I recently got an email from a student. This student was applying to law school, and wanted to know if writing the optional essay listed on the application was necessary, and if leaving it out would be detrimental. This isn't the first time I've gotten this question, so I want to share my thoughts on it.Is writing the optional essay on your law school application something you must do?The question is one that I know students lose plenty of … [Read more...]
The Secret Behind a Stellar Letter of Recommendation
You're working on your law school applications, do you know where your recommenders are? If you don't, you should. We see it every year, the poor LOR gets forgotten until the last minute, never getting the attention it deserves. Applicants seem to consider it a painful and relatively useless part of the application. So, why worry about it until the absolute last possible moment? So sad, and so very mistaken! Letters of recommendation, although … [Read more...]
Law School Predictors: Can You Trust Them?
This blog is brought to you by a special guest, Ana the Analyst. As we gear up for the 2021-2022 law school admissions cycle, there has been a new wave of posts asking, “what are my admission chances?” A number of websites and methods exist to bring aspiring applications tiny margins of hope. However, like all things on the internet, these websites need to be taken with a grain of salt. Two Student-Based Admission Chances SitesThere are two … [Read more...]
Canadian Law School Application Deadlines and Latest LSAT Score Allowed
Planning to attend law school in Canada? You may be thinking about which LSAT to take and wondering whether the January or February LSATs are too late. Schools in the US often accept scores from tests as late as July and application deadlines extend into the summer. But that is not the case in Canada.The majority of the 24 law schools in Canada list January as the latest LSAT they will accept. Application deadlines are generally in November … [Read more...]
Law School Job Placement: Top States and Portability
This blog is brought to you by a special guest, Ana the Analyst. The ABA job reports show an important facet of outcomes: job locations. The location information can have a big effect if you have a preferred city where you want to work. In these cases, than recruiting networks of many schools matter more than their arbitrary ranking. For instance, it doesn’t necessarily make sense to go to #25 Alabama if the only place you’ve ever wanted to live … [Read more...]
How Does the Law School Application Process Work?
Unlike applying to college, which is a pretty straightforward process (at least in retrospect), applying to law school can feel a little labyrinthine. Transcripts, Law School Reports, letters of recommendation, the Credential Assembly service, addenda...after a while, it can all start getting jumbled up.Right around this time of year, I start getting so many "I'm confused. Help!" emails that I find myself there was a quick and easy guide to … [Read more...]
Should You Cancel a Potentially Lower LSAT Score?
There's a common situation that pops up for test-takers after taking their second or third LSAT. After the exam, feelings of doubt creep in. "Should I cancel my score? It might be lower than a previous attempt! That would look bad on my application! What should I do?" It's a question that pops up a lot on our LSAT Forum and it's definitely worth addressing. Both Dave Killoran and Jon Denning have weighed in the debate countless times, so here's a … [Read more...]
The Diversity Rankings That Almost Were
This blog is brought to you by a special guest, Ana the Analyst. As you may have heard, USNews originally intended to release new “diversity rankings” with the 2022 Law School Rankings. The diversity rankings were to be stand-alone rankings that analyzed a school’s demographic break-out and rated schools on how diverse they were. However, due to several controversies (discussed on The PowerScore LSAT PodCast), these rankings were delayed until a … [Read more...]
Top 50 Schools for Public Interest Jobs
This blog is brought to you by a special guest, Ana the Analyst. There can be a tendency, on the internet, to focus on a school’s BigLaw + Federal Clerkship numbers (discussed in the first post of this series here). However, many students tend to self-select into public interest jobs. ABA employment reports breakout public interest and government jobs into two different categories. Since many jobs in the public interest are government jobs … [Read more...]
Top 50 Schools for BigLaw & Federal Clerkships
This blog is brought to you by a special guest, Ana the Analyst. Law school employment reports are out! We’ll be digging into some of the more fun details in a series of posts, but I wanted to start with everyone’s favorite topic: Big Law & Federal Clerkship amounts. What Are ABA Employment Reports? Each year since 2010, the American Bar Association has asked law schools to publish employment reports. These reports provide detailed … [Read more...]
Were You Waitlisted? Here’s What You Should Do
Most students would almost rather see a rejection letter than a waitlist letter. While the rejection letter may hurt more, at least you have closure. With a waitlist letter you have, well. Not closure and a whole lot of waiting. So, what do you do if you get a waitlist letter from a law school? First, let's begin by understanding what being waitlisted means. The Meaning of Being Waitlisted The vast majority of waitlisted applicants have good … [Read more...]
Historic Law School Waitlist Movement and the Current Cycle
This blog is brought to you by a special guest, Ana the Analyst. As deposit deadlines approach and LOCIs begin to be drafted, many an applicant has but one thing on their minds: how much waitlist movement should we be expecting, really?The short answer: we don’t know.The long answer: this is a historic year of many changes, including: the onslaught of a global pandemic; an increase in seats taken by deferring students; a massive increase … [Read more...]
Using Rankings to Decide Where to Apply to Law School
Rankings are everywhere. Whether it's law school, business school, college, or even high school, chances are there’s someone out there who’s come up with a ranking system. Their sheer ubiquity means that rankings are the one aspect nearly every applicant consults when making application decisions. These numbers certainly have their use, particularly at the start of the selection process when you need solid indicators to help you narrow down your … [Read more...]
LSAT Podcast Episode 82: The 2022 US News Law School Rankings
The 2022 US News law school rankings have been released, setting the “official” standard by which schools will be compared to one another for the next twelve months. In this episode, Jon and Dave offer their take on this year’s rankings, including the controversial metrics and weighting involved, the most prominent winners and losers as schools rise and fall, and—above all—exactly what these rankings mean to you as an applicant! … [Read more...]