Although all components of a law school application are important, the most important one is the personal statement. To that end, this series explains some of the pivotal points you should keep in mind as you prepare to write your law school application personal statement. This is a 10-part series that will help get you from starting to finishing your personal statement. Get Personal In this third installment of our Writing Your Personal Statement series, we are going to talk about putting the person in personal statement. Scheduling the time to write and carefully planning your personal … [Read more...]
How to Choose the Best LSAT Prep Option
At the beginning of any given student's LSAT prep journey, we commonly receive two questions:"How do I begin to prepare?" "How do I pick the prep option that's best for me?"In this post I’ll do my best to answer both of those questions.First, I'm obviously pretty biased when it comes to courses and prep in general. PowerScore is truly the industry leader when it comes to quality instruction and student results. For the purpose of this post, I’ll avoid a blatant PowerScore pitch and instead take a different approach. So, here’s broader advice to help you make the most informed … [Read more...]
Writing Your Personal Statement, Part 2: Plan It Out
Although all components of a law school application are important, the most important one is the personal statement. To that end, this series explains some of the pivotal points you should keep in mind as you prepare to write your law school application personal statement. This is a 10-part series that will help get you from starting to finishing your personal statement. Plan It Out In this second installment of our Writing Your Personal Statement series, we are going to talk about planning out your writing. Don't underestimate the importance of brainstorming and outlining. Particularly, … [Read more...]
Writing Your Personal Statement Part 1: Take Your Time
Although all components of a law school application are important, the most important one is the personal statement. To that end, this series explains some of the pivotal points you should keep in mind as you prepare to write your law school application personal statement. This is a 10-part series that will help get you from starting to finishing your personal statement. Personal Statement Timeline Let's start off with something most law school applicants don't even think about: the personal statement timeline.While students consider the personal statement one of the hardest parts of … [Read more...]
Crystal Ball Webinar: The November ’20-April ’21 LSAT Flex Tests
On November 2nd, Dave Killoran and Jon Denning hosted a special, free online Crystal Ball webinar where they analyzed recent LSAT trends and made predictions about what students will likely face on the November 2020-April 2021 tests. The goal of this session is to help attendees recognize the concepts and skills that will serve as the basis of their score—to highlight precisely what's most likely to appear, from guarantees to dark-horse, outlier candidates—allowing for a clear ability to prioritize your efforts most appropriately as your test date approaches. Re-watch the session here to make … [Read more...]
Money Talks: LSAT, GPA, Tuition, & Salary Data for the T100 Law Schools
Does a law degree from a prestigious university automatically mean a six figure salary? Does starting salary correlate strongly with tuition, or is rank a more important factor?Law school is expensive, no doubt about it, with tuition ranging from $27,000 to almost $69,000. Given that starting salaries in the private law practice sector range from $62,000 to a whopping $190,000, it can certainly be a smart investment in the long run though. As you’re putting together your list of dream schools, it’s not a bad idea to compare all of the data, and to that end, we’ve put together a chart with … [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 and December, though at least one is as late as March 1st. Canadian Law School DeadlinesThings to NoteApplication Deadline. The deadline is … [Read more...]
Which Law Schools Offer Spring and Summer Starts?
January and February is deadline season, which means that many law school applicants are getting all their ducks in a row and submitting their apps, eyes aglow at the thought of starting law school in the fall. But what if you're not one of them? You don't want to start this fall, but you don't want to wait until next fall to start. You're still glowing with the thought of starting law school, but you'd like to start in the Spring or Summer next year.Fortunately for you, there are some law schools that offer spring and summer starts. Which ones are they?A few things to keep in mind, … [Read more...]
Supplemental Essays in Law School Admissions: Yes or No?
Many law schools invite applicants to submit supplemental essays when applying to law school. Surprisingly, the topics you are likely to be asked about do not vary tremendously, and generally boil down to the following. AddendaDiscuss weaknesses or significant trends in your undergraduate record. This is known as an "addendum" and should be submitted if necessary (whether the school asks for it or not). Address issues related to the "character and fitness" section of the application, such as an academic or disciplinary probation. An addendum should also be included if you have … [Read more...]
Can I Take the LSAT Instead of the GMAT to Apply to Business School?
Using a GRE score for application to MBA programs (in place of a GMAT score) has become standard practice in recent years as ETS (the makers of the GRE) has aggressively marketed the GRE as a substitute for the GMAT. That's great for GRE takers, but is there a way to use an LSAT score to get into business school, and thus skip taking the GMAT entirely? It turns out that there is--but, there is also a condition in place on using that LSAT score, so let's talk a bit more about the process. LSAT vs GMAT Because the LSAT and GMAT are very different exams, and typically used for very different … [Read more...]
Top 100 Law School Application Deadlines and Latest Acceptable LSAT: 2021 Edition
The LSAT you take—or retake—can have a great impact on your admission chances. Some of you may be asking, “Is the January LSAT too late? Are the February or March LSATs too late?” We survey top law schools yearly with those exact questions to find out admissions deadlines and the latest LSAT each school will accept.Many of the top law schools are still requiring a January LSAT deadline. But, as you’ll see in the chart below, the February and March LSATs are definitely viable options for test-takers. A quarter of the schools still allow for a June or July test result, however, they admit … [Read more...]
Law School Transfer Statistics and What it Means for You
If you're nervous about your admissions chances, you might be considering your options for transferring. Something like: “If I don’t get accepted into my dream law school, can I just do well during my 1L and then transfer up?” In 2019, a total of 2,396 students transferred between law schools, so it isn’t uncommon. But as you can see in the chart below, most of the T14 schools admit very few, if any, transfer students. Georgetown is an outlier, so you might want to add that school to your target list if you’re considering a switch! Transferring is certainly an option if you perform extremely … [Read more...]
No Such Thing as a Free Lunch: The Fine Print on Full Scholarship Offers
If you're here, you're probably wondering what exactly we're talking about. If you score a full scholarship, congratulations are in order! But we want to make sure you read the fine print, too. Let's talk about what it takes to keep your merit-based scholarship offer for the duration of your legal education. If you want to pre-read about this topic, we suggest these articles: Scholarship vs. Prestige: When to Take the Money and Run? A Law Degree is Worth Over $1 Million. Can You Get it for Free?Pre-Requisites If you apply early for admissions and have the competitive … [Read more...]
A Law Degree is Worth Over $1 Million. Can You Get it for Free?
Breaking Down the Numbers According to Law School Transparency, as of 2018, the average law school graduate carries $115,000 in student loan debt. To break that down, public law school graduates carry about $92,000 in debt and private law school graduates carry $130,000 in debt. This would all be fine, of course, if you were virtually guaranteed a six-figure salary after graduation. You are not. According to the ABA, nine months after graduating, only 57% of law students had full-time jobs that required passing the bar. For those lucky enough to have a job, the median salary was $60,500. Yes, … [Read more...]