APPLYING TO LAW SCHOOL
There are 196 law schools in the U.S. in the U.S. accredited by the American Bar Association. There are, then, 196 ways of preparing a law school application. The only way to properly apply to a law school is to follow its specific admissions process. Applying to law school is a very time consuming process. The application deadline for most schools is in January or February of the year you begin will begin to matriculate. During the summer before or the early fall of your senior year you should request information from law schools you might be interested in. While there are numerous criteria that law schools consider when making admissions decisions most if not all review the applicant's Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), Grade Point Average (GPA), "personal statement" and Letters of Recommendation. Law schools rely upon the services of The Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS) to receive a Report for each law school applicant. It is therefore critical that you subscribe to the LSDAS service. It costs $93 plus $9 for each school which you wish to receive your Report. Information on this service can be obtained online at www.LSAC.org or from the Career Development Office.
LAW SCHOOL ADMISSIONS TEST
The Law School Admissions Test is a half-day standardized test required for admission to law school. It provides a standard measure of acquired reading and verbal reasoning skills that law schools can use as one of several factors in assessing applicants. The test consists of five 35-minute sections of multiple choice questions and an upgraded writing sample which you are given 30 minutes to prepare. Four of the five sections contribute to the test taker's score. These sections include two logical reasoning/arguments, one analytical reasoning/games and one reading comprehension. The score scale for the LSAT is 120-150. One can register for the LSAT online at http://www.LSAC.org., by telephone at 215-968-1001 or by sending a written application by mail at the address on the form which is Law Services, LSAT/LSDAS Registration Form, Box 2001, Newtown., PA 18940-0981. In any case one should be sure to receive the current LSAT&LSDAS Registration/Information Book (the Book). The cost to register is $88. To prepare for the LSAT one should read the sample test which is offered by LSAC, purchase preparation materials or take a law school review course. The test is administered four times a year (February, June, September/October and December) at various sites through the country. The test registration deadlines and score release date are available for the upcoming year at LSAC. It is strongly recommended that one take the LSAT in the June before your senior year in college if you are prepared. The LSAT can be taken more than once; each score is included on the LSDAS Report.
TRANSCRIPTS
Information about your academic record must be sent to the LSDAS by the all colleges which you attended. The LSDAS will in turn will send it on to the law schools. The Book contains several "Transcript Request Forms" which the applicant sends to his/her prior places of education. All college transcripts must be sent to the LSDAS after the completion of the junior year; first semester senior grades can be subsequently forwarded. The LSDAS summarizes your transcript and recalculates your GPA using the "Grade Conversion Chart".
LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
The LSAC offers a letter of recommendation service whereby the applicant requests his/her recommender to complete a form which is then sent to LSAC. The LSAC sends the letters, up to three, to the law school along with the Report. The LSAC forms tend to be a bit impersonal by not allowing the recommender to tailor each recommendation to each law school. Alumnae from law schools can often speak about the "fit" between the applicant and that law school. For applicants from a relatively small school like Bryant College, letters of recommendation are generally more important than from a large institution because there is greater interaction between the student and professor/recommender. Professors are usually the best choice although if an attorney who knows your intellectual ability or work ethic he/she may be helpful. Letters should be well informed often giving specific examples of the recommender-applicant interactions
There are 196 law schools in the U.S. in the U.S. accredited by the American Bar Association. There are, then, 196 ways of preparing a law school application. The only way to properly apply to a law school is to follow its specific admissions process. Applying to law school is a very time consuming process. The application deadline for most schools is in January or February of the year you begin will begin to matriculate. During the summer before or the early fall of your senior year you should request information from law schools you might be interested in. While there are numerous criteria that law schools consider when making admissions decisions most if not all review the applicant's Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), Grade Point Average (GPA), "personal statement" and Letters of Recommendation. Law schools rely upon the services of The Law School Data Assembly Service (LSDAS) to receive a Report for each law school applicant. It is therefore critical that you subscribe to the LSDAS service. It costs $93 plus $9 for each school which you wish to receive your Report. Information on this service can be obtained online at www.LSAC.org or from the Career Development Office.
LAW SCHOOL ADMISSIONS TEST
The Law School Admissions Test is a half-day standardized test required for admission to law school. It provides a standard measure of acquired reading and verbal reasoning skills that law schools can use as one of several factors in assessing applicants. The test consists of five 35-minute sections of multiple choice questions and an upgraded writing sample which you are given 30 minutes to prepare. Four of the five sections contribute to the test taker's score. These sections include two logical reasoning/arguments, one analytical reasoning/games and one reading comprehension. The score scale for the LSAT is 120-150. One can register for the LSAT online at http://www.LSAC.org., by telephone at 215-968-1001 or by sending a written application by mail at the address on the form which is Law Services, LSAT/LSDAS Registration Form, Box 2001, Newtown., PA 18940-0981. In any case one should be sure to receive the current LSAT&LSDAS Registration/Information Book (the Book). The cost to register is $88. To prepare for the LSAT one should read the sample test which is offered by LSAC, purchase preparation materials or take a law school review course. The test is administered four times a year (February, June, September/October and December) at various sites through the country. The test registration deadlines and score release date are available for the upcoming year at LSAC. It is strongly recommended that one take the LSAT in the June before your senior year in college if you are prepared. The LSAT can be taken more than once; each score is included on the LSDAS Report.
TRANSCRIPTS
Information about your academic record must be sent to the LSDAS by the all colleges which you attended. The LSDAS will in turn will send it on to the law schools. The Book contains several "Transcript Request Forms" which the applicant sends to his/her prior places of education. All college transcripts must be sent to the LSDAS after the completion of the junior year; first semester senior grades can be subsequently forwarded. The LSDAS summarizes your transcript and recalculates your GPA using the "Grade Conversion Chart".
LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
The LSAC offers a letter of recommendation service whereby the applicant requests his/her recommender to complete a form which is then sent to LSAC. The LSAC sends the letters, up to three, to the law school along with the Report. The LSAC forms tend to be a bit impersonal by not allowing the recommender to tailor each recommendation to each law school. Alumnae from law schools can often speak about the "fit" between the applicant and that law school. For applicants from a relatively small school like Bryant College, letters of recommendation are generally more important than from a large institution because there is greater interaction between the student and professor/recommender. Professors are usually the best choice although if an attorney who knows your intellectual ability or work ethic he/she may be helpful. Letters should be well informed often giving specific examples of the recommender-applicant interactions