| “There are 100,000 law school
applicants vying for 43,500 openings this year. That’s up 27
percent from last year...” - Pre Law
Insider |
 Pre Application
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One
of the most important parts of the application process is
early planning. Without a well-organized, well-thought out
plan you may lack direction. Once you decide that you are
going to apply to law school, you should sit down and come up
with a tentative schedule to follow, a schedule that best
suits your time restraints and capabilities. One of the
purposes of this site is to help you, the applicant, become
familiarized with the most important factors in the
application process and piece them together to form a coherent
whole. Looking in retrospect, I am very thankful that I took
the time to map out my course of action for law school. In
doing so, I saved myself plenty of time, energy, and
frustration due to lack of organization. |
| Talking
with a pre-law advisor at your college can provide you with an
abundant amount of information and resources about law school;
after all, this is the bulk of their job. Either during your
freshman year at college or as soon as you begin considering
applying to law school you should schedule an appointment with
an advisor to introduce yourself. While there, discuss with
him or her your questions and major concerns. |
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How do I find an advisor? |
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In order to find a Pre-Law advisor at your undergraduate
institution you have a few options. You can start
by asking a current academic advisor or look for flyers
posted around campus. If neither of these two
options proves successful you can turn to your
undergraduate programs office within your school or
college and ask where the Pre-Law Advising Office is
located. If applicable, you can search on your
university’s online directory for the telephone number
of the office. Once you have found the office you
should schedule your appointment and pick up some of the
numerous flyers and pamphlets available to you.
These resources will enable you to get a better feel for
what needs to be done,
and start you on your way to a successful law school
application process. |
What are the services
offered at the office of Pre-Law Advising?1 |
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Most Pre-Law Advising offices sponsor student run
organizations. These organizations could be of interest
to you and deserve further investigation. Such
organizations include, but are not limited to, Pre-Law
Society, AHANA Pre-Law Society, Mock Trial Team, and
Pre-Law Review (See National Organizations for
further information). Each of these clubs is valuable
and can help you decide whether law school is the right
choice for you. Additionally, the office may have a
library filled with resources pertaining to the law
school application process, individual law schools, and
the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). If you have any
questions regarding law school or the application
process, your advisor or other Pre-Law staff is there to
answer them quickly and precisely. Finally, you will
find that when applying to law school you may be
required to submit a Dean’s Letter of Recommendation
(See Letters of Recommendations for further
information). The Dean of Pre-Law advising
formulates the letter, and as an applicant you will need
to provide the necessary information to facilitate the
production
of the recommendation. This letter will be sent to
every law school that you intend on sending your
application to. |
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Who can use these services?1,2 |
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Any enrolled student at the college or university is
eligible for the Pre-Law advising office services. If
you are no longer enrolled at an undergraduate
institution you do not have to worry. By contacting
your degree-granting school you can use the Pre-Law
Advising services. If you are registered for the Law
School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS) already, the
contact information for the pre-law advisor is provided on
your LSDAS subscription confirmation from the Law School
Admission Council (LSAC). If you are no longer living
in the area of which your degree-granting school is
located, the advising office will communicate with you
via phone, fax, and e-mail. |
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If you are still debating whether to incorporate a pre-law
course of study into your undergraduate major, this section
may be of some help to you. Two years ago, I was in the same
position, wondering if I should major in political science or
some other form of a “law-related” major. After attending a
seminar held by a column of law school admission officers I
decided to major in Psychology. During this seminar and from
further research I found that the Law School Admission Council
and most law schools feel that a pre-law program
is neither advantageous nor recommended. Instead, you should
choose a major that is based on your interests while
developing certain skills that will be helpful once in law
school. Such skills include: reading comprehension,
analytical thinking, economics, and written and oral
communication. You can major in just about any field and
still be accepted to a great law school. No particular course
of study prepares a student better than any other. The most
important thing is your performance in your chosen major. The
second most important thing is to make sure that you choose an
undergraduate field that is neither narrowly based nor
vocationally oriented. What counts is the intensity and depth
to which you explore your options at your institution of
study.
You
may be interested in taking some courses that will provide
them with a better understanding of what the study of law is
about. This will give you the
chance to decide whether attending law school is for you or
not. If you are interested in more information on the
particular courses or majors offered at your school, you
should contact your pre-law advising office and check student
publications for information about related seminars and
discussions. |
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In
order to find out more about law schools there are a couple of
things that you could do. Because a lot of time and effort
can be wasted gathering information on law schools, you should
first come up with a list of all the possible law schools you
would attend. You should select the law schools to which you
will apply after reviewing all the admission information for
each of the schools on your list. From your list, write, call
or visit the website of the law schools for their bulletins,
catalogs, and other materials that are current and able to
help you narrow your law school list down. This is something
that you should do as early as possible. Most school
bulletins become available around August for the fall of the
following year, but information is available earlier on their
websites. Next, you can talk to your pre-law advisor and have
them assist you on what schools they feel would suit you
best. Finally, you should visit the schools you are
interested in, if possible. You can learn more than you think
by talking to students and faculty members, and by visiting
some of their classes. For most people it may be difficult to
visit some of the schools. Fortunately for everyone, there
are law school forums held annually where admission
representatives from most schools are present to answer any
questions or address any concerns you may have. For locations
and dates of these forums see
Female Lawyer Links. |
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One of the
best things you could do to find out about the rigors of law
school is to talk to people who are currently in law school or
are recent graduates. They are the few people that can answer
your questions in a way in which you will be able to relate
to, a student’s perspective. If you know anyone who is
currently working as an attorney, talk to him or her about his
or her feelings toward the practice of law. Additionally, if
it is possible, visit their office to see whether his or her
place of work is an environment you could feel comfortable
working in. |
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| 1Boston University Pre-Law Advising Office, Pre-Law
Registration Packet (2001). |
| 2Law School
Admission Council, Getting Started (2003). |
| 3Boston University
Pre-Law Advising Office, The NAPLA Pre-Law Advisor's Guide
(2001). |
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