Studying for the LSAT is just one part of preparing to become a lawyer. Your law school application timeline will include many steps, only one of which is your very important LSAT score.

Sep 03, 2020 Law school admissions departments do rolling reviews of applications. This means that submitting your law school application the first day you can doesn’t get you to the top of the pile or make you stand out. Sending in your law school application before the deadline is the only specific requirement. Aug 19, 2014 Engaging in extracurriculars for law school is a significant part of law school application strategy! In addition to your personal statement, supplemental essays, and letters of recommendation, admissions committees will also look at your activities, which shape your individuality. What Are the Best Law Apps for Law Students No Ordinary. Just Now Noordinaryhomestead.com Related Item. Law courses online. You can purchase some of them to get a real certificate, but it’s a nice idea to search for courses with free access as well. Coursera, EdX, FutureLearn offer courses of superb quality. Aug 19, 2020 Below is a list of apps for college students recommended by educational technology experts interviewed for this story. As noted, the needs of individual students vary and finding the right app.

Keep complete copies of all law school application records throughout the admission cycle and law school, as some state bar associations inquire about the law school admission records of those seeking admission to the bar. Ethical conduct is expected and required in all of your interactions with LSAC and law schools.

This article will cover all of those steps and give you insight into the paperwork, recommendations, submissions, and deadlines you need to get into law school.

When Do Law School Applications Open?

Top 20 law schools (and most other law schools) typically open for applications between early August and early September. Some won’t open until early October, but that is later than average.

The typical range in which to submit an application will be August 1 to December 1.

If you have your plan together, you should be able to submit any time in the open window. Most commonly, application windows will close between February 1st and June 1st.

Most schools use rolling admissions, which means that you can apply any time within the window. Admissions departments often say they review applications and make decisions on applicants in the order they are received. That said, you may have a better opportunity for a favorable review if you apply in the early days of admissions eligibility, when there are more open spaces.

While most admissions department officials admit that they don’t review any applications during September (which is a month of recruitment), you could still be prioritized if you get in early.

Some people opt to apply for “early decision” if their top choice law school offers it. Applying for an early decision is a commitment to attend that school if you are accepted. It also means your entire application packet has to be ready and sent in much earlier than the regular deadline.

Typically required by November or December, applying for an early decision can shorten your law school application timeline significantly.

How to Apply to Law School: The Full Timeline

When are law school applications due? Law school application deadlines are super important and you should start the process way before D-day. A lot of serious-minded students start preparing a year in advance.

If you know you want to get into law school, you can reverse-engineer a timeline that ensures you check all the boxes. Here are the steps at each stage.

Initial Research: 10-15 Months Before Deadlines

Best Apps For Law School Admission

Law school applications are serious business that require you to collect paperwork, pick schools, get a respectable LSAT score, and ask for personal recommendations. All of this takes time.

People who are in it to win will get a huge lead on the process. Getting into law school is the last thing you want to scramble for. Here are some steps to take if you are a year or so out from applying to law school.

Research Suitable Law Schools

First, do research on the law schools you want to apply to. There are a lot of options that fall within different categories. Some law schools are top-rated, some are known for specialties, and others for different kinds of alumni networks.

Both official info and unofficial info can be helpful for this. Look on the law schools’ websites (here’s the official list from LSAC) and do “official content” research, but also check out online forums or places students provide real life feedback. Both of these will be helpful as you decide what law school to pursue.

Begin Your LSAT Exam Preparation

The LSAT is an incredibly difficult test that will be unlike anything you’ve ever taken. It is not a concept-based test. It is about skills. Preparing for the LSAT takes a lot of time and effort. Start looking into online LSAT review courses and pick one that works for you. Most of them will give you 3-6 month study timelines, so you’ll want to start early.

Learn more about a month by month LSAT study schedule.

Start Browsing Through Pre Law Groups And Forums Online

In addition to checking out the reputation of individual law schools, you can start getting a feel for how other people are choosing law schools. This will give you a social context and even some people to answer your questions. Pre Law groups and forums can be a huge help from peers who are on the same path.

Getting the Proper Scores: 7-8 Months Before Deadlines

Registering, studying, and writing the LSAT is the most time-consuming task you’ll do for your law school application. There are a few key factors in this process you need to know to meet all of the right deadlines.

You don’t want to wait until the last minute to study for, schedule, or take your LSAT. This isn’t a test you wing. It requires careful study and preparation. Number one priority is to choose the best online LSAT prep course for you. Then, make sure you understand the timeline considerations.

LSAT Test Dates and Registration Deadlines

As you lay out your LSAT study plan, be sure you know the typical timeline for LSAT registration deadlines and LSAT test dates. Here are the 2020-2021 dates LSAC has released, which will follow a similar pattern most years:

As you can see, you will need to register for the LSAT considerably in advance of your LSAT test date. Your scores will then take at least a couple of weeks to be delivered via email. The official scores the LSAT sends with your law school application will need to include your writing sample and could take a little longer than that to order.

Take the June LSAT Exam

If you are applying to law schools in the fall (which is most common), it would be wise to take the June LSAT exam, at the latest. This ensures that all of your scores and paperwork are in and can be assembled by LSAC to send with your law school application.

Retaking the LSAT?

Another reason it’s advisable to take the exam early is in case you get a low score and want a second run at improving your LSAT score. If you score lower than an LSAT admissions threshold or just lower than you want, you have the opportunity to retake the LSAT in the next testing window and still make law school application cutoffs.

Register for CAS

Your law school application is assembled by LSAC. This is done through something called the Credential Assembly Service, or CAS. The CAS fee has some costs:

• $195 for an account
• $45 each for law school reports

Your CAS will include:

• E-processing of ABA-approved law school applications (and some non-ABA approved schools)
• Creation of each law school report
• Transcript summaries plus authentication for international students
• Processing your letter of recommendation

You will set up your account and send all of your documents in to LSAC. They will then generate the law school application packets for each school.

Finalize Your Law School Shortlist

While you are still a few months out, you should take all of that law school research you did earlier and make a shortlist. This narrows down the list of law schools you are interested in. Since each application takes time, effort, and extra costs, most students limit them to a reasonable number. From your shortlist, you can dive deeper and assess pros and cons before making your final decisions.

Try to Get a Few Recommendation Letters

Early on, you should know that you will be required to submit letters of recommendation. Depending on how recently you were in school, it’s important to start reaching out to your network as soon as possible. You want to leverage great professional and academic connections to get high-quality letters of recommendation.

Final Preparation: 5-6 Months Before Deadlines (August-September)

Once you hit the six-month mark in your law school application timeline, you need to turn your attention to final tasks. This is the final sprint before you actually send in your law school applications. Here are all of the final logistics you need to settle so you can be ready to roll once the law school application deadlines arrive.

Write Your Personal Statements

Your personal statement is an important part of your law school applications. Because the legal profession is about expression, interpretation, and higher-thinking, it’s important that you showcase your abilities and personal values. This may or may not weigh in heavily when a law school entry board reviews your application, but it should be spot-on and well-polished.

Prioritize Your Law School Shortlist

You should already have done some solid research to get your list of desired law schools down to a shortlist. Now, you should take that shortlist and prioritize:

1. Pick 2-3 law schools that are achievable and desirable
2. Pick 1-2 law schools that are ambitious
3. Pick 1-2 law schools that are safety options

Start Writing School-Specific Essays and Entry Letters

Once you’ve got that prioritized law school shortlist, you can draft school-specific content. This includes essays and entry letters that appeal to that law school admissions board directly.

Best Time to Apply to Law School

While some law schools start accepting applications early, the early-October timeline is most common. All applications are assessed on a rolling basis, so you don’t have to be too ambitious about getting everything in right at the opening. That said, if you aim to have all of your applications finalized and submitted by December, you’ll still be in good shape.

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Law School with Spring Admissions (Optional)

Most law schools accept applications between October and December. If for some reason you missed this deadline or have a disruption in your plan, there are some schools that will allow you to join mid-year. While most law school application dates align with fall admissions, there are some spring options.

For first-year students, here are some law schools with spring admissions:

• John Marshall Law School in Chicago
• Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
• Baylor Law School
• Florida Coastal School of Law
• South Texas College of Law
• Pace Law School
• The John Marshall Law School
• Golden Gate University
• University of New Hampshire School of Law
• California Western School of Law
• University of La Verne College of Law
• Washburn University School of Law
• Glendale University
• University of San Diego School of Law
• Western State College of Law
• Coastal Law
• Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law
• Drake University Law School
• University of Toledo College of Law

If you have your eye on a specific law school, you can reach out to them directly to learn if they make admissions exceptions.

Law School Application Timeline FAQs

Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about a law school application timeline.

Is There an Advantage to Applying on the First Day Possible?

Law school admissions departments do rolling reviews of applications. This means that submitting your law school application the first day you can doesn’t get you to the top of the pile or make you stand out. Sending in your law school application before the deadline is the only specific requirement.

Can You Apply to Law School Before You Have an LSAT Score?

An LSAT score is required before you can submit an application to any law school. LSAC is the organization that puts together your law school applications and administers the LSAT.

How Long Is the Law School Application Process?

While it can take up to a year to prepare your law school application, take the LSAT, and get all of the paperwork together, admissions boards will start reviewing applicants pretty fast once the law school application window opens. Once the window has closed to apply to a law school, it will probably take 2-4 weeks to know if you are accepted.

When Are Early Decision Deadlines for Law School?

Priority or early decision applications to law schools are usually about a month before the normal deadline. This will vary from school to school and based on whether you apply in the fall or are pursuing a spring exception. You will want to contact the law school admissions department you are applying to in order to get a reliable early decision date.

Interested in going to school on the west coast? Check out our post on the top law schools in California.

The Princeton LSAT Review Course

Get the world's largest LSAT question bank, score guarantees, official LSAT content, and in-person or virtual courses.

Staying organized is a major part of being a successful law student. If you are losing your handouts, taking notes in different places, or constantly losing your study materials, chances are you won’t study effectively.

Thankfully, modern technology can come to your rescue. The phone or tablet you may be reading this on can become your organizational multi-tool. In this post, we highlight several top applications for staying organized in law school. From note taking apps to calendar organizers, this list will get you moving in the right direction to becoming more organized.

Here are some great apps that can help you stay organized in law school:

Best Apps For Iphone

Evernote

Evernote is perhaps the best note taking application out there because of the things you can add to your typed notes: insert pictures, clip pages from the web, and checklists just to name a few. The result is a rich note taking experience that, of course, automatically syncs across all your devices. You could type notes on your computer and study them on your tablet later in the day.

If managing multiple notebooks for your classes is tough for you, consider Evernote for your note taking. It not only helps you create detailed notes, but also helps you organize and share them. Evernote is free, but if you get hooked on it there are two tiers above the free edition that are packed with even more features. Evernote Premium is the top level of Evernote and has some incredible features for $49.99 a year.

iStudiez Pro

Perhaps the best calendar app for your mobile device, iStudiez Pro is your key to staying on top of all of your assignments and to-do’s. Add your class schedule, professor information, assignments, and even your grades to the app, and it will neatly organize everything in the format you want. While it does cost $2.99, iStudiez Pro rolls so many features into one app that it’s actually a bargain at a few bucks. The time and disorganization it will save you is worth much more than $3!

Genius Scan

Genius Scan turns your mobile device into a pocket scanner. It’s really easy to use: just take a picture of a paper document, adjust the borders of the picture, and, magic, the app scans the document to your phone. The result is a PDF or JPEG scan that you can send to anyone.

No more trips to the library scanner!

As a law student, you may want to convert your handwritten notes to digital format (read why hand writing your notes in class is a good idea) or you may be drowning in hand-outs from all your classes. With Genius Scan, you can easily scan all your paper documents to your phone, which is why we highly recommend you getting this FREE app!

Dropbox

We have talked about the importance of backing up your work in law school, and Dropbox is a great app for that. A free Dropbox account gives you 2GB of storage, but you can get up to 16GB more for free by just recommending your friends. If you want to go all out and use Dropbox as your main online storage, you can sign up for 1TB (1,000GB!) for $99 dollars a year (a worthwhile investment!).

For this post, we want to talk about Dropbox’s value as an organizational tool. We have all run into the problem of trying to email attachments that are too large… Dropbox is a solution to this problem because you can upload large files and share links to access the files online. You can make and share folders, collaborate in real time, and the best part is that all your work is synced automatically.

Online storage is pointless without easy access, but Dropbox excels at providing both. Getting into the cloud storage game is easy to do with Dropbox. Check it out here.

Simplemind

An easy to use, online, mobile, and helpful mind mapping application?? Yes, there is such a thing and simplemind is it. Simplemind is a powerful mind mapping application where you can easily organize your thoughts and notes into an intuitive visual aid. What is unique about simplemind is that it can be used on multiple platforms including Mac, PC, or mobile device. This feature adds portability to one of the most exciting organization tools a law student can use: mind maps.

Law in a Flash

Law school is studying. There is no way around it. We all have our preferred study methods and tools, but let’s be honest, we try and use the method that takes the shortest amount of time. That may be why you’ve never tried flash cards. Well, the Law in a Flash apps wants to change that! Law in a Flash apps are sets of (pre-made!) digital flashcards organized into specific law school topics. But the cards don’t just test terms! There are actual hypothetical situations like you would find on a law school exam. Additionally, you can add your own notes to each card to tailor the information or answers to your professor’s preferences.

There are several card packs you can download, each filled with quality questions and answers: 1L courses, 2L + 3L courses, and an Electives pack that covers topics like transactions law and environmental law. Given their breadth, quality, and ease of use, the Law in a Flash app can help you study for law exams without having to create and keep track of piles of flashcards. Get this app!

Quizlet

Similar to Law in a Flash, Quizlet is a more universal and versatile digital flash card website that allows you to both create your own flash cards or use sets other students have made. There is a developed community of law school students on Quizlet who have already made sets for a variety of law school topics. You can save your favorite sets and share ones you create by making an account. Best of all, you can access all of your saved flashcard sets from your mobile device via the Quizlet application. No more loosing individual note cards in your bags!

We hope this list can serve as a starting point for your embrace of digital organization. Organizational applications are getting better and better every year so we will be sure to update our recommendations as new apps come out!

Do you have a favorite app that is not listed? Let us know!

Looking for some help to do your best in law school? Find out about our law school tutoring options.