When to Apply

Timing is an often overlooked—but quite impactful—consideration when applying to law school. Most schools review applications on a rolling basis (i.e., in the order they are received), which means that submitting your application early is in your best interest: as the incoming class fills up, open seats come at a premium because schools are more selective when deciding who will occupy the few remaining openings. Compounding the issue is the fact that two of the last three application cycles have been some of the most competitive in recent decades. Whereas applicants previously could make a somewhat educated guess regarding which schools will extend an offer based on test scores, the proposition is much less certain in the current climate. All of that points to one simple conclusion: apply as early as you can (without compromising the quality of your application, of course).

But what exactly is “early”? Even though the earliest deadlines are in February, you would want to apply no later than Christmas. Many applicants will have time off from work around the holidays or will have just finished their finals and will dedicate that free time to compiling and submitting their applications. Ideally, however, you should target Thanksgiving as your soft deadline for the same reason: the long weekend provides the opportunity to get some work done—and you want to be ahead of the application wave, not a part of it. With most schools opening their applications in September (or even earlier for early decision applications), spending time on your application in the summer and submitting it early in the fall will ensure that you are first in line for admissions committees!

Application Cycle Phases

Coincidentally, summertime is also when some waitlisted applicants from the previous cycle receive their decision—meaning that the application process can extend close to a year. To give you a better idea of the road ahead and the work required from you, we’ll break down the cycle into three parts.

Pre-Application

Let’s consider the documents that you must assemble before submitting your application. Application documents can be roughly divided into two categories: supplemental materials and essays (both required and optional).

• Supplemental materials: Supplemental materials (e.g., transcripts, letters of recommendation, resume) are pretty straightforward, so there’s usually no reason to delay obtaining them. It’s best to approach recommenders (college professors, for example) while your time together is fresh in their minds so that you don’t end up waiting on their recommendation letters when you’re otherwise ready to apply. Obtaining the supplemental materials might require a bit of legwork (and, for the resume, writing and proofreading), but they aren’t the most time- or thought-consuming application components.
• Essays: Essays, on the other hand, are (or should be) the effort-intensive part of your application—and rightfully so. Beyond your GPA and LSAT score, your essays have the most significant impact on the admissions committee’s decision. Good scores tell schools nothing about your personality and social fit for the school or the legal profession in general, so the essays are the place to showcase just that. Use the space given to you to tell a story that digs a bit deeper than your career aspirations and to let schools get to know you better as a person as well. Additionally, essays serve as a window into your writing ability—an imperative skill for any attorney. Before you apply, schools have no way of assessing your writing skills, especially if you come from a STEM field, where writing is used much less often. Therefore, it’s important to keep the writing at a high level, showcase an extensive vocabulary, and avoid typos or grammatical errors: a 4.0 GPA will only get you so far if you submit a personal statement riddled with mistakes. Proofread every word of every essay; it would be a shame to leave a bad impression just because you didn’t feel like spending the extra five minutes.
• Optional essays: Speaking of spending more time on essays, consider the term “optional essay” a misnomer. When a school offers such essays, always include at least one with your application, as failing to do so comes off as either lazy or dismissive of the school—and neither is a good look for you. Don’t read that to mean that you must write every essay the school offers. Composing eight essays—which some schools give you the option to do—in addition to your personal statement is somewhat of an overkill. For starters, it’s nearly impossible to dedicate the proper effort to that many essays, so you’re better off writing two great essays than seven mediocre or sloppy ones. More importantly, the multitude of optional essays might distract from the really important ones (i.e., your personal and diversity statements), which is obviously something you want to avoid. Finally, some schools offer what might look like an optional essay but is really a diversity statement masquerading as an optional essay: the prompt will ask you to describe how your background would contribute to the diversity of your class/the student body/the legal profession/etc. In that case, if you’ve decided not to write a diversity statement, it’s better to forgo the optional essay rather than include one that would read as insignificant at best and disingenuous at worst.

Post-Application

Congratulations! The time-consuming part is behind you. Depending on how busy the application cycle is, schools can take several months to respond to your application—and if you’re waitlisted, you might be waiting a few months on top of that. Here are a few things to keep in mind during this phase.

Checking In

Although it’s totally fine to check in with the school if you haven’t heard anything after a couple of months have passed since your application submission, try not to inundate schools with weekly emails and calls. You won’t get your answer any sooner, and you might actually hurt your chances by being overzealous. One exception to this rule is if timing is of the essence—for example, if another school has offered you a spot and the deposit deadline is approaching (more on that in a bit), or if you have a career decision to make sooner rather than later.

Writing LOCIs

If you’ve been placed on the waitlist, you can write a letter of continued interest (LOCI) to the school. The purpose of this letter is twofold.

First, while it might be obvious to you, the school can’t be sure if you’re still interested in matriculating, if you’ve accepted an offer from another school, or if you’ve decided to focus on work for another year. The LOCI serves as a reminder to the school that you’re still interested. So, with that in mind, the more enthusiastic your letter sounds, the better.

The second goal of the LOCI is to keep schools abreast of any important developments in your life since you submitted your application. This can include anything from starting a new job/internship, to receiving recent grades, to getting your thesis published. If you have no major updates, that’s fine; don’t bend over backward to create an interesting—and relevant—point to talk about if there is none. Schools are unlikely to care if you’ve discovered a passion for cooking or you took a trip to Europe. Simply reiterating your interest—with a short blurb explaining it—is sufficient.

Interviewing

Before you receive a decision, you may have one more hoop to jump through: interviewing with the school. Interviews vary from school to school in several ways, including the medium (i.e., Zoom, phone, or in person), length, and interviewer (see “6 Ways to Nail Your Law School Admissions Interview” for more insight), but one tip rings true across the board: treat these interviews with the same seriousness and professionalism as you would a job interview. That’s not to say you must wear a suit—business casual should be your lower bar in terms of attire—but you need to be prepared, answer the questions you’re asked, and avoid being overly colloquial. Remember, however, that you’re not talking to the queen of England, so try to read the proverbial room and adjust accordingly: if the interviewer is more conversational, follow suit; if the interview feels like a rapid-fire Q&A, try to stay on topic.

Post-Result

If you’ve been admitted to law school, congratulations! But there may be some additional issues to consider before the application process is complete.

Enduring the Waitlist

Maybe you’ve been offered a seat in a safety school while you’re still awaiting a final response from other schools you like more. Worse, there’s a good chance—especially if you’ve been placed on the waitlist—that the deadline to place a deposit for your safety school will come before you hear back from your preferred one. How can you make a decision that could impact the next three years—and possibly your career—with incomplete information about your prospects? It is up to you to obtain as much of that missing information as possible and use it in your decision making.

Following Up with Schools

First, it’s important to remember that schools and admissions committees aren’t machines and understand better than anyone the twists and turns of the admissions cycle. Therefore, it is perfectly acceptable to email the school that offered you a seat and ask for an extension. They’ll unlikely give you more than a couple of weeks, but that period could be all the time you need. You might also want to email the schools you’ve yet to hear from, informing them that you have an upcoming decision deadline and inquiring about the status of your application. In doing so, you not only implicitly let the school know that you’re a wanted commodity, but also that—despite having an offer on the table—they are still your top choice, making you look more enthusiastic. Hopefully, doing so will push your application to the front of the line and you’ll have your answer sooner than you would have otherwise.

Leveraging Scholarship Offers

Another bit of information that could help you in your decision making relates to finances. Whether or not the school that offered you a seat tendered a scholarship alongside it, it is perfectly acceptable to negotiate for more money. If you have better scholarship offers from other schools, make sure to mention that in your correspondence. There is no risk involved in doing so (assuming you ask in a polite manner), and it could amount to thousands of dollars in your bank account and an easier decision. Keep in mind that applicants admitted off the waitlist rarely receive merit-based scholarships from the school, so you might be looking at the difference between graduating with substantial debt from your top choice or graduating debt free from a school you like less. That matters!

Withdrawing Acceptance

If you’re still undecided by the deposit deadline, remember that an acceptance is not binding. Sure, if you place a deposit on a safety school and then later withdraw your acceptance after gaining admission to your top choice, you will lose your deposit—but we’re talking about anywhere between $200 and $1,000. Although that’s no small change, it’s not much compared to law school tuition and expenses—not to mention the possible ramifications for your career. Let the school know you’re withdrawing your acceptance so that the seat opens up for someone on the waitlist, forget about the money you lost, and celebrate getting into a school you liked better!

In Conclusion

As you can see, the application cycle is not a simple—or short—road to travel. Treat it as a marathon, not a sprint: start working early (i.e., before applications open), keep tabs on deadlines and the status of your application with each school, and follow up. On the flip side, avoid the application equivalent of “cramming.” If you compose all your essays and complete all your applications in a week or two, both your mental well-being and the quality of your work will suffer.

Good luck with your applications, law school, and beyond!