of Senior Year: Complete your Personal Statement and ensure that your Recommenders have completed recommendations before October 1st.
• October of Senior Year: Complete your Applications by the first Rolling Admissions date to take advantage of the statistical benefits of applying early. The later you apply, the more difficult it will be to be accepted.

Law school applicants use the Law School Data Assembly Services (LSDAS), which is managed by the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC), to apply to most law schools. This enables law school applicants to quickly and efficiently organize their applications and apply to law school, to monitor their application to see if it is complete, and to streamline the application process — they only need to send one transcript to the service, rather than send a transcript to each school they are applying to. Additionally, recommenders send a letter to the service, and then applicants can decide which schools receive the letter from that professor or employer.

The service offers a Candidate Referral Service (CRS), which is used by law schools to recruit potential applicants on the basis of specific characteristics such as age, citizenship, ethnicity, GPA, geographical background, LSAT score, race, or socioeconomic background. You can release your information to law schools who participate in the CRS. You should register for the LSDAS as soon as you have determined that you will be applying to law school. To create your online account, go to www.LSAC.org.

The LSAC website allows you to do the following:

• Prepare for the LSAT by taking sample tests or by purchasing LSAT preparation books from the LSAC
• Research law schools using the ABA-LSAC Official Guide to ABA-Approved Law Schools online book
• Register for the LSAT and LSDAS
• Change LSAT test dates and locations
• Elect to obtain your Admission Ticket for the LSAT online or though the mail
• Order additional LSDAS reports online
• Obtain your LSAT score by email and view your answer sheet and score conversion table online
• Review your Master Law School Report online including all of your transcripts
• View receipt of recommendation letters online o Apply to law schools electronically through LSAC
• Verify that LSDAS reports were sent to law schools you applied to

You can contact the LSAC through email at LSACINFO@LSAC.org or at 215-986-1119.

Consider whether you want to take the LSAT in June or in October. While taking the LSAT in June will enable you to apply to law schools earlier, not every student has the option to take the June LSAT. If you plan to take the October test, you should complete all of the other application requirements before you take the test. October is a busy time of the semester with midterms and papers due. December is not an optimal time to take the LSAT. The stress of the semester and finals, along with the knowledge that many classmates have already completed the application, make it the most stressful time of year to take the LSAT. February is not a reasonable time to take the LSAT for entrance to the August law class because law schools have already accepted most of their law classes by that date, and statistically your chances of being admitted are more limited.

You should plan to take the LSAT only once. Most law schools will only look at a second LSAT score if it is 10 points higher than the first score; therefore, unless you consistently scored 10 or more points higher on your practice exams, which were taken under standard testing conditions, then you should not retake the LSAT.

You should register for the LSAT as soon as you have decided when you are going to take the test. If you put off registration, you may not be able to take the exam at your requested testing site. (Villanova University is a testing site).

The career development activities that will help you investigate the legal profession will also helping you investigate careers.  The Career Development Checklist identifies the career development activities that you can start working on today to help you investigate the legal profession, prepare for law school, and complete applications.

By approaching law school from a career development approach, you are not limiting yourself to one potential field; instead, you are able to consider the totality of your interests. To obtain The Career Development Checklist with a complete list of career development activities you can pursue during your freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, and postgraduate years, attend The Law School Advising Workshop #2: The Law School Application Process. See The Workshop Calendar for a listing of dates and times for the next workshop.

Many law school applicants simply ask recommenders to write them a letter and then check that requirement off their long to-do list. However, tather than just securing a recommendation letter, ensure that your talents and accomplishments are highlighted by professionals and professors who know you, who know your interests, and who know your achievements. Attend The Law School Advising Workshop #4: Recommendation Letters to obtain guidelines for securing effective, tailored recommendation letters. See The Workshop Calendar for a listing of dates and times for the next workshop.

The most procrastinated element of the law school application process is the law school personal statement. To make your personal statement benefit your application, you need to keep the following ideas in mind. Writing an effective personal statement is a highly individualized process. The personal statement should represent the individual, and should be a unique essay that is based on your personality, experiences, and qualities.

Most personal statements fail to supply an original and unique voice. Your personal statement has to include elements of good writing. It has to be clear, concise, and engaging. Good writing is equated with confidence. Admissions officers are interested in reading excellent personal statements that begin with an engaging introduction that draws the reader in.

An evaluator could be reading hundreds or thousands of personal statements so any clichéd writing will not earn points. You should establish a theme in your personal statement that you have focused on in your application. Additionally, you must follow the requirements exactly. Remember that prospective law students can distinguish themselves and move from the “being considered” pile to the “accepted” pile based on their personal statements.

Elements to avoid. Elements to avoid in your personal statement include negatives such as trying to explain a low GPA or a low LSAT score. You need to re-evaluate information that is presented in an academic, stifled, or cluttered way. Discussions about law that attempt to impress your target audience will not impress the audience. A resume-like approach that lists your achievements that are included already in your resume or a personal statement that attempts to touch on too many topics will miss the point.

The most important element to remember is to be specific and to keep in mind that the reader is hoping for interesting and engaging writing. Attend The Law School Advising Workshop #3: Writing Your Personal Statement to get started on the most dreaded part of the application process. After attending this workshop, schedule an appointment with Professor Karen Graziano to discuss your personal statement. See The Workshop Calendar for a listing of dates and times for the next workshop.

Many law school applications have optional questions and essays. Most applicants do not complete optional essays. The reason is simple: The application process is already involved enough. You should seriously consider completing the optional essays. The law schools are looking for persuasive explanations. They are looking for additional insight to you as an applicant. The Admissions Office also wants to know specifically why you want to attend that law school. Responding with a general answer not only wastes a precious opportunity to add a personal element to your application, but it does not respond to the question. In a profession where being precise, specific, careful, and determined is the norm, weak, non-specific answers are viewed negatively.

An Addendum is useful if you need to explain a discrepancy on your record such as time you took off from college, a poor grade in a course, or disciplinary issues. You should reserve explanations of any of the above discrepancies for the Addendum and should not explain these circumstances in your personal statement. You should reserve your personal statement for a positive statement about your qualities.

Many law schools require you to submit your resume. Before you do, you need to analyze it. Are the information, format, and structure of your resume clear and concise? Your resume represents you and can add points to your application. Contact the Career Services Office to schedule a resume review before you complete your law school application. Ask professors, professionals, family members, friends, and especially those with a critical eye to review your resume. The more people that review your resume, the more feedback you will have to make necessary changes. Do not use formatted resumes. If you have used a formatted resume, redo it as a Word document. In the future when you need to make some necessary and quick changes, you will not be able to do so with a formatted resume.

Now that you have completed your applications, you might think that your work is complete—but now you have to determine where you want to attend and you need to continue working on career development activities. Celebrate completing your applications and then dive into the following activities:

• Visit the law schools before and after you have been accepted, if possible. Attend Open Houses in the fall and Accepted Students’ Nights in the spring. You will be able to ascertain differences between the schools at those events.
• Weigh the benefits of each law school program by specifically looking at differences in curriculum, clinical programs, and externships.
• Revise your resume. Improve your cover letter writing skills. You will rely on your career development writing and research skills during your first year of law school when you are looking for summer employment opportunities.
• Continue to research the legal profession by talking to attorneys. You need to develop more of a sense of what area of law you are interested in.
• Decide which law school to attend. Do not underestimate the amount of time and number of consultations with family, friends, and faculty members required to make your decision.
• Consider working at a law firm during the summer before law school. At a law firm you will learn more about the legal process and legal writing and research that will help you as a first year law student.

If you can not attend one of the scheduled workshops or if you would like to get started on Career Development Activities, your Personal Statement, or Recommendations before the next scheduled workshop, please email Professor Graziano at karen.graziano@villanova.edu to receive copies of the workshops.