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Law School Application Timeline: When Should You Apply to Law School?

Ann K. Levine offers tips on when to apply to law school and how to effectively plan your law school application timeline.

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Ed. note: This is an excerpt from Chapter 12 of Ann K. Levine’s The Law School Admission Game, Second Edition (the completely re-written, re-vamped, updated 200+ page version of the bestselling law school admission guide, which will be available June 1, 2013).

THE APPLICATION TIMELINE

When Should You Apply to Law School?

Law school applications become available between the end of August and the beginning of October. Most schools state deadlines somewhere between February 1 and June 1. However, 99 percent of law schools start admitting people shortly after applications become available (in October and November). It is important to note that many schools use rolling admissions—beginning to accept students as soon as the admissions period begins. If you wait to apply in time for the deadlines (in the spring), schools (all of them but Yale) have already admitted enough people to fill their classes and already have people on waiting lists. As a result, unless your application is really stellar, with high numbers for that school, it’s hard to be competitive for admission late in the application cycle.

Should You Apply Before Having Your LSAT Score?

Usually, no. Your application will not be reviewed until it is “complete,” and it can’t be complete without an LSAT score. Besides, until the score comes in, you don’t know if you’ll even be competitive at a school. You may also miss the opportunity to explain an LSAT score as part of your application if you later decide an explanation would be prudent. Remember that it takes 3 to 4 weeks after you take the LSAT to get your score. Once you have your score, you may decide to apply to different schools and/or to re-take the LSAT.

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

No. Absolutely not. Law school admission officers spend most of August through November at recruiting events (giving out precious fee waivers and trying to drum up interest in their schools). It’s hard to spend much time in September reviewing files. Trust me, when I was on the bus with all of the other admission officers, bouncing from Marriott to Marriott, standing behind tables answering questions from potential applicants for hours at a time, lugging heavy brochures, I was not reading files during my free time.Besides, it’s a better idea to take a few extra weeks to submit the highest quality product, the best possible personal statement and resume, rather than a rushed one. Early Decision and Early Notification deadlines are usually between November 1 and November 15 (with some schools holding out until December or March to give you a chance to be denied from your real first choice law school); so certainly, any applications submitted before Thanksgiving are pretty early.

If you are sticking with a June LSAT score, submit your applications in September/October. If you are working with an October LSAT score, submit applications in November/December. You can absolutely make Early Decision and Early Notification deadlines with a September/October LSAT score if you plan ahead. If you are taking the December LSAT, plan to submit applications by mid-January. I still believe the February LSAT is too late to be really competitive for admission the same fall. However, if you really rock the LSAT, then mid-range schools will find a place for you. Be realistic, however, reach schools will be even more of a reach at this time of year.

What Is the Latest Date to Apply and Still Take Advantage of Rolling Admissions?

When I wrote the first edition of this book in 2009, law school application numbers were at an all-time high, and I stressed the importance of applying by December to be competitive. For the 2013 cycle, however, I had more clients still applying in January and February, and that was perfectly acceptable considering that (at that time) applications to law school had decreased 38 percent over the previous two years. Remember that anyone taking the December LSAT is probably spending the winter holidays on application materials. It can be stressful to find time to work on applications with family demands, and, of course, it’s usually storm and flu season, which can hamper things. Plan ahead and don’t save everything for winter break. There are schools that ask you to apply before a date in January to be competitive for certain scholarships, so keep your eye on those deadlines, too.

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If you decide to take the February LSAT the same year that you hope to start law school, take some time to consider an alternative strategy. If you are graduating from college, it might be good to take a year off and let schools see your senior year grades and to gain some work/travel/volunteer experience while giving yourself more time to put applications together and study for the LSAT. NON-TRADITIONAL applicants often worry about getting another year older and delaying law school; they often feel rushed to apply and go wherever they can get in. But this is often a poor decision in the long term, especially where insufficient time has been spent preparing for the LSAT and perfecting application materials. Besides, taking a year to save some money for law school would be a sound long-term decision. If you’ve been laid off recently and you need to be in school for the loans, please really reconsider. Law school is a huge investment; you need to be invested in the process and take the time to make sure that this is really a sound financial/career direction for you.

I am a big believer in making the smarter long-term decision over the convenient short-term decision. After all, usually the people who applied at the last minute and chose to attend whatever law school would take them are the ones who try to transfer the following year; however, unless you have grades at the top of your 1L class, it’s very hard to transfer. (See Chapter 19, “Transferring Law Schools.”)

I have a great infographic on the law school admission timeline on my website. Be sure to check it out.

Ann K. Levine is a law school admission consultant and owner of LawSchoolExpert.com. She is the author of The Law School Admission Game: PlayLike an Expert and The Law School Decision Game: A Playbook for Prospective Lawyers.

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