Pre-Law Resources » How to Apply to Law School » The LSAT

How to Apply to Law School

What you'll need

To apply to law school, you need the following: the application, an LSAT score, a personal statement, one or two letters of recommendation (depending on the school), transcripts, a "dean's letter" (depending on the school), and possibly a resume.

The LSAT

The LSAT is offered four times per year. You can retake it for a better score, and some schools will take the better of the two scores. Other schools will average the two together. You also have the option of canceling your score immediately after the exam. So if you think you did horrible, you can cancel the score and take it again with no damage to your record. It's therefore advisable to take the earliest possible LSAT.

Before you take the LSAT, however, you should do some preparation. You can take a commercial class or study from a book. Some of these are listed in the resources and books area of this site. Are the classes worth the money? Which is best? These are examples of questions to which I do not know the answer. Use the discussion board to figure it out.

Law school admissions officers weight the LSAT heavily. A couple weeks of preparation can make up for years of slacking off in college. On the other hand, even the most dedicated scholars can have a bad day and lose the benefit of their high GPA. Students are obsessed with the LSAT, and they should be. My impression is that GPA is much bigger indicator of law school grades than the LSAT, so don't worry if you didn't do as well as you thought you should.

Your LSAT score will arrive in the mail, but for a fee (around $10), you can get your score a little sooner over the phone. For a ten second call, $10 is very pricey. You could dial up a phone sex hotline and talk for several minutes for that price. No matter how frugal and sensible you may be, you're probably going to call anyway. I won't try to talk you out of it. (note that you can listen to your score over and over again if you want, so you might as well make your $10 last)

Your LSAT score will be on file with the Law School Data Assembly Service ("LSDAS"). They will compile all of your materials and send them out to the schools for you. Don't need that service? Too bad, it's the only way to do it.

Next: What You'll Need: Personal Statement

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