We recently posted a list of law schools in the Top 50 that accept the June LSAT. A number of students wanted to also see the full list of all schools with late admissions deadlines ("late" in this case means a hard deadline of March 31st or later). Because we called every single law school on this list to confirm our data, this took a while to produce! But, we can now present you with a complete and accurate list of law schools with late 2018 admissions deadlines.This post was updated 4/6/18. In our table, the following categories are used: Rank: The rank for each school was drawn … [Read more...]
How to Write the Best Letter of Continued Interest (LOCI)
A LOCI is a Letter of Continued Interest. Usually, you send this to inform a school of your interest in attending despite being waitlisted or put on hold. It also offers an opportunity to update the school on new developments in your application. Are you putting together your LOCI? Here’s a breakdown of everything you need to know. Why Send a LOCI? If you are waitlisted or held, a school typically wants to make sure you still want to attend their institution. A LOCI is your opportunity to convey your interest despite not receiving an immediate acceptance letter. Will the LOCI Make a … [Read more...]
Non-Traditional Law School Applicants: Old Folks Rule!
When I took the LSAT for the first time, I was 31 years old, 8 years out of college, married, with a 2-year-old son, working full-time at a large non-profit institution, had a mortgage, and was the primary breadwinner in the household. I was, in other words, a “non-traditional” applicant.Does this sound like you?I was nervous about the process. Would any law school be interested in an “old guy” like me? Who would I ask for letters of recommendation, when I couldn’t expect my old professors to remember me very well? My GPA was…let’s say “unimpressive,” but by this time I was more mature … [Read more...]
How to Choose the Best LSAT Prep Option
March typically signifies the end of the previous year’s testing and application cycle. It also indicates the start of most test taker’s prep for the upcoming fall admission. That isn’t to suggest that schools won’t take a summer test for a start later this year, though. There are a lot of great schools that accept scores from “late” test administrations. However, for the majority of future applicants the coming months mark the start of their LSAT journeys. This time of year, there are two common questions students are asking."How do I begin to prepare?" "How do I pick the best prep … [Read more...]
Struggling with the September LSAT? Is December Too Late?
One of the most common questions we receive is whether applying early with a September LSAT score is a better strategy than taking the December LSAT and then applying with what would likely be a better score (since December allows you more than two extra months of studying). Many students think the advantage of applying early is so great that it is better to just take the September LSAT even if that test doesn't produce their best LSAT score. But that is not the case at all, so let's talk about what to do if you either don't feel great about the upcoming September LSAT or if you take September … [Read more...]
Writing Your Personal Statement, Part 10, Don’t Be Afraid
Well, we've reached the conclusion of this 10-part series on the law school personal statement--and now I get to talk about my favorite topic when it comes to this ever-important element of your law school application: FEAR.Whether we like to admit it or not, a huge component of applying to law school is fear. Students come to me with a great variety of things that scare them, among them:Taking the LSAT Studying for the LSAT Asking for recommendations Choosing the right law school Whether their GPA is high enough What their chances of acceptance areAnd yes: … [Read more...]
Writing Your Personal Statement, Part 6: Step Away
The most important part of writing a personal statement is, funnily enough, sitting down and actually writing it. However, the second most important part is not writing.Yup, you heard right: As important as writing your personal statement is, the one thing you can do to make your writing stronger is taking a step back once you have completed a draft, and giving your writing (and your brain) some time to settle down. Why is that? Distance is good. By giving yourself at least a day between writing and revisions, you are letting your brain reset itself. This will let you see grammatical and … [Read more...]
Writing Your Personal Statement, Part 7: Edit
Once you've written your first draft and you've had a chance to step away from it for at least day, it's time to edit. Typically, you will follow this write-step away-edit process a few times through a few drafts until you're fully satisfied with your essay and the way you've told your story.Now, saying you're going to edit your essay is the easy part. The hard part is figuring out exactly how to edit and what you should be looking for. Whenever I'm editing an essay, these are the seven areas to which I pay attention. Spelling The spellchecker on your word processing software will be a … [Read more...]
Writing Your Personal Statement, Part 8: Involve Others
If you're anything like me, the last thing you want to do when you're writing something (be it an essay, a short story, a novel, or a grocery list) is show it to someone else and have them critique it. After all, you've put a little bit of yourself into this piece of writing (well, maybe not if it's a grocery list), and the one thing you don't want to hear is criticism, even if it is constructive.However, when it comes to your personal statement, having others read it before you consider it finalized is probably one of most important things you can do.Why? Because, eventually, other … [Read more...]
Writing Your Personal Statement, Part 9: Proof
Once you've self-edited and had others read and give feedback on your essay, you're pretty much on the home stretch. If your essay has made it this far, then you're approximately 95% done and only one thing remains to be done before you can close the book on writing it and get ready to submit it along with your applications: proofing.In a sense, proofing and editing are much the same--you're looking for typos, bloopers, and erroneous use of language.However, proofing is not as intense as editing, because you're no longer looking for plot holes, reading for cohesiveness, or checking … [Read more...]
Writing Your Personal Statement, Part 1: Take Your Time
Although all components of a law school application are important, I believe that the most important one is the personal statement. To that end, I've decided to write a series explaining some of the pivotal points you should keep in mind as you prepare to write your law school application personal statement.We'll start off with today with something I find most law school applicants don't even think about: the personal statement timeline. While many applicants consider the personal statement to be one of the hardest parts of applying to law school (second only to preparing for and taking … [Read more...]
Writing Your Personal Statement, Part 2: Plan It Out
Howdy! Welcome to the second installment in a ten-part series on writing your law school application personal statement. Last week we started off by talking about the importance of giving yourself as much as time as possible when writing your essay.Today, we'll discuss the second most important thing you should do: Planning out your writing.Don't underestimate the importance of brainstorming and outlining--particularly outlining. Brainstoming is easy enough: you start off with a broad idea of what you'd like to write about, and then perform what I call a "brain dump," letting every … [Read more...]
Writing Your Personal Statement, Part 3: Get Personal
In a previous post, I mentioned the importance of putting the person in the personal statement. Although I didn't go into great detail about it then, I'd like to do so now.Although scheduling the time to write and carefully planning your personal statement are both very important to the success of the essay as a whole, it is almost guaranteed that the statement will ultimately be a flop unless the most key ingredient is added to the mix: YOU. … [Read more...]
Writing Your Personal Statement, Part 4: Get Specific
A personal statement is only as powerful as the story it tells, and the story is only as powerful as the details that comprise it.In this installment of "Writing Your Personal Statement," I'll talk about something that's just as important as getting personal: Getting specific.Once again, I'll call your attention to what a personal statement ultimately is: It is your on-paper interview with the Admissions Committee of the schools to which you're applying. And, again, I'll call your attention to what the statement should be doing: It should be talking about you. However, understanding … [Read more...]