Using LSAC and the CAS
You should apply electronically (for all ABA accredited law schools) directly through the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) Credential Assembly Service. Consult the LSAC website for the checklist for the law school admission process. The instructions that accompany the application should be followed exactly, and all responses should be accurate and entered without error.
The Personal Statement
Virtually every law school now requires a personal statement from the applicant. Generally, the personal statement should reveal your values and motivations for studying law, being a lawyer, and attending a particular law school. Some applicants tell stories about experiences or people who inspired them to study the law, while others are more straightforward in detailing their motivations. There is no single acceptable style, so take the approach that feels the most genuine for you.
Be sure to adhere carefully to the requirements or recommendations contained in the application instructions regarding length, prompt, format, etc. Unless otherwise specified, the typical statement should be about two pages, double-spaced. It should reflect the very best grammatical and communicative effort of the applicant because it will be judged both as to form and substance. Being simple, direct, and clear will impress admissions officials, while using unusual words and legal terms will not. Consider the personal statement as your personal interview (on paper) with the admissions committee.
Letters of Recommendation
Law schools will indicate how many letters of recommendation are required, and most require 2 or 3, with some allowing more and others not requiring them at all. Although the LSAT and GPA form the foundation of the admission evaluation process, your personal statement and letters of recommendation can provide the admission committee with a different perspective from which to view them. Think of your recommendation letters as testimony from witnesses you have called to testify on your behalf, making the case that they have seen you demonstrate skills and characteristics related to success in law school and in a legal career.
Letters should comment on the applicant's academic abilities and be specific in their comments about the individual. Therefore, they should come from people who have had significant personal contact with the student applying. You should seek out professors from your major field and those in whose classes you have done your best academic work. It is especially helpful to secure letters from faculty with whom you have taken multiple courses, so they can draw on multiple examples of your work and speak to your evolution. It might also be useful to secure a recommendation from an employer, if they have directly observed your work and can speak to your relevant attributes. But note that you are applying for an academic experience, so the majority of your recommendations should be academic in nature. Further, general character references, even from prominent judges, attorneys, or politicians, will not help your chances and may in fact hurt them because the admissions committee has learned too little about you.
Take care in selecting your recommenders, try to be certain that they will write strong letters that discuss you as an individual. We recommend reaching out to your recommenders at least 1 month before you plan to submit your applications. Begin with an initial email concisely informing them of your plans, reminding them why they are positioned to write for you, and asking if they are available to write by your deadline. If they agree, you should then follow up with additional details, including a draft of your personal statement and a copy of your résumé, and you might also remind them of the relevant work you did in their classes or as their employee. After your recommender agrees to write for you, enter their contact information in the LSAC application system, to trigger an email that will include instructions and a link for them to submit.
Dean's Certification
Some schools, mostly on the East Coast, require a certification form or letter from the Dean of your school. Typically, this information includes class rank and academic standing. If you have been subjected to any disciplinary actions even in your first quarter at SCU, this will appear on the Dean's Letter and may harm your chances for law school admission. If necessary, contact the Office of Student Life to obtain the Dean's Letter.
Admission and Acceptance
Most law schools operate on a "rolling admissions" basis, in which applicants are evaluated and accepted continuously over several months, beginning in fall (often October 1) and extending to midsummer for waiting-list admissions. You should aim to apply early, by about the middle of November. The earlier you apply, the more seats and scholarships will be available. Although schools will try to make comparable decisions throughout the admission season, it is disadvantageous to be one of the last applicants to complete a file–and your application will not be reviewed at all until it is complete according to the school's criteria. Additionally, the more decisions you receive from law schools early in the process, the better able you will be to make your own decisions, such as whether to apply to more law schools or to accept a school's offer. On the other hand, if you believe that your GPA will significantly improve with your fall grades and/or your LSAT score will significantly increase in January following additional preparation, it might make sense to apply then.
Applicants whose qualifications exceed the school's admission standards are usually accepted during the first round of decisions. With some exceptions, candidates whose credentials fall below the school's standards are usually rejected. Most applications are not decided upon immediately upon review. If you have strong qualifications, but they do not quite equal those currently being admitted at a particular law school, you may be placed on a waiting list for possible admission at a later date. The law school will notify you of its decision as early as April or as late as August. If you are on a waiting list and can honestly say that you will enroll if accepted, inform the admissions office of this.
Many law schools use seat deposits to help keep track of their new classes. For example, a school may require a deposit fee of $200 to $500 (some require two fees, one by April 1 and the second by June 1), credited to your first-term tuition if you actually register at the school; if you choose not to attend, the deposit may be forfeited or returned only partially. However, submitting multiple deposits can be risky. Law schools participating in LSAC's commitment overlap reporting service submit to LSAC information on applicants who have made verbal, written, and/or monetary agreements to attend their schools. Therefore, ask each law school about its policy on multiple deposits; some will not penalize applicants for placing multiple deposits, and others threaten to revoke offers of admission for doing so.